Socialism

Why Are There No Slums In China?

July 14, 2023 Dongsheng News, Orinoco Tribune. Create! China, History, Homelessness, Housing, Poverty, Socialism

With over 20 million inhabitants each, Shanghai and Beijing are among the “hypercities” of the Global South, including Delhi, São Paulo, Dhaka, Cairo, and Mexico City, far surpassing the “megacities” of the Global North like London, Paris, or New York [1]. Walking the streets in China’s cities, you will however, quickly notice one marked difference – the absence of large slums or pervasive homelessness that is so common to most of the rest of the world. Slums were not uncommon in Chinese cities a few decades ago, from the precarious working class districts of 1930s Shanghai to the shanty towns of British-occupied Hong Kong in the 1950s onwards.

Rice Bowl Of The Chinese People Is Held Firmly In Their Hands

July 7, 2023 Vijay Prashad, Tricontinental: Institute for Social Research. Educate! China, Poverty, Socialism, Sustainable Development Goals, United Nations

At the 2012 United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development held in Rio de Janeiro (Brazil), member states decided to replace the Millennium Development Goals (established in 2000) with Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The first SDG was to ‘end poverty in all its forms everywhere’. Despite the enthusiastic verbiage, it was clear that poverty was simply not going to be ended across the world. Even before the COVID-19 pandemic, the data showed that poverty had become intractable. In October 2022, the UN Development Programme and the Oxford Poverty and Human Development Initiative released its 2022 Global Multidimensional Poverty Index report, which showed that at least 1.2 billion people in 111 developing countries live in acute multidimensional poverty.

The Purity Fetish And The Commodity Fetish

June 18, 2023 Radhika Desai, Orinoco Tribune. Strategize! Book Review, Consumerism, Marxism, Socialism

In the few minutes I have, I want to liken Carlos’s discussion of what he calls the purity fetish – the inability of most of the Western left to give up its juvenile longing for some sort of pure socialism and embrace socialism in its inevitably soiled earthiness – to Marx’s discussion of ‘the fetish character of commodities.’ Though Carlos uses the term fetish in his title and argument, he does not draw the parallels that I see between Marx’s discussion of ‘the fetish character of commodities’ at the end of the first chapter of Capital, volume 1. I also value this opportunity to make this parallel because I am fed up with people, including many scholars claiming to be well versed on Marx and Capital, assuming that the ‘fetishism of commodities’ is about ‘consumerism.’

Cuba: Defeat The Blockade Without Waiting For It To Be Lifted

June 7, 2023 Duane Stilwell, Black Agenda Report. Resist! Cuba, Joe Biden, Revolution, Sanctions, Socialism

Havana, Cuba — Over 1,300 delegates from 58 countries, representing 271 organizations, congregated here on May 2 to celebrate the “International Meeting of Solidarity with Cuba and Anti-Imperialism – 200 Years After the Monroe Doctrine. ”The conference at the Palacio de Convenciones was the closing event in a series of gatherings that, beginning on April 25, brought union activists and other friends of Cuba from outside the island together with workers and other Cuban citizens. The goal was to acquaint international visitors with the growing systemic difficulties faced by the Cuban people due to the economic, commercial, and financial blockade the U.S. government has imposed for 61 years and to give them an opportunity to see first-hand the creative resilience with which many ordinary Cubans face the resulting scarcities and continue to resist.

China Builds Global Alternative As US-Led Financial Order Decays

May 28, 2023 Radhika Desai, Michael Hudson and Mick Dunford, Geopolitical Economy. Resistance Report China, Failed State, Neoliberalism, Socialism

In this episode, we would like to discuss the same thing, but in relation to the United States, China, and the rest of the world. So I’ll maybe just start us off on the US by essentially pointing out that, when people do take a critical view of what’s going on and look at the economic aspects of the war, the main thing they focus on is the arms industry and the profits being made by the arms industry. And there’s absolutely no doubt in my mind that American arms manufacturers, the military-industrial complex in the United States, is absolutely jubilant over this war. They are making profits hand over fist.

Kshama Sawant Takes Successful Worker-Led Struggle Nationwide

May 22, 2023 Margaret Flowers, Clearing the FOG. Podcast - Clearing The FOG Kshama Sawant, Socialism, Unions, Worker Rights

Roughly ten years ago, Kshama Sawant won a seat on the Seattle City Council as an open socialist. Sawant eschewed politics as usual and led by example, taking only the average worker's salary from her paycheck and putting the remainder into worker-led movements. She used her office as a platform for people's struggles and won many victories from a higher minimum wage, to the Amazon tax to housing rights and more. She also survived a recall election. Clearing the FOG speaks with Sawant about her plans to leave city council when her term ends next year, what she has learned as a councilwoman and the new Workers Strike Back campaign being organized by Socialist Alternative and rank-and-file union members.

China Is Governed In The Interests Of Working People

May 13, 2023 Global Times, Friends of Socialist China. Educate! Capitalism, China, Socialism, Wars and Militarism

In this interview with Global Times, Sara Flounders – a contributing editor to Workers World and a member of our advisory group – shares her analysis of the escalating New Cold War and the US’s global hegemonic project. Comparing the West’s approach of war, sanctions, coercion and destabilisation with China’s vision of a human community with a shared future, Sara observes: "The very concept of shared future and cooperation has a profound impact. It’s not threatening to other countries, and it has the win-win idea, meaning if your economy is growing and our economy is growing, that’s better for both of us. That’s the basis of building further and deeper trust." Sara points out that the differing approaches to international and domestic politics taken by the US and China can ultimately be explained by their differing social systems.

The State And The Future Of Socialism

April 30, 2023 Michael A. Lebowitz, The Bullet. Create! Human Rights, Latin America, Socialism, Transformation

We are in the midst of a class war. That’s not unusual. There is always class war in capitalism – although sometimes it is hidden and sometimes there is the interlude of an apparent Carthaginian Peace. But the class war has intensified now because of the crisis in capitalism – a crisis rooted in the over-accumulation of capital. And, in this crisis, capital has intensified the class war against the working class. Austerity, cutbacks, the need to sacrifice – these are the demands of capital as it calls upon workers to bear the burden of capital’s own failures. This is a war conducted by capitalist states against workers to compel them to give up their achievements from past struggles.

150 Young Organizers From The US Travel To Cuba Defying The Blockade

April 26, 2023 Zoe Alexandra, People's Dispatch. Organize! Cuba, Economic Blockade, Socialism, Youth Activism

Young organizers from across the United States have arrived in Havana, Cuba, to take part in a 10-day brigade organized by the International Peoples’ Assembly. During the brigade, the young leaders will meet with different sectors of Cuban society to hear firsthand about the impact of the US blockade and the experiences of the Cuban people in building socialism. They will also share experiences and challenges that they face as organizers against capitalism, racism, and oppression in the US. The brigade participants hail from organizations such as Black Lives Matter Grassroots, Black Men Build, Black Youth Project 100, the Palestinian Youth Movement, CODEPINK, Unión de Vecinos, the Party for Socialism and Liberation, the People’s Forum, and others.

Worker Co-ops Fund Themselves, Solve Equipment Crisis

April 26, 2023 Dylan Hatch and Adam Trott, Grassroots Economic Organizing. Create! Cooperatives, New Economy, Socialism, Worker Rights and Jobs

The espresso machine’s motor acted up on December 30th and completely failed three days later. Suddenly, all lattes and cappuccinos, critical to the income of any café, weren’t possible for the worker- and consumer- owned Flat Iron Coffeehouse Co-op. “This sudden loss of revenue was devastating” said co-founder and worker-member Larisa Demos. Everyday saw a 30% loss in sales and a noticeably different customer satisfaction level amid Flat Iron’s cozy, warmth-filled environment. Flat Iron re-opened in December of 2021 as a multi-stakeholder co-op in Bellows Falls, Vermont. “We weren’t sure who would assist us as a newer co-op,” said Demos.

US Imposes Economic Sanctions On Black Community Projects

March 22, 2023 The Burning Spear, Black Agenda Report. Educate! FBI, Omali Yeshitela, Sanctions, Socialism, State Repression

In March 2023, Regions Bank notified the black nonprofit African People’s Education and Defense Fund (APEDF) that the bank was “exiting” their 20-year relationship, closing accounts, withdrawing lines of credit and canceling mortgage loans. This assault on the ability of African people to build economic self-reliance was the latest in a series of actions revealing government and corporate cooperation targeting the black community programs of the Uhuru (Freedom) Movement including its popular Women’s Health Center, Black Power Vanguard Basketball Court, “One Africa! One Nation!” Marketplaces, Gary Brooks Community Garden, Uhuru Jiko Commercial Kitchens and Bakery Cafe, Akwaaba Hall events venues, Black Power 96 radio station, Uhuru Furniture & Collectibles stores, Uhuru Foods & Pies and Uhuru House black community centers.

French Socialists On The Potential And Strategy Of Working-Class Struggle

March 14, 2023 Révolution Permanente, Left Voice. Strategize! Class Struggle, France, Macron, Socialism

Romaric Godin is a journalist in the economics department of Mediapart (an independent French investigative newspaper) and author of La Guerre sociale en France — or The Social War in France — an analysis of the developments of French neoliberalism after the election of Emmanuel Macron in 2017. Juan Chingo other is an editorialist and board member at Révolution Permanente, as well as the author of Gilets jaunes, le soulèvement — or Yellow Vests, The Uprising — an examination of the Yellow Vests movement and the contradictions of Macron’s reactionary presidency.Romaric Godin is a journalist in the economics department of Mediapart (an independent French investigative newspaper) and author of La Guerre sociale en France — or The Social War in France — an analysis of the developments of French neoliberalism after the election of Emmanuel Macron in 2017. Juan Chingo other is an editorialist and board member at Révolution Permanente, as well as the author of Gilets jaunes, le soulèvement — or Yellow Vests, The Uprising — an examination of the Yellow Vests movement and the contradictions of Macron’s reactionary presidency.

Hugo Chávez And The Last Solar Eclipse Of The 20th Century

March 13, 2023 Andreína Chávez Alava, Venezuelanalysis. Strategize! History, Hugo Chavez, Socialism, Venezuela

With his arrival, Chávez broke 40 years of a corrupt system and established a participatory and protagonistic democracy that went beyond electoral processes. This has allowed for people to take power by organizing for social, economic, political and educational purposes. Today, plenty of popular organizations self-govern over their land, resources and production. Driven by his desire to build another society where the basic aspects of human life are not commodified, the revolutionary leader launched a myriad of economic and social policies to democratize healthcare, food, housing, and access to technology, sports, and even culture. The renowned social mission were at the heart of this battle.

Forward Ever, Backward Never: Grenada’s Revolution At 40

March 13, 2023 Ronan Burtenshaw, Tribune Magazine. Strategize! Grenada, History, Revolution, Socialism

When Maurice Bishop, the revolutionary Grenadian leader, appeared at Hunter College in Brooklyn, New York in August 1983, the Reagan administration was worried. Four years earlier, in 1979, a socialist revolution had installed Bishop’s New Jewel Movement (NJM) in power in the Caribbean microstate of less than 100,000 people. A state department report from the time summarised the Americans’ concerns. The revolution in Grenada, it said, was in some ways even worse than the Cuban Revolution that had rocked the region a quarter of a century earlier: the vast majority of Grenadians were black, and therefore their struggle could resonate with thirty million black Americans; and the Grenadian revolutionary leaders spoke English, and so could communicate their message with ease to an American audience.

«1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 »

Daily movement news and resources