Film Review: Sicko
When you watch a Michael Moore film, it doesn’t take long to realise just why the US bosses find him so irritating and why his films have never been shown on US mainstream TV.
Big event in Copenhagen to commemorate The Russian Revolution and Trotsky’s speech
Today, 7th of November a big meeting organised by the Danish
Marxist tendency, Socialistisk Standpunkt, will take place in Copenhagen to
celebrate the 90th anniversary of the Russian Revolution. However,
2007 marks another anniversary, and one with special importance for Denmark. It
is 75 years since Leon Trotsky held his last public speech in November 1932,
which was held at a huge meeting in Copenhagen, where Trotsky was invited by
the Social-Democratic Students Association.
The ‘Spirit of Petrograd’? The 1918 and 1919 Police Strikes in Britain
Marxists have always maintained that
at some stage the intensity of the class struggle affects even the "armed
bodies of men" of the bourgeois state. Such an example was the police strike in
Britain at the end of the First World War. In the late summer of 1918 the sight
of 12,000 furious Metropolitan constables marching on Whitehall sparked panic
among ruling circles in Britain. Under the leadership of the National Union of
Police and Prison Officers, militantly class-conscious policemen conspired to
overturn their role as the subservient body of the State.
Social Progress: is it real or a figment of the imagination?
Has humanity enlarged its power and freedom, improved its conditions and increased its chances of happiness? In simple terms, is social progress a fact?
The 18th Brumaire of Pervez Musharraf
On Saturday November 3 President Pervez
Musharraf declared virtual martial law, imposing a state of emergency
throughout Pakistan,
suspending the Constitution and replacing superior courts. This amounts to his
second coup d’etat after he seized power in October 12, 1999. It is a desperate
move that underlines the extremely unstable nature of the regime, which is
losing support by the day.
Fight BBC job cuts!
BBC staff are set to ballot for strike over plans to axe up to 2500
jobs. The mood is angry and a big ‘yes’ vote is likely among the 23,000
workers. The three unions involved are Bectu, Unite and the National
Union of Journalists.
PFI – Robbery in Coventry
In the Guardian on September 4th George Monbiot gave a classic
example of PFI madness. In Coventry officials wanted to refurbish its
two hospitals.This would have cost £30m. They didn’t have £30m, so they had to go for PFI.
Editorial: Brown bounces into choppy water
After weeks of media speculation the Brown bounce election became the general
election that never happened. Marx explained that the state and politics are like a superstructure that sits on top of society and maintains the appearance of having a certain independence. But in the final analysis, politics, the state and even bouncing Prime Ministers are organically connected to the real world. The prospect of a general election was just too risky.
Train drivers ballot for strike action
Midland Main Line train drivers, members of the Associated Society of
Locomotive Engineeers & Fireman, have voted by 86.9% in favour of
strike action.
Ireland: Stormont Executive’s new budget
Last week the Executive in the North of Ireland presented
its budget. It has been presented as a budget that will create jobs, improve
services and reduce poverty. A closer look reveals tax concessions and
incentives for the bosses and cuts in jobs and social spending and increased
taxation for the workers. They are preparing social turmoil in the future.
Revolutionary organisation and leadership
The December 2006 re-election of Chávez marked a new shift to the left
in the Bolivarian revolution. One of the key features of this was the
initiative to launch a United Socialist Party of Venezuela (PSUV).