Socialist Appeal 162 out now!

162-coversmall.jpg A new issue of Socialist Appeal is out. Read more about it or get your copy now before it is too late.
 

Economy in crisis

Profits, crisis and credit crunch: can 1929 happen again?

The New Politics of Welfare Print E-mail
By John Smithee   
Wednesday, 20 February 2008
welfare-benefit.jpgSpongers, Scroungers and Scum. These are just three of the many words used by the tabloids in describing the 2.7 million people on incapacity benefits. Recent figures show that 1.2 million of the 2.7 million people on incapacity benefits are unable to work due to mental health problems. The rising number of claimants who suffer from mental disorders is a reflection of a service-dominated economy.
 
Pakistan elections: The Mother of all Frauds Print E-mail
By Alan Woods   
Tuesday, 19 February 2008
musharraf.jpg Before the results had come in, President Musharraf appeared on the state-run Pakistan Television, calling the vote "the voice of the nation" and the "mother of elections" must be accepted. But in fact this was the Mother of all Frauds.
 
Working the “Graveyard Shift” Print E-mail
By Josh Lucker   
Tuesday, 19 February 2008
Night Construction WorkAs if shift workers needed a new reason to despise their jobs, the World Health Organization has recently declared night work a “probable carcinogen.” Research shows “higher rates of breast and prostate cancer among women and men whose work day starts after dark.”  This is due to the fact that melatonin, which is integral to the body’s functioning, is usually produced at night, while the body rests. Melatonin production is inhibited by the artificial lighting, putting night-shift workers at risk.
 
Pakistan Elections - class contradictions sharpening as the election campaign heats up Print E-mail
By Adam Pal   
Monday, 18 February 2008
riaz_lund_leaflet.jpg We are in the final stages of the election campaign in Pakistan. The masses are clearly backing the PPP in large numbers. Reaction is also preparing. Blatant rigging cannot be ruled out, but this would only serve to enrage the masses. In this context the Marxists are standing in several constituencies, where they are running a revolutionary election campaign that is having a big impact among the workers and poor.
 
British Perspectives - draft document (part 1) Print E-mail
By Socialist Appeal   
Monday, 18 February 2008
karl-marx-med.jpgThis British perspectives draft document (2008), agreed on February 3rd, has been issued by the Socialist Appeal editorial board as part of a wide-ranging discussion about the likely development of events in British society. Such a document is not a blue-print, but an attempt to understand the underlying processes at work in Britain today, and how these will be reflected in the class struggle. The document will be discussed at the Socialist Appeal conference at the end of April.
 
Audio File: Capitalism and the Environment Print E-mail
By Mick Brooks   
Monday, 18 February 2008
capitalism-and-the-environm.jpgThe degradation of the environment has consistently grabbed the headlines in the past few years as the way in which the world is arranged threatens the very existence of life on this planet. Mick Brooks, editor of the Socialist Appeal, talks at the Socialist Appeal day school in December on capitalisms contibution to the environmental problems we face today and and what alternative a socialist society can offer.
 
Leon Sedov – 70 years since his murder Print E-mail
By Rob Sewell   
Friday, 15 February 2008
leon_sedov.jpgTomorrow marks the 70th anniversary of the murder of Trotsky's eldest son - Leon Sedov -by agents of the Stalinist secret police, the GPU. He was thirty-two years of age. This crime constituted part of the systematic hounding and murder of Trotsky's key supporters and family, whose only ‘crime' was to defend genuine Marxism against Stalin and the crimes of the Russian bureaucracy.
 
Bangladesh and the Garments Sector Print E-mail
By Jamil Iqbal   
Friday, 15 February 2008
garment-workers-bangla.jpgThe crisis in the garments sector goes unabated in Bangladesh. On January 30, 2008 two workers in World Dresses Ltd, Mirpur, Dhaka, were attacked and beaten by management staff at the end of an evening shift. One died at 3am, the other is still hospitalised with broken limbs. Fearing unrest management closed the factory on Thursday. When knowledge of the attack reached the company's workers, hundreds demonstrated outside the factory.
 
Change and Struggle in Latin America Meeting at Leeds University Print E-mail
By Ben Curry   
Thursday, 14 February 2008
hvenezuela.jpgMeeting at Leeds University with Darrall Cozens. On Thursday 7th February, having recently returned from a speaking tour of Latin America, Darrall Cozens visited Leeds University to share his experiences with more than 20 students and “Hands off Venezuela!” activists.
 
Fixture 39 – a step too far Print E-mail
By Steve Jones   
Thursday, 14 February 2008
football.jpgThe announcement by English football’s ruling elite, the FA Premier League, that they intend introducing an extra round of fixtures to be played in venues around the world over one single weekend should come as no surprise to anyone. Since its formation 15 years ago as a replacement for the old First Division, the FA Premier League has sought to increase the profitability of its product (their term not mine) out of all proportion – and at our expense.
 
Successful Hands of Venezuela meeting in Manchester Print E-mail
By Ed Doveton   
Thursday, 14 February 2008
hov_but.jpgOn Tuesday 5th February the Manchester Hands of Venezuela held a successful meeting with over 60 people attending. The meeting was held jointly with the Green Party of Manchester to raise awareness of Venezuela, discuss the revolutionary situation and look at changes and developments in the country and more widely in South America as a whole.
 
UNISON activists rally to defend Michael Gavan Print E-mail
By Ben Peck   
Wednesday, 13 February 2008
mgavan.jpgOver 300 from across London came to St. John’s Church in Stratford, Newham, on Monday night to show their solidarity with Michael Gavan, the UNISON chair sacked by Newham council last November as part of their campaign to stop trade unions effectively organising against privatisation. Report includes audio.
 
UNISON - what's going on? Print E-mail
By Terry McPartlan, UNISON   
Wednesday, 13 February 2008
karen-reissmann2.jpgIn November trade unionists marched through Manchester in support of Karen Reissman, but national UNISON speakers and national publicity were conspicuous by their absence. Is Karen being hung out to dry by the UNISON bureaucracy? This is becoming a common tale up and down the country. All UNISON members need to ask some hard questions of the full-time apparatus. If management can get rid of militants with the tacit support of the Union, where does that leave me? Whose side is the union on?
 
Brown's reactionary 'Britishness' Print E-mail
By Niklas Albin Svensson   
Tuesday, 12 February 2008
patriotism.jpgIn a speech on 'liberty' at the University of Westminster, Gordon Brown outlined his vision for 'Britishness'. Brown is, of course, a Scot. Listing the achievements of so-called 'British liberty' from Magna Carta to the Reform Act of 1832, he announced a debate on what it means to be British. Brown's vision, however, amounts to nothing more than reactionary politics dressed in liberal-radical language.
 
Northumberland - Stop the sell off of services! Print E-mail
By Barry Purdy, County Council employee, UNISON member   
Tuesday, 12 February 2008
brown-thatcher.jpgNew Labour should hang their heads in shame in their ongoing programme of cuts, closures and job losses in the public sector. Margaret Thatcher’s band of robbers would be proud of their accomplishments and their policies sit so easily within a Tory ideology that it is no wonder the Tories don’t look like an opposition. They don’t need to. They have been in power in the guise of New Labour for over 11 years.
 
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Forthcoming Events

Wed, May 21st, @6:00pm - 08:00PM
London: Film Screening - "The hour of the furnaces"
Sat, May 24th, @11:00am - 04:30PM
London: Beyond the Market Economy - socialist solutions for the economic crisis

Audio

money_managementsmall.jpg Audio File: What is money?

At a Youth School of the Socialist Appeal late last year Mick Brooks introduced a discussion on 'What is money?'. Given the current financial turmoil many are asking what is behind the jargon given by economic commentators today. This serves as a useful introduction to the idea and concept of money.

Listen here. 

 

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