My encounter with the WSWS came as a requirement for college coursework. I worked full time at a manufacturing facility and had been studying at college in the vain hopes of bettering my situation through education. Having become less and less satisfied with the state of things in the world through my studies, I read Marx for the first time and began to see more clearly my lot in life and my place in society.

We were assigned an article on the World Socialist Web Site for one of our history classes. I can see now that it speaks to the authority of the WSWS as a transmitter of Marxist analysis. At the time I was not totally familiar with any manner of left organizations as they exist in the present era and so it did not stand out to me.

We read the article “Ted Kennedy and the decay of American Liberalism” and I was struck by the perspective given in the account. At the time I wrote, “I find the Marxist historical method to be extremely valuable in the modern era and it remains one of the few historical philosophies which holds the views and experiences of peasants, serfs and workers as intrinsically valuable.”

After reading this article I couldn’t stop myself from coming back to the WSWS. It took a lot of work to understand the historical battles and the analyses, but after a few months I was a daily reader. I doubt that I would be a committed socialist if it had not been for the WSWS and the monumental dedication of the members of the SEP who were cordial enough to respond to my queries as I sent them.