On “Sri Lankan army attempts to block SEP meeting in Jaffna”
It is great to hear about the success of this important meeting despite such intimidation. Reading this report, it appears that the interest and support at the meeting were exactly what the state repression preceding it wished to prevent. The government wants to repress the revolutionary internationalist perspective from reaching new layers of workers, students, youth and the poor. My hat is off to the Sri Lankan Trotskyists once again for their clarity, bravery and determination. For the permanent revolution!
Ed H
Virginia, USA
1 July 2011
On “SEP calls on Sri Lankan plantation workers to reject pay deal”
Thank you for giving a solid perspective to estate employees. Employers and states across the globe work for competitiveness within the global market economy at the expense of labour. This is a requirement today for investors to resort to new technologies in their journey to maximize profits. In Kenya mechanization of plucking is the example relevant to the tea industry. In short, what all these tell is that the international working class is not left with a middle path. The only solution to defend humans on the planet is to work to replace capitalism by socialism through building up the SEP internationally.
IVE
Sri Lanka
29 June 2011
On “Obama’s Katrina”
It might be worth pointing out that FEMA became part of the Dept. of Homeland Security in 2003 under Bush Jr. That’s when its mission changed. Its primary purpose is no longer to help victims of natural disasters. And the minimal help it now provides is proof of that. Its mission is much more sinister.
Joyce E
29 June 2011
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It is very saddening that so many people are suffering for the negligence of our leaders. I hope that more and more people become aware of the government’s loyalty to the big companies instead of the people. Thanks for making me more aware of these things, which you don’t hear much about in the media. Thank goodness for the Internet. We should always protect it from censorship.
David P
29 June 2011
On “Young and jobless in Chicago”
While one student nails it when she says “I don’t know anybody, I have no money,” none of the students mention the most despicable trend in American business: the low-paying or totally unpaid internship. It is almost to the point that students will have to pay to get work experience. This, of course, limits the applicant field to the children of the rich and well connected, and those two things are one and the same. These students are just starting to get the idea of just how stacked the deck is against them. It is worse than they now think.
I write as a former owner of an office employment agency outside of Chicago, which we closed in 2009 because of lack of business. Ten years ago we used to advertise in college newspapers to get students to apply to us for decently paid summer jobs, well above minimum wage. Ten years ago I never heard of such a thing as an unpaid internship. These trends originated during the Bush debacle and are getting extremely worse. The latest corporate employment scheme is the “e-auction,” where corporations put up jobs for bid to multiple staffing firms, with the end result being the absolute lowest bidder winning by paying the lowest wage and having barebones overhead. To my old ears, worker “e-auction” has echoes of wage slavery to it. Perhaps this will be covered in future episodes.
Richey H
Arizona, USA
2 July 2011
On “New Jersey residents denounce bipartisan anti-worker law”
I am so happy that I moved from New Jersey eleven years ago but, alas, only to find a Chris Christie wannabe now running Maine. I am old enough to have experienced Newark and Camden burning, and race riots in Atlantic City High School in 1961. This time around, the fires will rage again I say. New Jersey, historically one of the most politically corrupt states in the US, has seen its share of politicians end their careers in jail. I don’t believe Christie will be an exception. If anything proves that “organized crime” still flourishes in New Jersey, is now in control of government there, it is that Chris Christie is still alive.
Michael B
Maine, USA
29 June 2011
On “New York rape case against former IMF chief collapses”
I am sure many of us had conversations since the Strauss-Kahn affair started, as I did, where our espousal of the perspective found on the WSWS—defense of Dominique Strauss-Kahn’s democratic right to be innocent until proven guilty—was viewed negatively, despite the possible machinations of sections of capital involved in the International Monetary Fund for their interests. This is a vindication of how Marxism is a guide for analyzing the world. The guy is still both a capitalist and personal pig and may yet be guilty of something in this particular affair (there was DNA evidence from his shirt) but now the chances of finding out are low. He is certainly guilty of the crimes against the conditions of living of billions of people committed by the International Monetary Fund. As the WSWS suggests, it is quite possible that he was set up by some in power in France and the US to shift policy in the IMF, but in that case they would then want to prevent any further investigation. How did that jailed boyfriend get the money to put in her account, supposedly from drugs but perhaps with cooperation of government-connected authorities to allow the money to be passed along? In its usual complicity role of cover-up, The New York Times wants us to believe that the conversation of the woman with her jailed boyfriend was not translated until this past Wednesday. I feel for the hotel cleaner, who may get deported, but they are not talking about that.
Harvey L
2 July 2011