Year: 2022
Why Socialism?
To the World Socialist Movement’s indictment of present-day society there comes back the trite answer of the apologist: “It works”. Capitalism works. Yes, but so did chattel slavery and feudalism. They went, nevertheless. Even the complex machinery of the present-day, which not only works but works with a high degree of efficiency, is often ruthlessly…
NACIONALISMO: EL ENEMIGO MORTAL DEL SOCIALISMO
Para muchos trabajadores, el nacionalismo, como algunos otros prejuicios, es solo otra idea extraña que queda del pasado. Sin embargo, muchos otros todavía se identifican con países y naciones. Por lo tanto, el nacionalismo todavía juega un papel importante en mantener a los trabajadores divididos. Algunos tratan de hacer una distinción entre patriotismo y nacionalismo:…
Then and Now
A look back at the present day from a future time when socialism has been established. How we live and how we used to live Then It is strange to visualise now that the world up to and including the early years of this century was caught in a stranglehold of economic competition, national political boundaries…
But what about the wage-price spiral?
(This is an unabridged version of an article by Mike Schauerte that appeared in the September 2022 issue of Socialist Standard.) Foundation of the spiral argument In nearly every media interview in recent months, Mick Lynch, general secretary of the National Union of Rail, Maritime and Transport Workers in the UK, has had to field a…
Myanmar’s Spring Revolution: A Socialist Analysis
Background Information The Tatmadaw (Myanmar’s military junta) detained State Counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi and took control of the government on February 1st. This coup is not the first in Myanmar’s history. Following independence, a civil war between various ethnic groups with disparate interests began to escalate. In 1962, General Ne Win, a military leader,…
A History of Meanings
Socialism, communism, social democracy, revolution… The diverse and shifting meanings attached to words like these cause endless confusion and misunderstanding. Why is it so difficult for people to agree on what they mean? How did all the muddles arise? On this blog, the World Socialist Movement tries to clarify the matter by tracing the history of such terms…
¿Distorsionó Lenin a Marx?
11 de noviembre de 1982, Biblioteca Central de Islington, Debate entre Steven Coleman – El Partido Socialista de Gran Bretaña, argumentando Sí y Monty Johnstone – El Partido Comunista de Gran Bretaña argumentando No. Steve Coleman, Partido Socialista de Gran Bretaña Gracias, señor Presidente, camaradas y amigos. Permítanme comenzar citando una carta que fue enviada…
What is Socialist Democracy?
Democracy is one of those that is mis-used, over-used and ill-abused words that have been hi-jacked by governments and politicians to deliberately misrepresent their actions and to deceive the voters. The word “democracy” originates from the Greek and means ‘power of the people’. In the “largest democracy in the world”, India, how do the majority of the population on a…
¿POR QUÉ ESTADOS UNIDOS INVADIÓ SOMALIA?
La crisis actual en Somalia es, en primera instancia, una resaca de la guerra fría, un dolor de cabeza causado por el viejo conflicto entre el capitalismo de mercado occidental y el capitalismo de Estado ruso. Que Estados Unidos se vea a sí mismo como el remedio al problema es poco más que la filosofía del pelo del…
Seeking Socialist Knowledge
Among the countless frustrations that accompany modern society, there is one that particularly irritates members of the companion parties of the World Socialist Movement — that is, the perpetual willingness of the exploited majority to swallow so much of the ruling class political propaganda that is fed to them every day of their lives. We could paraphrase…