The Fall of the Berlin Wall and “The End of History”
Today (9/11/19) marks the thirtieth anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall (which did not quite make its own thirtieth anniversary). It will be accompanied by the usual capitalist paeans to the wonders of democracy and the capitalist way of doing things. The following article from Communist Review 8 (later Internationalist Communist) appeared in January 1990 but has never been reproduced digitally before. It was our deeper reflection not only on the collapse of the USSR’s empire in the East but the burgeoning crisis of world capitalism as a whole
East Germany, June 1953
Anti-worker's Inquiry
Open the door, turn on the light, heat up the water, check the refrigerators, lay out the chairs, clean the tables, light the candles, put out the ashtrays, check the register, count the change, cut the limes, put on music, wash the glasses, turn on the fan, pour the beer, mix the drinks, serve the customers, listen to their stories, comfort their loneliness, make the ice, clean the counter, tell a joke, take the money. The floor is wet, pool table scratched, darts bent, ash on the couch, smoke in the air, glasses broken, wallets stolen, clothing torn. The night is long and full of terrors.
Organizing the lumpenproletariat: Cliques and communists in Berlin during the Weimar Republic - Eve Rosenhaft
Berlin 2006: The long road Organizing the unemployed can be as strenuous as trying to repel the Labour Exchange's impudences
An account of welfare claimants' collective organising for their rights in Germany.