Blogs

The casual observer might think that Trotskyism has been quite consistent in its views on the Syrian war but in fact there are almost as many positions on the war as there are Trotskyist groups. And this is no accident. Before we look at the stance that various Trotskyist groups have taken on the Syrian war it is useful to provide a brief overview of Trotsky and Trotskyism.

The following is my personal, subjective account of my experiences in Chicago for two back-to-back gatherings of working class militants and activists from April 5-8, 2018. The first was the Railroad Workers United Convention and the second was the Labor Notes Conference (I apologize in advance for my stream of consciousness digressions and clunky note-taking style).

The post-war boom melted away decades ago. It produced a mass consumer society unheard of in history. This society was based on the colossal destruction and devaluation of capital in the Second World War.

A history of Japan podcast about the massive coalminers strike in Miike on the island of Kyushu in 1960, and its impact on the Japanese economy, Japanese unions and the Japanese left.

A couple of excerpts from the work of scholars of fascism against the notion that the fascists were socialists.

A brief reminder. In January 2015 Paul Mason proclaimed on his Twitter account: "come to Athens – the revolution is happening". It is 2018 now, and three years later it is Donald Tusk, the President of the European Council, who is ecstatic: "You did it! Congratulations to Greece and its people on ending the programme of financial assistance." What happened?

What's the relationship between labour struggles against capitalism and Indigenous struggles against colonialism? How has Marxist and communist theory traditionally tried to understand this relationship? This episode of Living the Dream from The Word With Struggle Street examines these questions by looking at the Communist Party of Australia in the 1920s and 30s and its relationship, or lack there of, with Indigenous struggles.

Many working class people do not believe that their class has the potential to change the world. Indeed many of us do not even recognise the idea of class, let alone see themselves as part of the class of “women and men of no property”. This is not surprising. The ruling capitalist class have powerful tools to confuse and distract the working class.

Over the last four years we spoke to many night-shift cleaners from local food processing plants. Young guys having a spliff after shift, telling us that using the chemicals for cleaning in confined spaces make you think of Syria or other gas attacks. Women workers have less time, as they hurry to get the kids ready for school. From workers at Adelie sandwich plant to LSG Sky Chef airline caterer to Bakkavor ready-meal factory – they all tell us that the time given for cleaning the shop-floor is not enough and that despite their knowledge and responsibility they are paid the lowest possible wage. Read a longer report below…

A listing of events that will be taking place in solidarity with the prison strike running from August 21st-September 9th. Reposted from It's Going Down.

A decade on since the financial crash world capitalism’s basic problem of low profitability remains. The only way the capitalists can revive ‘growth’ is by starting a new cycle of accumulation and this can only be done if a mass of existing capital is devalued.

A podcast episode on the Great Treason Incident and the early Anarchist movement in Japan.

Despite only getting 17% of the votes compared to about 30% for their coalition partners in the Five Star Movement, Matteo Salvini leader of La Lega (The League) has seized the opportunity as deputy Prime Minister and Minister of the Interior to become the most dominant force in the new coalition of “populist parties”. The successive speeches about registering Roma (reminiscent of what happened to Italian Jews in 1938 as preparation for their annihilation in the Holocaust) may have caused outrage, but behind it has come the racist attacks in the street.

A critical examination of Noam Chomsky's politics on the basis of whether he can really be considered an Anarcho-syndicalist.

A short post detailing the ethos behind my blog, and an example of me attempting to apply this ethos to a practical problem: that of collective creative art.

An interview with Sonia Licht about the student protests she took part in at Belgrade University against the `Red Bourgeoisie` in1968.

As we have seen in Syria and elsewhere modern imperialist war is total war with no holds barred. There is no Geneva Convention, or set of humanitarian concerns, that can act as a check on the bestial appetites of the contending parties. The situation in Yemen remains unbelievably dire.

An examination of a recent Brooklyn Rail article that repeated rightwing/centrist narratives about censorship and free specch, and cited some writings hosted on libcom in support of this argument.

A critique of calls for the abolition of ICE that argues that in order to be effective the abolition of ICE must be paired with the struggle for the abolition of capitalism, states, and racism.