Don’t Kid Yourself This is One Crisis that Will Not Go Away

Publications: 

Listen to the news on any day and there is no shortage of crisis talk. The bulletins tell us that we are in a mess for many reasons. Greedy bankers, corrupt politicians, unbalanced state budgets (so-called sovereign debt), or the Euro, all get a mention. But the truth is that this crisis is much more serious than any of these. · This is not a crisis caused only by “greedy bankers”.

And for those without a job ... The Work Programme

Regions: 
Publications: 

Workfare - the idea that claimants should work for their benefits now that capitalist economic crisis and corporate moves to exploit Far Eastern cheap labour has thrown them on the dole - was imported from America by the last Labour Government [the so-called Flexible New Deal]. Naturally, the ConDems have picked up this nasty anti-claimant baton and have refined it as the Work Programme, pledging...

There is a Real Alternative

Publications: 

There’s one thing about the present crisis: the idea that there must be a better alternative capitalism is gaining ground. Day by day, as daily life becomes more and more gruelling, the need to find that alternative is becoming a practical necessity. Yes, the technological means and infrastructure exist to make another world possible, a world where everybody can make a contribution to society,...

The Oakland General Strike

Publications: 

(The following articles are from Battaglia Comunista with an update from Internationalist Notes - US) · It was very unusual general strike that occurred on Wednesday, November 2 in Oakland, where thousands of people marched through the city centre for hours and blocked port activities (the city, with about 400,000 inhabitants, is in the heart of San Francisco Bay. It is the fifth biggest U.S.

The Difficult Path to the Revival of Working Class Struggle

Editorial for Revolutionary Perspectives 59 · 2011 has seen a dramatic leap forward in the global capitalist crisis. Not only have we witnessed the stirrings of the “Arab Spring” but we have also seen the occupation of city centres across the world. First came the indignados in Spain who found their imitators elsewhere.

30 November: One Off Protest or Working Class Reawakening?

(Since the last issue of RP we’ve seen disaffected youths rampaging and looting through the streets of major cities as wild fluctuations in stock markets leave governments and central banks perplexed about what to do next. In the UK Prime Minister Cameron insists the spending cuts must continue while the Bank of England issues another £75bn of ‘quantitative easing’ and the budget deficit keeps...

“Occupy the World” – Fertile Soil for Revolutionary Intervention, but No Solution to the Capitalist Crisis

First of all, let us not be naïve. Let us not think that this movement, nor the Spanish 15M movement, nor the "Arab revolts" which could be said to be the precursor for all these movements which are seeing mass assemblies in high profile locations to protest against the increasingly intolerable conditions which we face as a class the world over represent the long awaited turning of the tables...

On the October 15 Riots in Rome: violence, non-violence, class struggle

Regions: 

15 October was the first global event (spread over 90 countries) against the effects of the crisis. · The events were notable everywhere for their peaceful and inter-class character. These two features broadly represent the major limitations of this "movement". Pacifism is a limitation for us not because the demonstrations - in general demonstrations of struggle and protest - should express...

The Housing Question: An Eternal Riddle for Capitalism

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Facts: 

As long as capitalism has existed there has been a housing crisis, and this particular phase shows how bankrupt this system is, figuratively and increasingly literally. Homelessness, slums and overcrowding are the visible signs of poverty in the midst of plenty and while poor housing has blighted the lives of workers for generations, now more than ever it is an obvious sign of the failure of...

Greek General Strike - The Stalinists line up with the State

Politics: 
Regions: 

On 19 October in tune with the 48 hours general strike huge anti-austerity protests organised by the two major trade unions GESEE and ADEDY took place in Greece. In Athens alone perhaps as many as a million people marched towards Syntagma Square expressing anger against the vote on austerity measures in Parliament.

Euro Crisis - Capitalism in a Quagmire of Debt

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The Eurozone Sovereign Debt Crisis has once again become the key threat to global capitalism and the likely epicentre of another financial earthquake. It was the main topic of the G20 summit in Paris in mid October, and following on from this a special Eurozone summit on 23rd October is due to present the "final solution" to Eurozone sovereign debt crisis.

Germany and the Eurocrisis: Limits to an Expansionist Project

Regions: 

While worries in the Eurozone about state bankruptcies grow, Germany is reporting favourable economic data. Chancellor Merkel even goes so far as to say that for Germany, "things are better than they have been for a long time". Even the otherwise rather restrained specialist journal Internationale Politik sounds triumphant: · "The months of the 2010 European rescue have shown that Angela Merkel...

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