Joe Attard of the KCL Marxists reviewsThe Big Short, an adaptation for the cinema of Michael Lewis’ book of the same name, which depicts the winners of the 2008 financial crash. It is not a story of heroes, but one of lucky capitalists exploiting the stupidity of a system they served.
Over five-hundred reports of abuse and harassment were made to the police in Cologne, Germany, on New Year’s Eve. What exactly happened remains unclear. What is not uncertain is that the assaults in Cologne have been used by the ruling class and the right-wing media to attack and demonise immigrants, dividing the working class.
Five years ago, without any organisation, programme, or plan the Arab masses brought down in a matter of weeks regimes that had seemingly not moved an inch in decades. Yet today, it is clear that the Arab Spring has turned into reaction in Egypt, Libya, and Syria. How has the region gone from revolution to counter-revolution?
30 years ago, beginning on 24th January 1986, print workers at Murdoch’s printing presses began a year-long strike. Along with the Great Miners’ Strike, it was one of the most militant episodes of industrial action in Britain during the Thatcher years. Jim Brookshaw, a print worker at the time, recalls his experiences of the struggle.
Six years after the beginning of the euro crisis, none of the problems it exposed have been resolved; in fact they have been both amplified and multiplied by events. In the first of a series of three articles, Josh Holroyd looks at the looming economic and political crises set to strike the EU this year.
January 21st marks the anniversary of the death of Lenin, the great Marxist and leader of the October Revolution of 1917, who passed away in 1924. To commemorate Lenin’s life and ideas, we publish here a video of a walking tour around London – given by Rob Sewell, editor of Socialist Appeal, as part of the Red October 2015 festival – of the places where Lenin and the Russian Marxists lived, worked, and organised.
In this video, Alan Woods – editor of www.marxist.com – discusses the latest economic developments in China, where panic on the stock exchange provides a perilous warning sign about the state of the Chinese – and world – economy. All the contradictions are now coming to the fore in the crisis-ridden global capitalist system.
The world’s stock markets have fallen by over 10% in a matter of weeks. Some markets have not seen such falls since 1929. The Royal Bank of Scotland, Rob Sewell – editor of Socialist Appeal – reports, have warned that 2016 will be a “cataclysmic year”.
We publish here a document by the Marxist Student Federation (MSF), which is a brief outline of the ideas and tasks of the MSF for the year ahead. This document will be discussed and voted on at the national conference of the MSF, taking place in SOAS university, London, on Saturday 13th February 2016.
Following the first day of strike action by junior doctors last week, we spoke to Dr Yannis Gourtsoyannis (of the BMA’s Junior Doctors Committee National Executive) about the medics’ dispute and the ongoing fight to defend the NHS. Although the strike planned for next week has been cancelled, the junior doctors’ struggle continues.
The recent execution of Al-Nimr, a Shia cleric leader, by the Saudis highlights the crisis facing the regime. The economy is in a fragile state as the price of oil falls and money is hemorrhaged on regional wars and adventures. Increased repression indicates a fear of the rulers about an impending movement from below.
The Tories laughably claim that the NHS is “safe in our hands”. At the same time, there are vested interests at the top of government with links to private healthcare firms. Cameron and co.’s attacks on doctors and cuts to the NHS demonstrate the rottenness of the Tories and the capitalist system that they defend.