Anura from London works for the National Health Service. He said, “I am glad that I attended this meeting. David North’s lecture was very informative, as he described the direction America is going in the aftermath of Donald Trump’s election. He presented very comprehensive data and analysis about not only what is happening in America, but in the entire world. It is a very good lecture for people, especially the young generation, who are looking for a socialist alternative.”
Simon studies history at Kings College in London. He said North’s lecture “made it easy to understand and evidenced everything.” He continued: “It is clear that the working class is the future as far as the direction of world politics is concerned. The political situation has to culminate in either revolution—and a world revolution at that—or humanity will be destroyed as a species.
“I would like to be involved in the work of the Socialist Equality Party. I need to read more, get a better grounding before becoming more closely involved, but I am getting close to the party.”
Callum, a young worker from London, said, “I found out about the lecture through the Facebook campaign. I am amazed how passionate the speaker was. He cares very deeply about what he was talking about, which is refreshing. I found it very interesting.
“David North articulated a lot of the things I agree with, as I am new to the movement and finding out what I believe in and don’t believe in. Today I have heard a lot of things that I agree with, so I want to do more research into the party, as there are lots of different factions claiming to be socialist and I need the resources to know the difference. I have not read the World Socialist Web Site or your party web site yet.
“I’m interested in the Russian Revolution. A lot of the history books you find are dry and objective. You don’t get different perspectives. It is important to hear about different perspectives and what makes up different ideologies. I have bought a copy of David North’s book on The Russian Revolution and the Unfinished Twentieth Century and hope to understand these things more.
“I am struck by how friendly everyone is here, which makes a refreshing change, as most lectures it’s go in then go out with no discussion.”
Matt travelled to the meeting from Durham, north-east England. He said, “The lecture explained that Trump represents a crisis of American democracy. It is not a right-wing turn by broad masses of people. The campaign of Bernie Sanders proves that people are looking for an economic solution and Trump has capitalised on the betrayal of Sanders.
“It was good that David North went through who is in the Trump cabinet. I actually printed that out and have pinned it to my wall at home. Even with the Bush presidencies, it is not comparable how much wealth is concentrated in Trump’s cabinet. How is this in any way progressive? It’s fooling workers, and workers have to be aware of their own interests.
“I think for the rest of the world the implications of Trump’s election are massive, from Germany to Britain to China and Japan. It is not like in the post-war settlement, where America had unparalleled control over everything. That period has come to an end. He has ostracised the Mexican ruling class and they are looking at China now. Trade war leads to actual war and that can’t be understated.
“My family are really concerned about Trump and what it means. A lot of people are concerned that a billionaire, a gangster who is mafia-like, is now at the head of the most powerful nuclear-armed country in the world. I think the points that have been made on the World Socialist Web Site and today that Trump didn’t fall from the sky, that he came from somewhere, that is true. No other web site offers this historical approach.”
Tim came to the meeting from Sheffield. He said, “I read the World Socialist Web Site regularly. When I woke up on the day Donald Trump was elected, I was quite surprised and concerned. David North’s presentation today, including all the graphs and information he presented, explained how the seething anger of the people is increasing over the amount of wealth being monopolised by a smaller and smaller group of people.
“I thought the presentation was brilliant. To see the graphs and how much wealth has been taken away from the general working population in order to be monopolized by a tiny minority of the American population really explains why some people voted for Donald Trump. Rather, they did not vote for Trump, but voted against the establishment politics, especially the politics of the Democratic Party.
“David North pointed out that the drive towards war can be stopped only through the socialist mobilisation of the international working class, recognising that the workers in America, Britain and China have exactly the same interests. The globalisation of production means that the principle of international solidarity is a life-and-death necessity for the working class—for it to defend itself by adopting international socialism and fighting for that on a world scale. I thought his analysis was absolutely brilliant.”