Month: June 2022
The World Socialist Newsletter 2/3
From April 2004 World Socialist newsletter The Time for Socialism is Now When our ancestors left the safety and security of the trees for the vagaries of the plains, they were embarking on a long, subconscious, and often painful journey to attain mastery over the earth’s resources. The goal of countless millennia of sweat and endeavour,…
The World Socialist Newsletter 1/3
From May 2004 issue of the World Socialist newsletter An Open Letter to the Workers of the World The world we live in is one that is fraught with contradictions. Some 800 million of our fellow humans are chronically malnourished and at least 1.2 billion will, on any one day, go without food. At the same time,…
In Defense of ‘Impossibilism’
The companion parties of the World Socialist Movement (WSM) have gone against the prevailing wisdom of the Left by not advocating reforms. Undoubtedly some reforms do benefit workers, but the WSM opposes the practice of reformism on the grounds that campaigning for reforms impedes progress toward the goal of achieving socialism. Once embarked upon that journey there is no limit…
An Appreciation of Lewis Henry Morgan
From the September 1919 issue of the Socialist Standard The year 1818, which witnessed the birth of Karl Marx, also saw the birth, on Nov. 21st, of Lewis Henry Morgan, a man whose investigations into the nature of primitive human society were as epoch-making as were those of Marx into the structure of modern capitalism. Born at Aurora,…
An ‘Interview’ with Karl Marx
Question 1: Dr Marx , you are well known as the author of a book on economics but I think you studied law at university, didn’t you? Karl Marx: Although I studied jurisprudence, I pursued it as a subject subordinated to philosophy and history. In the year 1842-43, as editor of the Rheinische Zeitung, I first found…
Socialisme Mondial
Socialisme mondial (1973-1987) Bulletin francophone du Parti socialiste du Canada du N°1 au N°13, puis transféré en Europe à partir du N°14. Le titre est réapparu sous forme d’un blog en 2008. [Voir l’historique à “Socialisme mondial” au Québec .] TEXTES: N°1 (1973): Communique du Parti Socialiste de Grande Bretagne à une conférence à Augsburg, en septembre 1969 Lénine… tout…
Socialism and Nature
Will capitalism bring the world to the brink of ecological disaster? It is certainly having a good try with its pursuit of profits and its competitive drive to keep costs down that have led to all sorts of inappropriate methods and materials being used in production. The consequences of climate warming are many and varied, and some may be…
History of the First International 3/3
The Congress of 1870 had to be abandoned owing to the outbreak of the Franco-German war. It had been brewing for some time, fostered on the one side by the expansionist policy of the Napoleonic regime, with its stock-jobbing supporters, and on the other side by the capitalist development of Germany, which was unifying the…
History of the First International 2/3
The first congress of the International was held at Geneva in 1866, and it ran into difficulties at its opening. Individual members, mainly Blanquist, insisted on sitting as delegates and voting, although they only represented themselves. The London Conference had laid down that only official delegates were to be allowed to sit and vote. After…
History of the First International 1/3
An attempt to form a Communist Party in 1847 failed partly on account of the defeat of working class aspirations during the European uprisings of 1848, shortly after the publication of the Communist Manifesto. Just over 20 years later, when working class militancy was reviving, another attempt was made. Though this one was wider and stronger…