The end of the road for capitalism or for us all?

by William Bowles

Investigating Imperialism | January 13, 2018

We have the certainty that matter remains eternally the same in all its transformations, that none of its attributes can ever be lost, and therefore, also, that with the same iron necessity that it will exterminate on the earth its highest creation, the thinking mind, it must somewhere else and at another time again produce it.

—Frederick Engels, from the introduction to The Dialectics of Nature, 1883.

In 1945, following the second ‘war to end all wars’, or something like that, the people of Britain put their faith, at least temporally, in an alleged socialist, Labour government. A government that vowed that there would be no return to the ‘bad old days’ of prewar Britain. So we got the National Health Service, public housing, a nationalised transport system, even the canal network was nationalised (telecommunications was already a state-owned monopoly, the capitalists weren’t prepared to risk their capital in its development).

U.S. citizens have less confidence on political institutions, finds survey

A Journal of People report

Citizens in the U.S. have less confidence on political institutions, finds a recent survey. The finding carries important message on the state of the political system.

A “Here’s Just How Little Confidence Americans Have In Political Institutions” headlined NPR report said:

“Trust in the institutions that have been the pillars of U.S. politics and capitalism is crumbling.

U.S: Labor union women commit to broadening fight against sexual harassment

by Mark Gruenberg

People’s World | January 17, 2018

Participants march against sexual assault and harassment at the #MeToo March in the Hollywood section of Los Angeles Nov. 12, 2017. | Damian Dovarganes / AP

WASHINGTON (PAI)—The Coalition of Labor Union Women (CLUW) is committing itself to broadening the fight against sexual harassment and exploitation on the job.

That includes working with the National Women’s Law Center, the Restaurant Opportunities Center, and other individual unions to spotlight the frequent sexual exploitation of woman workers in industries other than movies and politics, and use of power by supervisors at all levels.

What “Darkest Hour” doesn’t tell you about Winston Churchill

by Callum Alexander Scott

People’s World | January 17, 2018

Winston Churchill in July 1940. | Imperial War Museum

The latest Winston Churchill film, Darkest Hour, is already being tipped for the Oscars, with Gary Oldman’s portrayal of Churchill at the helm of speculation.

I can attest, having already seen the film, that Oldman’s performance is indeed brilliant, but let us be clear. While it is a great piece of cinema that, artistically speaking, deserves, and will almost certainly receive, numerous awards, it is also a film that glorifies a certifiably vile man.

Leftwingers demand Sudan release communists jailed for role in anti-austerity protests

Morning Star | January 19, 2018

COMMUNISTS across the Middle East have united in a call demanding the Sudanese authorities release several political prisoners who were arrested earlier this week following protests against austerity measures.

Sudanese Communist Party leader Muhammad Mukhtar al-Khatieb was detained in a 3am raid on his home yesterday along with other leading communists.

Ivan Beavis: A true communist and internationalist with an infectious sense of humour

by John Haylett

Morning Star | January 18, 2018

MANY Morning Star readers may know the name of Ivan Beavis from his personalised and witty columns publicising our paper’s Fighting Fund, but he was so much more than that.

Ivan, who has died just short of his 70th birthday, spent two decades working at the Star — mainly as circulation manager, then campaigns manager and, in recent years, an inimitable Fund columnist.

UK: Outsourcing council facing strike action from its own contract workers

by Peter Lazenby

Morning Star | January 18, 2018

“OUTSOURCING cheerleader” Bromley Council is facing strike action from contracted-out workers who say they have been demoralised by lack of staff, pay and time off.

A strike ballot is being held by the Unite union at two sites as a national row over “outsourcing” of public services to private companies continues following the collapse of construction and services giant Carillion.

US Global Standing Plummets as Trump Threatens Human Rights at Home and Abroad

by Julia Conley, staff writer

Common Dreams | January 18, 2018

Protesters gathered for an anti-Trump demonstration near the Brandenburg Gate on November 12, 2016 in Berlin, Germany. A vast majority of people across Europe reacted to the U.S. Presidential election outcome with dismay. (Photo: Carsten Koall/Getty Images)

The United States’ global standing has plummeted under the Trump administration, according to Human Rights Watch’s (HRW) annual report and an international Gallup survey regarding the country’s reputation as a world leader.

The “authoritarian populist agenda” promoted by President Donald Trump along with lawmakers in several European Union countries, and those leaders’ promotion of xenophobia and racism, has left a vacuum that leaders including Presidents Vladimir Putin of Russia and Xi Jinping of China have taken advantage of, asserting their own anti-rights agendas.

Occupied Labour

An investigation into how Palestinians escape the poverty trap by working in Israel but only at the terrible cost of failing to build and sustain their own local economies.

by Andreas Hackl

Andreas Hackl | August 22, 2017

Andreas Hack

Driving near the concrete barrier that separates Israel from the southern West Bank, a car passes a Bedouin settlement, leaves the main road for a dirt one, and veers into a field. It stops next to a gap in the wall. Three men get out, rush through the opening, and are picked up on the other side – inside Israel.

Further west, the ground becomes rocky and hilly. Four-wheel drives bring groups of men to another spot where the wall breaks. As the passengers step out, a car motors towards them, kicking up a massive dust cloud. The Palestinian men get in and the car speeds away towards an Israeli town.