77 years ago, on 20th August 1940, Leon Trotsky – the great Marxist, international socialist, and Russian revolutionary – was struck down by a Stalinist agent in his home in Mexico. He died the following day. To commemorate Trotsky’s life and ideas, we republish this article by Alan Woods, originally written in January 2000.

In the latest video from the Marxist Student Federation’s Myths of Marxism series, Stephen Agnew of the Sheffield Marxists examines whether capitalism – based on the market, competition, private ownership and production for profit – really is the most efficient economic system possible for society.

Countries like Sweden, Denmark, Norway are frequently held up by figures on the Left, such as Bernie Sanders, as an example of Scandinavian-style “socialism” and an alternative to “neoliberal” capitalism. Lotta Angantyr, from the Revolution newspaper in Sweden, sets the record straight.