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Letters from our readers

On “Victims of Mississippi flood must be made whole

 

 

Your analysis is unique in how it carries this historical perspective, showing by example how much more ineffective the political system has become since 1927. A political system is after all a super-structure that stands on and is built upon the economic system and the social relations it embodies. A weakening and steadily ineffective political system thus is only an outward manifestation of a decay in this underlying economic system—capitalism.

 

Thushara
16 May 2011

On “Australian government budget cuts welfare

 

The Australian government like all other international governments will always find scapegoats for the lack of jobs and all the social ills that go hand in hand with the lack of money in the working class. In 1990 when I left school unemployment was so high that when you turned up for an interview there would be over 200 people turn up for a single job.

 

These are the conditions that Labour, Liberal and the Greens want back, to drive down wages in order for major firms to make massive profits at the expense of the working class. The collaborations of the unions will no doubt make this possible through their so-called negotiating process with management, in doing so protecting millions of dollars in shares through their super funds and a source of their privileges.

 

Domination of the elite and their governments is easy to see the world over. The bailout of banks, after their massive criminal speculation collapsed the world economy and threw millions out of work; now wages for new employees are being slashed.

 

There are signs that the working class is fighting back—the setting up of rank and file committees in the United States and in Sri Lanka, which needs to be replicated throughout all industry, is a step in the right direction—and will ultimately break the domination of the unions and leave the working class in a position to decide their own future.

 

The revolutions in Egypt and Tunisia and mass protests the globe over have shown the strength of the working class, but also our weakness. While all the smoke and mirrors are thrown in our faces from big finance to confuse us we will remain isolated and defeated unless we build our own party based on international socialism. That is the building of the Fourth International, the party for world socialist revolution founded by Leon Trotsky.

 

Julian H
Australia

On “Tensions in Kremlin continue to mount

 

President Medvedev’s handling of the Libyan crisis has been a blow to his reelection campaign. It is not just that Russian economic interests (arms sales, investment, etc.) have been set to naught by the Western alliance. But more seriously, his whole policy of rapprochement with the West now looks like a trap. Remember Libya had surrendered the components it possessed for research into “weapons of mass destruction”. It had paid money in compensation for the Lockerbie bombing. Yet NATO seized on internal dissent to the Libyan regime to justify military intervention and began to bomb Libya while the governments of the US, Britain and France called for regime change.

It has occurred to the Russian elites that only their possession of nuclear weapons stops NATO dismembering Russia. So the exclusion of Russia, in practice, from real participation in the “European” missile defense program run from the US will probably result in Putin’s return as president. In that event a political crisis in Europe will be inevitable.

 

Chris
Ireland
16 May 2011

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