In this talk at the SOAS Marxist Society, Adam Booth – editor of www.socialist.net – looks at the growing gap between the rich and poor in society today, contrasting the analysis of Thomas Piketty – the French “rock star” economist – and Karl Marx as to why capitalism creates inequality and a concentration of wealth.
Starmer’s failing premiership and the threat of a leadership contest have sent the bond markets into a frenzy. Recent events, as well as comments from investors, have revealed who really pulls the strings under our ‘democracy’: the bankers and bosses.
The rampant speculation and insider trading on platforms like Polymarket has exposed the unrestrained parasitism of the Epstein class. But prediction markets are nothing new: swindling and corruption have always been baked into capitalism.
Chartism was the first time ever that British workers fixed their eyes on the seizure of political power: in 1839, 1842 and again in 1848. In this struggle, they conducted a class war that at different times involved general strikes, battles with the state, mass demonstrations and even armed insurrection.