Perspective
Perspective
Perspective
Urgent action is necessary to stop the US Delta variant surge!
The United States is in the midst of a major new upsurge of the COVID-19 pandemic that threatens a “wave of infection” throughout the country.
Top Stories
Workers are returning to the factory in a confident and militant mood after striking two times over the last four months and rejecting three, and more likely four, UAW-backed concession contracts.
Jerry White•
The WSWS spoke with Rob, a veteran operating engineer in the Kansas City area and regular reader of the WSWS, on the significance and lessons of the month-long strike by Volvo Trucks workers in Dublin, Virginia.
Barry Grey•
The floods, which have claimed the lives of over 180 people in Germany and Belgium, expose in many ways the bankruptcy of capitalism and its political representatives.
Johannes Stern•
A breach of Israeli spy company NSO Group revealed 50,000 phone numbers, including those belonging to journalists, slated for infection with spyware capable of viewing a target’s personal messages and information.
Alex Findijs•
The right-wing terrorists, animated by Trump’s election lies, planned to use pipe bombs and automatic rifles in their attack, according to a grand jury indictment.
Jacob Crosse•
In the last seven days, Britain recorded 296,768 new cases of COVID-19, up 41 percent on the previous week and the second highest seven-day total in the world. Only Indonesia with 341,749 cases, but with a population of 276.5 million—four times the size of Britain—recorded more.
Robert Stevens•
The surge of infections across the United States with the hyper-transmissible Delta variant has commenced as the vaccination campaign has stalled, leaving millions unvaccinated and vulnerable.
Benjamin Mateus•
There is a clamour from big business for governments to take on popular sentiment, lift all restrictions and let the virus rip.
Oscar Grenfell•
Many questions were raised and answered about how to fight back against the pro-business restructuring and decimation of public education.
our reporters•
The ruling elite is acutely conscious of the significance of these protests in the country’s economic powerhouse, where thousands of contract workers in Iran's oil industry have been on strike for weeks, demanding better wages and working conditions in the southern gas fields and some refineries in the big cities and winning growing support elsewhere.
Jean Shaoul•
The state’s barbaric and medieval anti-abortion law, which is set to go into effect in September this year, bans abortions by allowing citizens to sue those who perform or “aid” in abortions for $10,000, with a successful case stipulating the sued parties to pay the plaintiffs.
Chase Lawrence•
The courts have vacated a Food and Drug Administration ban on the use of a barbaric electrical shock system used by a Massachusetts “school” on residents ages three to adult.
Nancy Hanover•
The nationalist diatribe of a Left Party leader—a review of the new book by Sahra Wagenknecht
A leading member of the German Left Party, Wagenknecht rages venomously against cosmopolitanism and cultural openness while promoting protectionism and a strong state.
Peter Schwarz•
Jean-Luc Mélenchon supports anti-vaccine protest called by French neofascists
The call to let the virus spread unimpeded has won support not only among neo-fascist activists, but inside Jean-Luc Mélenchon’s Unsubmissive France.
Alex Lantier•
Eighty-five years since the outbreak of the Spanish Civil War
Eighty-five years ago, on July 17, 1936, the Spanish army launched a fascist coup against the the country’s Republic, provoking the Spanish Civil War.
Alejandro López•
General Milley and America’s “Reichstag moment”
Gen. Mark Milley’s reaction to the January 6 assault on the Capitol has given the lie to all the claims that the significance of the event was being exaggerated and it was wrong to call it a coup.
Bill Van Auken•
Roger Jordan, Keith Jones•
Socialist Equality Party (US)•
Fred Mazelis•
Cordell Gascoigne•
Socialist Equality Group (Brazil)•
Opposition to Olympics escalates as Japan declares its fourth state of emergency
Despite the very real danger of the spread of infections, the Japanese government, the Tokyo Olympics Committee, and the International Olympics Committee have refused to cancel or postpone the Games.
Emily Ochiai•
Thirty-seven deaths among New York City transit workers so far this year as city’s infrastructure continues to crumble
Following the reopening of New York City, a new normal is emerging for transit workers and riders consisting of the normalization of death, failing service, and stepped-up attacks on jobs.
Daniel de Vries•
Jean-Luc Mélenchon supports anti-vaccine protest called by French neofascists
The call to let the virus spread unimpeded has won support not only among neo-fascist activists, but inside Jean-Luc Mélenchon’s Unsubmissive France.
Alex Lantier•
Many health workers across Australia remain unvaccinated as coronavirus outbreak spirals out of control
With a major COVID outbreak in Sydney and Melbourne, there are still tens of thousands of aged care workers who have not been vaccinated, as a result of government policies.
Clare Bruderlin•
Benjamin Mateus•
Robert Stevens•
Tamino Dreisam, Florian Hasek•
Evan Blake•
Tomas Castanheira•
Company and police harassment continues against Alton Estate workers in Sri Lanka
The frame-up trial of Alton Estate workers has been postponed for another four months, with the company and police stepping up their victimisation of the highly exploited, low-paid workers.
M. Thevarajah•
Tennessee zinc mine collapse kills one, injures two
A wall collapse at Immel Nyrstar zinc mine in Mascot, Tennessee on Tuesdaykilled one miner and injured two others, Immel’s second fatal incident this year and the third for Nyrstar.
Shelley Connor•
Tentative contract agreement with Providence Medical Center in Everett, Washington leaves nurses facing chronic understaffing
The contract “highlights” published by UFCW Local 21 provide only sketchy details, but the agreement clearly falls far short of meeting the demands by nurses for adequate pay and staffing.
Shelby Michaels•
Autoworker dies at Ford’s Rouge complex outside Detroit
Workers at the complex have suffered massive jobs destruction, pay cuts and systematic attacks on working conditions over many decades.
Tim Rivers•
Sozialistische Gleichhheitspartei (Germany)•
Samuel Davidson•
Terry Cook•
Jean Shaoul•
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Take Me Somewhere Nice: Young and reckless energy
A teenage girl, Alma (Sara Luna Zoric), living in the Netherlands with her mother, returns to her native Bosnia to visit a father, now seriously ill, who she hardly knows.
David Walsh•
A conversation with Sabrina Van Tassel, director of The State of Texas vs. Melissa: “Justice depends on whether you are rich or poor”
French-American filmmaker Sabrina Van Tassel’s documentary The State of Texas vs. Melissa, now streaming on Hulu, powerfully recounts the case of Melissa Lucio, who has sat on death row in Texas for 13 years.
Joanne Laurier, David Walsh•
New York City’s arts organizations have lost nearly $1 billion in income due to pandemic
One measure of the toll that the COVID-19 pandemic has taken on American and global cultural life has been its impact on artists in New York, the major cultural center in the US.
David Walsh•
Auschwitz survivor and fighter against fascism Esther Bejarano has died
With her inexhaustible verve, determination, and joie de vivre, Esther Bejarano is and will remain an inspiration in the struggles to come.
Katerina Selin•
Clare Hurley•
Joanne Laurier•
Verena Nees•
David Walsh•
John Andrews•
This week in history: July 19–25
This column profiles important historical events which took place during this week, 25 years ago, 50 years ago, 75 years ago and 100 years ago.
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100 years since the founding of the Chinese Communist Party
The world historical significance of the 1921 founding of the Chinese Communist Party stands in stark contrast to the hypocrisy and falsifications that characterise the official centenary celebrations.
Peter Symonds•
Eighty years since the Nazi war of annihilation against the Soviet Union
Eighty years ago, on June 22, 1941, the German military invaded the Soviet Union. They combined the barbarism of the Middle Ages with the most modern technology of the 20th century.
Peter Schwarz•
“If they were going to die, I was going to die with them”
Jimmy Allen Ruth, 1961 Freedom Rides bus driver, dead at 83
Ruth, a working class white man from rural Tennessee, risked his life to help end Jim Crow segregation.
Warren Duzak, Tom Mackaman•
David North•
Clara Weiss•
Carl Bronski•
Clara Weiss•
Alex Lantier•
United Auto Workers moves to rapidly shut down Volvo Trucks strike after dubious passage of new contract
The rapid shutdown of the strike is the culmination of a flagrantly undemocratic campaign by the UAW to override the democratic will of workers and impose a deal that it had cooked up with the company from the beginning.
Tom Hall, Ed Hightower•
UAW claims revote of Volvo Trucks contract passes by 17 ballots, while workers raise accusations of fraud
With every aspect of the UAW’s actions throughout the contract negotiations characterized by treachery and deceit, there is no reason to believe that its claims of ratification are legitimate.
Marcus Day•
“To be united with them would be great”
Belgian Volvo Cars workers support striking Volvo workers in Virginia
The WSWS spoke with workers today at the afternoon shift change at Volvo Cars in Ghent, Belgium about their struggle and the ongoing Volvo Trucks strike in Virginia
our reporters•
Video: Volvo workers call for rejection of third TA
This video features two striking Volvo workers in Virginia speaking on their struggle and denouncing the UAW's efforts to ram through a pro-company contract already voted down by the rank-and-file.
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Ulrich Rippert•
Our reporter•
Joseph Kishore•
Jerry White•
Jan Miller•
Australian senator calls for end to One China policy
Rex Patrick’s remarks reflect US pressure on its key allies in Asia to line up with every aspect of its anti-China campaign, including the potentially explosive focus on Taiwan and the “One China” policy.
Peter Symonds•
Bloomberg says Sri Lanka is the highest risk of foreign debt default in Asia
Sri Lanka is reeling under the impact of an economic crisis exacerbated by global pandemic, with export income and remittances falling drastically and tourism having all but collapsed.
Saman Gunadasa•
Online public meeting in Australia: Oppose all the job cuts at Macquarie University and nationally! Build rank-and-file committees to defend public education!
Developments this week at universities across Australia have underscored the critical importance of the joint online public meeting called by the International Youth and Students for Social Equality (IYSSE) and the Committee for Public Education (CFPE) this Saturday, July 17 at 4 p.m. (AEST).
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New details about the horrific working conditions that created Bangladesh fire tragedy
The government’s consistent defence of factory owners who openly violate basic workplace safety is common knowledge throughout the country and internationally.
Wimal Perera•
Martin Scott•
Max Boddy•
John Harris•
Our correspondents•
Oscar Grenfell•
University of Sheffield forces through closure of world-renowned archaeology department
No confidence can be placed in the UCU to act on its last-minute threat to organise industrial action in the autumn. It has delayed any action until now so that closure can proceed as planned.
Simon Whelan, Robert Stevens•
Flooding in Germany and Belgium leaves over 100 dead
On the part of the authorities, there were either no warnings, or they came so late that the residents could not get to safety in time.
Elisabeth Zimmermann•
German military readies itself for war in space
Berlin’s defence minister and the country’s most senior military officer launched the Bundeswehr’s new Space Command this week.
Johannes Stern•
Savas Michael-Matsas lauds nationalist forces in Donbass region of eastern Ukraine
The struggle against imperialism, fascism and war requires the revolutionary mobilization of the working class on the basis of an international socialist program. Support for the Russian nationalist forces in eastern Ukraine plays into the hands of the fascist forces in Kiev, which are supported by the NATO powers.
Johannes Stern•
Alex Lantier•
Julie Hyland•
Elisabeth Zimmermann, Marianne Arens•
Tony Robson•
our reporter•
Wildfires fueled by heat wave and drought surge across California and western US
Extreme heat is triggering wildfires across several US states and Canada, requiring evacuations in California, Oregon, Washington, Idaho and British Columbia.
Adria French•
Sanders, Schumer reach deal on Biden budget
The agreement sets a ceiling for the new social spending being proposed by the Democrats at $3.5 trillion over 10 years—a tiny proportion of the trillions being accumulated by the super-rich.
Patrick Martin•
Quebec public sector workers’ struggle at the crossroads
The public sector workers’ struggle is being systematically sabotaged by the unions, which are determined to prevent a working class challenge to the right-wing CAQ provincial government and the austerity agenda of the entire capitalist elite.
Laurent Lafrance•
New York City flooding exposes failing infrastructure
A few powerful thunderstorms left hundreds of motorists stranded and created dangerous conditions in the mass transit system.
Mark Witkowski•
Patrick Martin•
Jacob Crosse•
Brian Green, Kristina Betinis•
William Quartermaine•
Cordell Gascoigne•
US banks post record second-quarter profits as millions face social disaster
Ultra-loose monetary policies, which have remained unchanged from Trump to Biden, sent bank profits soaring while millions of workers remain unemployed.
Jacob Crosse•
Despite inflation, Fed will not pull back on present monetary policies
Fed chairman Powell insisted that, while inflation had “increased notably” and the price rises were higher and more persistent than the Fed had anticipated, the rises were “transitory” and inflation would begin to decline.
Nick Beams•
Record inflation in US leads to double digit increases in basic consumer goods
Rising food, shelter and car prices, coupled with stagnant wages and the ending of pandemic-related government programs, leaves millions on the brink of destitution, fueling class tensions.
Jacob Crosse•
US Fed minutes reveal divisions but money flow set to continue
The differences centred on two key questions: the direction of interest rate policy and at what point the Fed should start winding back its program of asset purchases.
Nick Beams•
Nick Beams•
Nick Beams•
Nick Beams•
Nick Beams•
Nick Beams•
Australian state government pushing for school reopening despite Sydney COVID-19 crisis
The government has temporarily shifted to online learning over fears of triggering further opposition among teachers and school staff.
Erika Zimmer•
As Delta variant takes root in Southern California
Los Angeles teachers union reaches agreement to fully reopen schools
A dangerous precedent has been set by the United Teachers Los Angeles that will be followed by districts throughout the West Coast.
Hong Jian, Kimie Saito•
Teachers picket Labour-run council over COVID-19 safety victimisations
Redbridge Council, which Labour holds with an 81 percent majority, has sided openly with the Johnson government’s Department for Education, endorsing teacher victimisations and sackings during the pandemic.
Laura Tiernan•
Los Angeles Times promotes right-wing parents’ group that advocates lifting of mask mandates for students
The fringe right-wing parents’ group, whose members have close ties to charter schools, has established a non-profit to lobby for an even more aggressive opening of schools this fall.
Angelo Perera•
Hong Jian, Kimie Saito•
Alexander Fangmann•
Chase Lawrence•
Renae Cassimeda•
WSWS Educators Newsletter•
Eighty years since the Nazi invasion of the Soviet Union
The WSWS has published a feature page incorporating a selection of essential essays from its own archives, and other documents produced contemporaneously by the Fourth International.
Read more
The mass demonstrations against Bolsonaro and the fight for socialism in Brazil
The scale and persistence of the demonstrations express growing discontent among broad layers of the population with the existing capitalist order.
Socialist Equality Group (Brazil)•
Washington has not ruled out sending troops to Haiti
A US security delegation dispatched to Port-au-Prince brought together the three figures claiming to be head of state following the assassination of de facto president Jovenel Moïse.
Bill Van Auken•
Haitian government calls for international military intervention after President’s assassination
In the aftermath of the assassination of Haitian President Jovenel Moïse in the early hours of the morning last Wednesday, the impoverished Caribbean nation’s interim government has appealed for a foreign military intervention to protect key infrastructure.
Richard Dufour, Roger Jordan•
Military threatens Congress over COVID inquiry as Bolsonaro says Brazil “may not have” elections
Fraudulently promoted for decades as guardians of democracy, the Brazilian military now claims the right to overrule the elected government.
Miguel Andrade•
Bill Van Auken•
Andrea Lobo•
Armando Cruz, Cesar Uco•
Bill Van Auken•
Bill Van Auken•
Scientists demolish “Wuhan lab” conspiracy theory of coronavirus origins
On Wednesday, 21 of the world’s leading experts on the origins of infectious diseases published a preprint paper demolishing the conspiracy theory promoted by the Biden administration and the US media that COVID-19 was a man-made virus.
Andre Damon•
How science demolishes the right-wing fiction of a Wuhan “lab leak” as the source of coronavirus
The science underlying the origins of SARS-CoV-2 distinctly points to the virus emerging from nature rather than from a laboratory.
Benjamin Mateus•
“Wuhan lab” theory proponent Nicholas Wade pushed racist pseudo-science in 2014 book
The New York Times and Washington Post are citing a serial fabricator whose 2014 book was condemned by the biologists whose research he cited, together with more than 140 other scientists.
Andre Damon•
The “Wuhan lab” lie and the political witch hunt against science
Over the past week, the US media and the Biden administration have sought to legitimize the conspiracy theory that the world’s leading scientists were engaged in a cover-up of the “Wuhan lab” origins of COVID-19.
Andre Damon•
Andre Damon•
Andre Damon•
Alice Summers•
Julie Hyland•
Patrick O’Connor•
An Open Letter to Maria Svart, National Director of the Democratic Socialists of America
This letter, by Socialist Equality Party Chairman David North, responds to Twitter posts by DSA leaders in support of the 1940 assassination of Leon Trotsky by an agent of Stalin’s secret police.
David North•
Democratic Socialists of America must issue public apology for celebrating assassination of Leon Trotsky
Historian Victoria Bynum issued the following statement demanding the DSA repudiate and apologize for the leadership’s coordinated celebration of the assassination of Trotsky and discipline those responsible.
Victoria Bynum•
Joseph Kishore and Eric London explain political significance of DSA’s praise for Trotsky assassination on Progressive News Network with Brook Hines
The program addressed the pro-imperialist origins of the DSA and the significance of its present celebration of the crimes of Stalinism.
our reporters•
Joseph Kishore, Eric London discuss DSA’s celebration of Trotsky assassination on “Eclectic Radical with Chris Richards”
On Saturday, June 5, Socialist Equality Party National Secretary Joseph Kishore and WSWS writer Eric London appeared on the podcast “Eclectic Radical” hosted by Chris Richards.
Our Reporters•
Johannes Stern•
Eric London•
our reporters•
David North•
David North•
Nikole Hannah-Jones rejects UNC tenure offer to take position at Howard University, backed by millions in foundation funding
The 1619 Project creator will join writer Ta-Nehisi Coates in founding the Center for Journalism and Democracy at Howard with $20 million in funding from the Knight Foundation, MacArthur Foundation, the Ford Foundation and an anonymous donor.
Niles Niemuth•
1619 Project creator Nikole Hannah-Jones granted tenure after weeks of media furor
The University of North Carolina Chapel Hill Board of Trustees voted to grant Hannah-Jones’ application for a full tenure professorship after weeks of outrage and accusations of racism over an initial decision to postpone a vote.
Niles Niemuth•
A letter to the Chronicle of Higher Education on the World Socialist Web Site, Nikole Hannah-Jones and the 1619 Project
This letter from WSWS International Editorial Board Chairperson David North was sent to the Chronicle of Higher Education in response to its article, “‘What the Hell Happened?’ Inside the Nikole Hannah-Jones tenure case.”
David North•
Introduction to The New York Times’ 1619 Project and the Racialist Falsification of History
This is the introduction by WSWS International Editorial Board Chairman David North to a volume, available for delivery in January 2021, containing the main interviews and essays published by the WSWS exposing the New York Times’ racialist falsification of American history.
David North•
Andrea Peters•
Trévon Austin, Tom Mackaman•
Tom Mackaman, David North•
David North, Tom Mackaman•
Tom Mackaman•
The definitive left-wing critique of the 1619 Project. This volume includes interviews with eminent historians and essays from the World Socialist Web Site exposing the New York Times’ racialist falsification of history.
UK High Court grants US government right to appeal on Assange extradition
Stella Moris warned yesterday that the High Court’s decision meant her partner, “is still at risk of extradition where he faces a 175-year prison sentence and where according to the magistrate he is almost certain to lose his life.”
Laura Tiernan•
Assange turns 50 in Belmarsh prison, his life still under threat
Assange has now spent more than one fifth of his life persecuted by the US state and its allies.
Thomas Scripps•
Corporate media blacks out admission that witness against Assange lied for US indictment
A Google News search indicates that not a single English-language corporate publication has reported the confession of a key US witness against Assange that his allegations were false.
Oscar Grenfell•
Key witness against Assange admits to lying in exchange for US immunity
The US indictment against Assange is based on fabrications concocted by American spies and a convicted Icelandic conman and pedophile who functioned as their stool pigeon.
Oscar Grenfell•
Thomas Scripps•
Julie Hyland•
Clara Weiss•
Paul Bond•
Steve James•
In speech on voting rights, Biden acknowledges American democracy is at death’s door
Biden’s dire acknowledgement of the state of American democracy stood in the starkest contrast to the feckless and impotent character of his proposals to defend it.
Barry Grey•
The CPAC conference and the fascist transformation of Trump’s Republican Party
Donald Trump is consolidating power over the Republican Party, transforming it from a conservative bourgeois party into a fascist party with a personalist leader and a paramilitary wing.
Eric London•
Biden administration capitulates to Republican attacks on voting rights
The Democratic Party leadership has largely dropped efforts, either in Congress or the courts, to overturn restrictive new state laws.
Patrick Martin•
Biden administration rolls out red carpet for Saudi prince implicated in Khashoggi murder
The reception for Prince Khalid bin Salman, a key accomplice in the savage assassination of Jamal Khashoggi, lays bare the hypocrisy of Biden’s “human rights” imperialism.
Bill Van Auken•
Jacob Crosse•
Kevin Reed•
Ray Coleman•
Alex Johnson•
Kevin Reed•
Thousands of Turkish electricity workers launch wildcat strike wave
Thousands of energy workers in many cities in Turkey went on wildcat strikes, independent of the union, against the misery contracts.
Hasan Yıldırım, Ulaş Ateşçi•
Israel’s “government of change” shows its right-wing credentials
All the Bennett government’s leading lights were once aides to Benjamin Netanyahu, occupied senior government posts under his leadership and have no significant political differences with him.
Jean Shaoul•
Petrochemical workers in Iran strike over pay and conditions
The strike has spread to at least 70 oil and gas installations and refineries and petrochemical plants, with tens of thousands of workers reportedly staying at home or in their dormitories.
Jean Shaoul•
Palestinians demand end of Abbas presidency after death of activist
The protests highlight the growing anger towards the Palestinian Authority over terrible economic and social conditions amid systemic corruption.
Jean Shaoul•
Ozan Özgür•
Jean Shaoul•
Jean Shaoul•
Ulaş Ateşçi•
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Pentagon cancels JEDI contract and plans more advanced cloud-based warfare platform
The US Defense Department has canceled the cloud computing solicitation known as JEDI and replaced it with a request for a more advanced IT platform that will enable imperialist warfare to be fought with artificial intelligence and unprecedented information gathering and processing power.
Kevin Reed•
Ukraine, UK to carry out “Cossack Mace” military exercises
While Ukraine and NATO often declare that their military exercises are “defensive” in nature, “Cossack Mace” differs in that it openly states that its forces are practicing for an offensive.
Jason Melanovski•
Leaked documents confirm UK discussed possible military response by Russia to Black Sea/Crimea provocation
The documents confirm that the UK was aware of a possible hostile response by Russia and decided to proceed anyway.
Chris Marsden•
Germany’s defence ministry protects fascist networks in the armed forces
Defence Minister Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer expressed her “fundamental confidence” in Germany’s Special Forces Command (KSK), which despite a string of far-right scandals will not be disbanded.
Gregor Link•
IYSSE at Humboldt University of Berlin•
Robert Stevens•
Andrea Peters•
Jean Shaoul•
Johannes Stern•
Families picket road to prevent the sealing of New Zealand’s Pike River mine
Families have picketed the road to Pike River coal mine, demanding that the Labour government reverse its plan to end the underground investigation into the 2010 disaster, which killed 29 people.
Tom Peters•
New Zealand government preparing to seal Pike River mine
Equipment has been stripped out of the drift tunnel as the Labour Party-led government prepares to seal the mine in order to prevent a proper forensic investigation into the causes of the 2010 disaster that killed 29 people.
Tom Peters•
Stop the New Zealand government’s plan to seal Pike River mine!
The Pike River Recovery Agency is racing to seal the coal mine to prevent the recovery of bodies and evidence that could lead to the prosecution of those responsible for the 2010 disaster that killed 29 workers.
Tom Peters•
What is the New Zealand government trying to bury in Pike River mine?
The Labour Party government aims to prevent the thorough examination of underground evidence that could be used to prosecute corporate criminals responsible for the deaths of 29 men in the 2010 Pike River disaster.
Tom Peters•
Our reporters•
Tom Peters•
Our reporters•
Tom Peters•
Tom Peters•
Sozialistische Gleichheitspartei admitted to Germany’s federal elections
The Federal Election Committee upheld the party status of the Sozialistische Gleichheitspartei (Socialist Equality Party, SGP), enabling it to participate in September’s federal election. However, in an attack on democratic rights, it withheld party status to almost half the organisations that applied.
Our reporters•
Working-class resistance is developing across the Indian sub-continent and internationally against the ruling elites
SEP (Sri Lanka) General Secretary Wije Dias delivered this speech to an online May 30 public meeting organised by the SEP.
Wije Dias•
Joseph Kishore, Eric London discuss DSA’s celebration of Trotsky assassination on “Eclectic Radical with Chris Richards”
On Saturday, June 5, Socialist Equality Party National Secretary Joseph Kishore and WSWS writer Eric London appeared on the podcast “Eclectic Radical” hosted by Chris Richards.
Our Reporters•
Unify the working class across the Indian subcontinent to fight the COVID-19 pandemic!
Only an international, scientific health strategy can defeat this highly contagious virus, which ignores borders and passports and infects people of all nationalities.
V. Gnana•
M. Thevarajah•
Keith Jones•
Deepal Jayasekera•
Joseph Kishore•
David North•
Baltimore Amazon workers endorse International Workers Alliance of Rank-and-File Committees
The Amazon BWI2 Independent Rank-and-File Safety Committee hereby affiliates itself with the IWA-RFC, and calls for our fellow Amazon workers to do the same.
BWI2 Independent Rank-and-File Safety Committee•
Rank-and-File Committee for Safe Education in Turkey supports call for IWA-RFC
At its latest online meeting, the Rank-and-File Committee for Safe Education in Turkey adopted two important resolutions.
Our reporters•
Forward to the International Workers Alliance of Rank-and-File Committees!
The International Committee of the Fourth International will mark May Day with an online rally to issue a call for the formation of the International Workers Alliance of Rank-and-File Committees (IWA-RFC).
Statement of the International Committee of the Fourth International•
May Day 2021 and the global class struggle
We are publishing here the text of the opening report to the 2021 International Online May Day Rally delivered by David North.
David North•
our reporters•
Peter Symonds•
Pennsylvania Educators Rank-and-File Safety Committee•
Our reporters•
Joseph Kishore•
US district court ruling allows electric shock “therapy” of intellectually disabled students
The courts have vacated a Food and Drug Administration ban on the use of a barbaric electrical shock system used by a Massachusetts “school” on residents ages three to adult.
Nancy Hanover•
Australia: CFPE/IYSSE meeting calls for rank-and-file committees to fight education cuts
Many questions were raised and answered about how to fight back against the pro-business restructuring and decimation of public education.
our reporters•
As Delta variant spreads in German schools, government intensifies herd immunity policy
The federal and state governments are putting the lives and health of tens of thousands more people at risk by demanding unsafe face-to-face teaching at the end of the summer holidays.
Tamino Dreisam, Florian Hasek•
Online public meeting in Australia: Oppose all the job cuts at Macquarie University and nationally! Build rank-and-file committees to defend public education!
Developments this week at universities across Australia have underscored the critical importance of the joint online public meeting called by the International Youth and Students for Social Equality (IYSSE) and the Committee for Public Education (CFPE) this Saturday, July 17 at 4 p.m. (AEST).
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Dominic Gustavo•
John Harris•
our reporter•
Our reporters•
Chase Lawrence•
UK’s right-wing media launch McCarthyite witch-hunt of scientists
Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s rush to scrap any possible restrictions on private profit-making is bringing into sharp focus fundamentally opposed class interests.
Thomas Scripps•
Report finds extreme heatwaves would have been “virtually impossible” without global warming
Events like the recent Pacific Northwest disaster would have been “at least 150 times rarer without human-induced climate change.”
Adria French•
Teviston, California without running water for several weeks, with no end in sight
The community of nearly 1,000 in California’s Central Valley lost water after the pump in the only functioning well broke down.
Shawn Velia•
UK imaging study reveals loss of brain’s grey matter in patients infected with COVID-19
A recent brain imaging study conducted by the University of Oxford and Imperial College London concluded that individuals with COVID-19 infection sustain a loss of brain grey matter compared to those not infected, which may increase the risk for future neurological diseases, such as dementia and Alzheimer’s.
Benjamin Mateus•
Benjamin Mateus•
Benjamin Mateus•
Benjamin Mateus•
Bryan Dyne•
Samuel Tissot•
US seizes PressTV.com and 32 other Iranian media website domains
In a provocative act of censorship and imperialist gangsterism, the Biden administration took control of three dozen internet domains and shut down websites affiliated with Iran-based media organizations on unsubstantiated grounds of “disinformation campaigns and malign influence operations.”
Kevin Reed•
Why is the World Socialist Web Site still blacklisted on the Reddit r/coronavirus and r/politics forums?
We are calling on Reddit members to demand that the moderators of r/coronavirus and r/politics halt the McCarthyite blacklisting of content links from the World Socialist Web Site .
Kevin Reed•
Stop the censorship of COVID-19 whistleblower Rebekah Jones!
Jones’s suspension from Twitter comes less than 10 days after she was officially designated as a whistleblower by the state of Florida.
Alex Johnson•
Florida data scientist Rebekah Jones granted whistleblower status
The action comes after Jones was fired and witchhunted by Governor Ron DeSantis for opposing his campaign to ignore COVID-19 and reopen schools and workplaces.
Trévon Austin•
WSWS Educators Newsletter•
Jesse Thomas•
Tom Peters•
ANC government roiled by angry protests as South Africans protest worsening social conditions
The protests were initially triggered by last week’s jailing of former president Jacob Zuma, ordered by the Constitutional Court for contempt of court for initially defying its order to appear at an inquiry into corruption during his presidency from 2009 to 2018.
Jean Shaoul•
Ethiopia wracked by internal war and inter-state conflict as famine rages in Tigray
Abiy’s loss of Mekelle marks a turning point in a war that has plunged Ethiopia, Africa’s second most populous country of 112 million people, into chaos amid escalating ethnic conflicts around the country.
Jean Shaoul•
South Africa’s top court sentences former ANC President Jacob Zuma to 15 months
While multi-millionaire President Cyril Ramaphosa made pro-forma statements about rooting out corruption, he has mostly targeted his political rivals.
Jean Shaoul•
Amid French war, Malian military junta installs new interim government
The junta and the interim government aim to suppress mounting opposition among working and toiling people across Mali to the French occupation of their country.
Kumaran Ira•
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Kumaran Ira•
Kumaran Ira•
Will Morrow•
Will Morrow•
One year of the coronavirus pandemic
March 11 marks one year since the World Health Organization declared COVID-19 a global pandemic. We are republishing below statements and articles from the WSWS analyzing the response to the pandemic and calling for emergency measures to contain it.
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For a globally coordinated emergency response to the coronavirus pandemic!
Vast resources must be immediately mobilized to contain the spread of the disease, treat and care for those who are infected, and secure the livelihoods of the hundreds of millions of people who will be affected by the economic fallout.
International Committee of the Fourth International•
The coronavirus pandemic crisis intensifies
Capitalism is at war with society
The spread of the coronavirus has exposed the disastrous consequences of decades of the massive concentration of wealth and inequality spawned by capitalism.
Joseph Kishore, David North•
The response of the ruling elite to the coronavirus pandemic: Malign neglect
Governments around the world are making a deliberate decision to minimize their response to the pandemic, threatening the lives of millions of people.
Alex Lantier, Andre Damon•
Message from big business on coronavirus pandemic: Save profits, not lives
As the death toll from the coronavirus soars and hospitals fill up, the White House and the US media are insisting that the profits of the corporate-financial elite must take precedence over the lives of millions.
Andre Damon•
Statement of the Socialist Equality Party•
Joseph Kishore•
Andre Damon•
Statement of the Socialist Equality Party (United States)•
Fascist militia members indicted in plot to blow up Sacramento, California Democratic Party headquarters
The right-wing terrorists, animated by Trump’s election lies, planned to use pipe bombs and automatic rifles in their attack, according to a grand jury indictment.
Jacob Crosse•
FBI report: DC Metropolitan and US Capitol Police monitored fascist militias’ radio communications during the January 6 attack
Documents obtained by the New York Times provide further evidence that police and intelligence agencies facilitated the attack on the US Capitol.
Jacob Crosse•
The CPAC conference and the fascist transformation of Trump’s Republican Party
Donald Trump is consolidating power over the Republican Party, transforming it from a conservative bourgeois party into a fascist party with a personalist leader and a paramilitary wing.
Eric London•
Democrats cover up links between fascist “trainers,” US Capitol Police and other police departments
Last month it was revealed that an emergency response unit of the US Capitol Police, which failed to deploy against the January 6 insurrection, was trained by Northern Red, a private neo-Nazi paramilitary contractor.
Jacob Crosse•
Kevin Reed•
Joseph Kishore•
Jacob Crosse•
Jacob Crosse, Barry Grey•
Jacob Crosse•
The relaunch of the World Socialist Web Site and the future of socialism
The relaunch of the WSWS and the growth of its influence reflect a process of mass political radicalization under conditions of the greatest crisis since the 1930s.
David North•
Closing remarks from SEP national secretary Joseph Kishore
The WSWS has exhaustively documented and analyzed the political crisis and historical decay of American democracy.
Joseph Kishore•
The approach of the World Socialist Web Site to science
The WSWS was the only publication to warn very early on the dangers the working class faced if the coronavirus became a pandemic.
Bryan Dyne•
“The WSWS has not only commented on the struggles of the working class it has been an active participant in them”
In the vast archive of the WSWS, the working class will find the most critical lessons from the history of the global class struggle and an international socialist perspective needed to conduct its fight against world capitalism today.
Jerry White•
Genevieve Leigh•
Niles Niemuth•
Bill Van Auken•
Patrick Martin•
Tomas Castanheira•
WSWS Online Meeting
150 years since the Paris Commune
A discussion about the first time in history that the working class took power.
Watch the video
The historic and contemporary significance of the 1871 Paris Commune
On April 3, the International Committee of the Fourth International held a meeting commemorating 150 years since the Paris Commune, the world’s first workers’ state.
Joseph Kishore•
150 years since the Paris Commune
On March 18, 1871, the armed working class districts of Paris rose up and established the first workers state in world history, the Paris Commune.
Alex Lantier•
Lessons of the Paris Commune
This essay by Leon Trotsky was first published in French as a preface to the book by C. Talès, La Commune de 1871. It was written in the town of Zlatoust, on February 4, 1921, in the lead up to the 50th anniversary of the Paris Commune.
Leon Trotsky•
Paris Workers’ Revolution and Thiers’ Reactionary Massacres
Armed Paris was the only serious obstacle in the way of the counter-revolutionary conspiracy. Paris was, therefore, to be disarmed.
Karl Marx•
Karl Marx•
Friedrich Engels•
Vladimir Lenin•
Barry Grey•
Vladimir Lenin•
Socialist publisher Mehring Books launches Australian website
Mehring Books Australia will feature works by the great socialist fighters and theoreticians of the 19th and 20th centuries, including Leon Trotsky, Karl Marx, Friedrich Engels, Vladimir Lenin, Georgi Plekhanov and Rosa Luxemburg.
For more information
Video: Volvo workers call for rejection of third TA
This video features two striking Volvo workers in Virginia speaking on their struggle and denouncing the UAW's efforts to ram through a pro-company contract already voted down by the rank-and-file.
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“It’s all the same fight!”
Detroit autoworkers support striking Volvo workers in Virginia
The WSWS is breaking the media/UAW blackout of the ongoing strike of nearly 3,000 Volvo Trucks workers in Dublin, Virginia, by bringing the news directly to the factory gates.
Autoworker Newsletter•
Global pandemic heightens danger of another world war
The international working class alone is capable of halting the drive to war, as it is the only social force able to overthrow capitalism and its outmoded system of rival nation-states.
Peter Symonds•
May Day 2021 and the global class struggle
We are publishing here the text of the opening report to the 2021 International Online May Day Rally delivered by David North.
David North•
David North, Alex Lantier, Barry Grey, Therese LeClerc•
Eric London•
Peter Schwarz, Ulrich Rippert, David North, Johannes Stern•
David North, Eric London•
Zac Corrigan•
Sylvia Ageloff and the assassination of Leon Trotsky
With David North and Eric London
North and London discussed the significance of the latest revelations of the the Security and the Fourth International investigation into Trotsky’s assassination.
Watch the video
150 years since the birth of Rosa Luxemburg
The meeting examined Luxemburg’s role as a Marxist theoretician and political leader, and discussed the significance of her legacy to the contemporary struggle to build a Marxist leadership.
Watch the video
Historian Joseph Scalice exposes the role of Stalinism in the rise of Duterte
What was most significant in the panel was the interaction between Scalice and the second speaker, Walden Bello, who has a prominent international reputation as a figure of the left and an opponent of globalization.
John Malvar•
Watch lecture video “Three Grenades in August: Fifty Years since the Bombing of Plaza Miranda in the Philippines”—another devastating exposure of Stalinism
Scalice demonstrated that the “overwhelming weight of evidence” suggested that the Communist Party of the Philippines was responsible for the bombing and indicted its claims that fascism and martial law are “good for revolution.”
our reporter•
Stalinist CPP attacks Dr. Scalice’s upcoming lecture on the 1971 Plaza Miranda bombing in the Philippines
In a desperate bid to turn people away from this week’s lecture, Marco Valbuena, Chief Information Officer of the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP), has again slandered Scalice as operating on behalf of the CIA.
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“Falsifications and slander are the weapons of Stalinism”
Joseph Scalice responds to Stalinist attacks over Diliman Commune article
“The honest assessment of history is the bedrock of revolutionary politics. Falsifications and slander, on the other hand, are the primary weapons of Stalinism.”
Joseph Scalice•
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Peter Symonds•
Joseph Scalice•
Peter Symonds•
John Malvar•
Ten years since the Egyptian Revolution
To mark the anniversary of the 2011 revolution in Egypt, we present a selection of key statements and analyses produced by the WSWS in the course of the events of that year and their aftermath.
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A video statement by WSWS International Editorial Board Chairman David North
Welcoming the relaunch of the World Socialist Web Site
The WSWS has been relaunched with an entirely new design and with vastly enhanced functionality.
From the Marxist Library
Thirty years since the reunification of Germany
To mark the 30th anniversary of the German reunification, the WSWS is presenting a special exhibit of documents and statements produced by the International Committee of the Fourth International amidst the crisis of Stalinism in the former GDR.
Eighty-five years since the outbreak of the Spanish Civil War
Eighty-five years ago, on July 17, 1936, the Spanish army launched a fascist coup against the the country’s Republic, provoking the Spanish Civil War.
Alejandro López•
General Milley and America’s “Reichstag moment”
Gen. Mark Milley’s reaction to the January 6 assault on the Capitol has given the lie to all the claims that the significance of the event was being exaggerated and it was wrong to call it a coup.
Bill Van Auken•
Over 1,200 doctors and scientists condemn UK COVID-19 policy as “dangerous and unethical”
Dr Helen Salisbury, a lecturer at Oxford University and columnist for the BMJ, described the government’s pursuit of herd immunity by infection, rather than vaccination, as “criminal.”
Thomas Scripps•
In speech on voting rights, Biden acknowledges American democracy is at death’s door
Biden’s dire acknowledgement of the state of American democracy stood in the starkest contrast to the feckless and impotent character of his proposals to defend it.
Barry Grey•
Eric London•
Joseph Kishore•
Robert Stevens•
Andre Damon•
Marcus Day•
The nationalist diatribe of a Left Party leader—a review of the new book by Sahra Wagenknecht
A leading member of the German Left Party, Wagenknecht rages venomously against cosmopolitanism and cultural openness while promoting protectionism and a strong state.
Peter Schwarz•
The nationalist diatribe of a Left Party leader— a review of the new book by Sahra Wagenknecht
Wagenknecht venomously fulminates against “cosmopolitanism” and cultural openness while promoting protectionism and a strong state, and denouncing migrants and refugees.
Peter Schwarz•
Weak Strongman: The Limits of Power in Putin’s Russia by Timothy Frye
Making the case for exploiting Russia’s internal crisis
Political scientist Timothy Frye argues that the crude and facile character of the anti-Russia crusade in the Western media is causing misunderstandings about the Kremlin and Russian society that could result in tactical mistakes and missed opportunities to promote regime change.
Andrea Peters•
Vasily Grossman’s Stalingrad: A Soviet masterpiece about World War II appears in English for the first time
The English translation of Stalingrad will not only finally introduce a broad readership to a masterpiece of world literature, but it will also help new generations, especially young people, to understand the enormous impact of the October Revolution.
Clara Weiss•
Bernd Reinhardt, David Walsh•
David Walsh•
Fred Mazelis•
James MacDonald•
Erik Schreiber•
The Political Origins and Consequences of the 1982–86 Split in the International Committee of the Fourth International
This lecture was delivered by David North, chairman of the International Editorial Board of the WSWS, at the opening of the Socialist Equality Party (US) Summer School on July 21, 2019.
David North•
Drawing the lessons of the ICFI split—International Strategy and National Tactics: The change in the ICFI’s approach to national liberation movements
This lecture was delivered to the Socialist Equality Party (US) Summer School on July 25, 2019 by Deepal Jayasekera, Assistant Secretary of the Socialist Equality Party in Sri Lanka
Deepal Jayasekera•
The World Capitalist Crisis and the Tasks of the Fourth International: An analysis of the ICFI Perspectives resolution of 1988
This lecture was delivered to the Socialist Equality Party (US) Summer School on July 23, 2019 by Andre Damon, regular writer for the World Socialist Web Site and leading member of the Socialist Equality Party in the US.
Andre Damon•
The ICFI and the Crisis of Stalinism
This lecture was delivered to the Socialist Equality Party (US) Summer School on July 24, 2019 by Barry Grey, US national editor of the World Socialist Web Site and leading member of the Socialist Equality Party in the US.
Barry Grey•
