Perspective
Perspective
Perspective
Lives before profits! Stop the pandemic!
Ending the COVID-19 pandemic requires rejecting the concept that profit interests must be “balanced” against saving lives.
Top Stories
As many declaring their support understand, the attack on Lisa is the spearhead of a broader government crackdown on families resisting the deliberate mass infection of children.
Thomas Scripps•
James and Jennifer Crumbley were being sought by a fugitive task force late Friday after they failed to appear to face manslaughter charges for the killing of four students by their son on Tuesday.
Kevin Reed•
Governor Ron DeSantis’ call for the revival of a military force at his sole command is consistent with the fascistic strategy pursued by the governor.
Harvey Simpkins•
Eschewing public health protocols and knowingly risking the lives of those attendance, Trump and his inner circle hid the results of the test and refused to wear masks during the debate.
Jacob Crosse•
African Union officials estimate the COVAX global vaccine distribution scheme will deliver just 470 million doses to African countries by the end of December, less than a quarter of the 2 billion needed to deliver two shots to its entire adult population.
Jean Shaoul•
The Canadian government continued to insist the main source of COVID-19 infection was respiratory droplets that fall rapidly to the ground, not aerosols, even when its own briefing documents said otherwise.
Roger Jordan•
The 15 surviving victims of the Indian state’s Elgar Parishad terrorism frame-up case are being subjected to cruel and life-threatening punishment. They have been imprisoned for years without trial.
Kranti Kumara•
The Liberal-National government is in tatters, yet there is low popular support for the Labor Party and rising distrust in the entire parliamentary establishment.
Mike Head•
International and historical experience demonstrates that once in power, the pseudo-left abandons all pretense of reform, bowing to the international financial and corporate elite.
Mauricio Saavedra•
The White House announced a deal with Mexico to reinstate a former Trump-era policy whereby asylum seekers will be forced to stay in that country until their US immigration court date.
Kevin Martinez•
As workers at Kellogg’s plants in the US prepare to vote on the rotten tentative contract agreement being pushed by the BCTGM they should take note of the critical effort to organize workers internationally in defense of jobs and conditions at Kellogg’s that was launched by the International Committee in 1995.
James Brookfield•
Statement of the Editorial Board
For a Global Workers’ Inquest into the COVID-19 Pandemic
The Inquest is necessary to break through the cover-up, lies and misinformation that have been used to justify policies responsible for the avoidable deaths of millions.
Find out more
The Oxford High School shooting: What lessons are to be drawn?
A grim scene, all too familiar in American life, occurred Tuesday afternoon as 15-year-old sophomore Ethan Crumbley carried out a mass shooting at Oxford High School in a suburban community on the outer edges of the Detroit, Michigan Metro region.
Niles Niemuth•
Referendum on direct election of UAW officers passes
A little over 140,000 voted out of close to 1 million eligible active workers and retirees, a mere 14 percent turnout, reflecting the deep alienation felt by workers toward the UAW.
Shannon Jones•
Omicron variant exposes “vaccine only” strategy to combat COVID-19
The Omicron variant has shattered the lie that the pandemic can be ended without a globally-coordinated strategy aimed at the elimination and eradication of Sars-CoV-2.
Joseph Kishore, David North•
Australian governments respond to Omicron with homicidal “herd immunity” policies
Government officials and sections of the corporate media have said they hope the new mutation spreads, based on unsubstantiated assertions that it “may be” less lethal.
Oscar Grenfell•
Patrick Martin•
Peter Symonds•
David Walsh•
Evan Blake•
James Martin•
Video: Workers must oppose Australian ruling elite’s homicidal response to Omicron variant
SEP Assistant National Secretary Max Boddy warns: “There is no viable way to stop the pandemic and save lives, other than a strategy of global elimination.”
Our reporters•
SEP electoral members say new Australian electoral laws are “highly autocratic”
These laws are “to force voters to pick the main parties,” a postal worker said.
Our reporters•
“The laws are ultimately censorship”—SEP electoral members support campaign against Australia’s anti-democratic legislation
“The government does not care about the health and wellbeing of the population; they just want to keep the economy ‘healthy’”
our reporters•
Growing outrage among Australian teachers and parents over school COVID infections
Opposition to school reopenings is a significant element in the wider hostility toward the political establishment and its callous indifference to the lives and well-being of working people that Australia’s new electoral laws are designed to silence.
The Committee for Public Education•
Our reporters•
Our reporters•
Mike Head•
Our reporters•
Margaret Rees•
Stephen Sondheim (1930-2021), giant of American musical theater
An inventive lyricist, a collaborator and mentor to many, he created 19 full-length musicals.
Fred Mazelis•
Titian: Women, Myth & Power at the Gardner Museum in Boston: The great Renaissance painter comes in for “moral scrutiny” from the New York Times
The exhibition at the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum in Boston (until January 2) must be counted as one of the most significant art shows today.
Clare Hurley•
DOC NYC Film Festival 2021: Part 1
The Man Who Paints Water Drops: Korean painter Kim Tschang-Yeul and the crisis of postwar art
A documentary unveils the trauma and unresolved grief at the root of a renowned Korean artist’s most famous work.
Erik Schreiber•
Disrupt Texts’ assault on Shakespeare and other classics: Money, ignorance and social backwardness
The #Disrupt Texts website is a pernicious advocate of displacing Shakespeare and other significant figures and works, including F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby, Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird and Arthur Miller’s The Crucible.
David Walsh•
James Martin•
Verena Nees•
Richard Phillips, Mauricio Saavedra•
Joanne Laurier•
James McDonald•
Two more Minnesota teachers die of COVID-19 as cases approach record highs
The measures necessary to stop the spread of the virus—and put a halt to the deaths of teachers and students—can only come through workers developing rank-and-file committees in every workplace and factory in the US and internationally to enforce the shutdown of unsafe facilities and the closure of schools to in-person learning.
Anthony Bertolt•
Omicron outbreak in Sydney school as Australian governments reject safety measures
Omicron already may be circulating widely in the working-class suburbs of western Sydney, given the known community transmission.
Oscar Grenfell•
“We need accountability. So many people died, and all these deaths were preventable.”
Expert Nicolas Smit gives testimony on US masking policies under Trump and Biden
In a sweeping report, Smit reviews US masking policies during the pandemic and makes clear which types of masks can prevent airborne transmission.
Evan Blake•
ECDC warns Omicron variant to become dominant in Europe in a “few months”
European governments are refusing critical social distancing measures and relying exclusively on vaccinations, which the Omicron variant may largely evade.
Alex Lantier, Johannes Stern•
Bryan Dyne•
Julie Hyland•
Jean Shaoul•
Johannes Stern•
Dietmar Gaisenkersting•
“We should all do this together. We could close Kaiser down!” Operating engineers speak out on two-month strike at Kaiser Permanente
There is enormous support for engineers from nurses and other health care workers, but the strike has been systematically isolated by the health care unions.
Adam Mclean, Evan Winters•
At online town hall, Kaiser union officials praise “joint” approach to cost-cutting in tentative agreement
At Wednesday’s meeting, the first since the deal was announced more than two weeks ago, no rank-and-file workers were allowed to speak or ask questions, a clear indication of the unions’ nervousness about opposition to the deal among health care workers.
Norisa Diaz•
Berlin primary school teacher describes new contract as “simply ridiculous!”
In this interview, a Berlin teacher describes the mass infection taking place in schools. Her conclusion: “We need a lockdown until at least the New Year.”
Marianne Arens•
“All they’re bothered about is profits.”
UK: Striking workers at B&Q distribution centre in Worksop determined to fight pay restraint
The Unite union, with over 1 million members, has not organised any form of solidarity action—even at the other major B&Q hubs in Swindon and Doncaster in England and Cambuslang in Scotland—in defence of their co-workers in Worksop.
Tony Robson•
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Nick Barrickman•
James Brookfield•
W.A. Sunil•
Naomi Spencer•
Australia’s under-funded healthcare system confronts major nursing shortages
After decades of attacks against working conditions, accelerated by the pandemic, 20,000 nurses have resigned this year.
Gary Alvernia•
Australian government proceeds with pro-business climate change policies after Glasgow summit debacle
The Morrison government is among the most criminally reckless in the world on climate change policy.
Patrick O’Connor•
New Zealand rail union enters talks ahead of national strike
Driven by the rising cost of living and stagnant wages, Kiwirail workers have voted overwhelmingly for a nationwide strike. The RMTU, however, has resumed talks with management.
John Braddock•
US admiral calls for “six, seven or eight” aircraft carriers in the Pacific
Following another major joint naval exercise in the Pacific, Vice Admiral Karl Thomas declared that while the war games represented “an incredible amount of power,” US allies needed to go further.
Peter Symonds•
Patrick O’Connor•
Dante Pastrana•
Our correspondents•
Tom Peters•
Patrick Davies•
Major League Baseball owners lock out players
For the first time in 30 years, club owners have locked out players in retaliation for their refusal to accede to the owners’ demands.
Alan Gilman•
Canadian Armed Forces providing military training to Ukrainian neo-Nazis
The Canadian military has been training and collaborating with neo-Nazi groups active in the Ukrainian Armed Forces, with the knowledge and tacit approval of successive Canadian governments.
James Clayton•
Four students killed and seven others injured in Oxford, Michigan school shooting
A 15-year-old student opened fire with a semi-automatic handgun at a high school in suburban Detroit on Tuesday, killing three classmates and injuring eight others, including one teacher.
Kevin Reed•
Witness testimony continues in trial of Jeffrey Epstein confidante Ghislaine Maxwell
The third day of the trial of Ghislaine Maxwell included cross examination of a witness known as "Jane" who has said that the defendant and Jeffrey Epstein sexually abused her for years starting in 1994.
Kevin Reed•
Roger Jordan•
Hugo Maltais•
Kevin Reed•
Roger Jordan•
Trévon Austin•
US and NATO ramp up anti-Russia war drive
US and NATO representatives are pressing ahead with hysterical anti-Russian rhetoric and threats of war.
Andrea Peters•
Omicron COVID-19 variant detected in the United States
The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention confirmed an individual residing in San Francisco who recently returned from South Africa was positive for the Omicron variant.
Benjamin Mateus•
Ilhan Omar receives death threats after conflict with Lauren Boebert
The Democratic congresswoman received a threatening voicemail after she spoke with the fascist Republican representative on Monday.
Trévon Austin•
Former White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows begins “engaging” with House committee investigating January 6 coup
Meadows is the highest-ranking former Trump official to begin handing over documentation and agree to testify before the Committee.
Jacob Crosse•
Jacob Crosse•
Dominic Gustavo•
Sandy English•
Jacob Crosse•
Kevin Reed•
Wall Street falls as Fed chair points to accelerated taper of asset purchases
Testimony by US Fed chair Jerome Powell to the Senate Banking Committee yesterday set off the second significant fall on Wall Street in three days as he indicated that the central bank was moving to tighten its monetary policy.
Nick Beams•
Markets bounce back after Omicron shock as governments decide to let it rip
Notwithstanding the rebound, Friday’s sharp fall again underscored the fragility of the entire financial system and its dependence on the flow of cheap money from the world’s central banks.
Nick Beams•
Significant move by New Zealand central bank to lift interest rate
With headline inflation in the US now running at more than 6 percent, and showing no signs of abating, the key question is when and by how much the Fed may start to move.
Nick Beams•
Conference produces no solution for Treasury market shocks
While the onset of the pandemic was the trigger for the March 2020 crisis, it was not the underlying cause, with two previous incidents raising considerable concerns in financial regulatory circles.
Nick Beams•
Nick Beams•
Nick Beams•
Nick Beams•
Nick Beams•
Nick Beams•
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.
The New York Times’ Jake Silverstein concocts “a new origin story” for the 1619 Project
Having previously disregarded historiography, Silverstein now falsifies it—and admits to privileging “narrative” over “actual fact.”
Tom Mackaman•
Woody Holton retreats from Dunmore Proclamation claims in “historians’ debate” with Gordon Wood
Though Holton conceded the major historical point, he used the debate to attack Wood over the latter’s criticism of the 1619 Project.
Tom Mackaman•
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•
David North•
David North•
Andrea Peters•
Trévon Austin, Tom Mackaman•
Tom Mackaman, David North•
US seeks to block Spanish investigation into CIA operation against Assange as British ruling on extradition appeal is “imminent”
As a British court prepares to hand down its ruling on a US appeal seeking Assange’s extradition, the American authorities are stymying a Spanish investigation into their illegal spying and other dirty tricks against the WikiLeaks founder.
Oscar Grenfell•
Official documents expose Australian government’s complicity in the torture of Assange
The Australian authorities did nothing when they were repeatedly told that Assange’s life was in danger.
Oscar Grenfell•
Germany’s PEN Centre nominates Julian Assange as honorary member
The action by the German branch of the international writers group PEN was accompanied by a call for the unconditional release of the WikiLeaks founder from prison.
Marianne Arens•
Assange and fiancée challenge British government’s refusal to allow them to marry
This display of bureaucratic cruelty can only be aimed at deepening Assange’s mental health issues, which are the result of more than a decade of state persecution.
Oscar Grenfell•
Thomas Scripps•
our reporters•
Thomas Scripps•
Richard Phillips, Oscar Grenfell•
Thomas Scripps•
This week in history: November 29-December 5
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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Hands off Memorial!
Russian state prosecutors try to shut down the leading institution for research into the Great Terror
The assault on Memorial, should it be successful, would have chilling consequences. Anyone doing historical research into the crimes of Stalinism and the history of the socialist movement will have to fear immediate state reprisals.
Clara Weiss•
The 1986–1987 Deere strike and lockout: Lessons from an earlier UAW betrayal
In the strike-turned-lockout, Deere workers showed enormous determination to defend their jobs and living standards, while the UAW did everything to undermine and sabotage their fight.
Shannon Jones, Marcus Day•
This week in history: November 15-21
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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Peter Symonds•
Patrick O’Connor•
Françoise Thull, Marianne Arens•
Miguel Andrade•
Andy Thompson, Jerry White•
UK Educators Rank-and-File Safety Committee denounces court ruling upholding designation of Germany's Socialist Equality Party as “left wing extremists”
The Educators Rank-and-File Safety Committee (UK) passed a resolution Monday condemning the ruling of the Berlin Administrative Court, which on November 18, 2021, upheld the designation of the German security service of the German section of the ICFI as “left wing extremists”.
Educators Rank-and-File Safety Committee (UK)•
Berlin Administrative Court rules socialist ideas are “anti-constitutional”
The court’s ruling against the Socialist Equality Party stands in the tradition of National Socialist ideological jurisprudence and Bismarck’s anti-socialist laws, and opens the door for the surveillance and suppression of all opposition to capitalism and arbitrary state power.
Peter Schwarz•
In speech before the court, Trotskyist leader indicts German state’s revival of Nazi-style anti-socialist laws
Christoph Vandreier, the deputy chairman of the Socialist Equality Party, defended the right to advocate for the socialist transformation of society in a speech at the Berlin Administrative Court on November 18.
Christoph Vandreier•
Video: No new anti-socialist laws! Defend the SGP!
The deputy chairman of the Sozialistische Gleichheitspartei (SGP, Socialist Equality Party), Christoph Vandreier, speaks about the importance of the lawsuit against the surveillance of the party by the German secret service.
Christoph Vandreier•
our reporters•
Christoph Vandreier•
Wolfgang Weber•
Johannes Stern•
Christoph Vandreier•
US and NATO ramp up anti-Russia war drive
US and NATO representatives are pressing ahead with hysterical anti-Russian rhetoric and threats of war.
Andrea Peters•
Canadian Armed Forces providing military training to Ukrainian neo-Nazis
The Canadian military has been training and collaborating with neo-Nazi groups active in the Ukrainian Armed Forces, with the knowledge and tacit approval of successive Canadian governments.
James Clayton•
Social Democrats, Greens and Left Party to continue right-wing agenda in German state of Berlin
Leaving aside the noncommittal rhetoric and empty phrases of the 152-page document, the coalition agreement clearly shows that the three parties are preparing a direct confrontation with the working class.
Markus Salzmann•
Army general to lead Germany’s coronavirus crisis response team
The decision to put a general in charge of its COVID-19 crisis team permits only one conclusion: the German government in waiting does not regard the pandemic as a medical problem, but rather as a security issue.
Peter Schwarz•
Sybille Fuchs•
Gregor Link•
Tamino Dreisam•
Laura Tiernan•
Jason Melanovski•
Detroit schools reopen Monday as COVID-19 sweeps Michigan
The state government headed by Democratic Governor Gretchen Whitmer has abandoned any effort to fight the right-wing campaign against mask mandates and other executive orders which she issued in the course of 2020.
Our reporters•
Shut down Michigan schools to in-person learning! Stop the winter of death!
COVID-19 cases are now at an all-time high in Michigan, and schools are the top source of spread. The youth and the working class must unite to end this madness.
Statement of the Michigan Educators Rank-and-File Safety Committee and the International Youth and Students for Social Equality (IYSSE)•
More New York City schools forced to close amid mounting COVID-19 outbreaks
According to the city’s Department of Education, there are currently 176 classroom closures for public schools and 17 for charter schools, while at least 6,193 students have been infected since the start of the school year.
Sandy English•
“They are putting our children in a big petri dish and seeing what happens”
Seattle, Washington parents speak out on their fight for remote learning for their child
Two Seattle parents describe their legal and political nightmare battling to keep their seven-year-old daughter safe from COVID-19 and at home with remote instruction.
Diana Green•
Our reporter•
Harvey Simpkins•
Samuel Davidson•
Erin Miller•
New York City Educators Rank-and-File Safety Committee•
A disgraced liar accuses scientists: Matt Ridley’s Viral
In the most systematic defense of the Wuhan lab libel to date, Matt Ridley proves only the falsehood of his bad-faith attack on science.
Andre Damon•
Washington Post calls for a COVID-19 cover-up
The commission advocated by the Washington Post will be aimed at shielding the government and corporate officials responsible for the deaths of more than one million Americans, while scapegoating China for the pandemic.
Andre Damon•
Scientist Peter Daszak refutes false media allegations about Wuhan research
In a letter to the National Institutes of Health made public Thursday, zoologist Peter Daszak of EcoHealth Alliance refuted claims that his organization failed to keep the US government appraised of coronavirus research conducted at the Wuhan Institute of Virology.
Andre Damon•
Stop the witch-hunt against scientist Peter Daszak!
The Washington Post hopes that scapegoating scientists for the COVID-19 pandemic will turn attention away from the US government’s criminal “herd immunity” policies that have killed hundreds of thousands of Americans.
Andre Damon•
Andre Damon•
Andre Damon•
John Braddock•
Andre Damon•
Andre Damon•
Deere reports blowout earnings one week after UAW sellout of strike
Deere is projecting that it will set yet another record for profits next year, exploding the claim by company and union executives that there was no more money available to meet workers’ demands.
Marcus Day•
Labor Notes, DSA cover up UAW betrayal of Deere strike
The conflict between rank-and-file workers and the UAW is being swept under the rug and deliberately concealed by organizations which have long functioned as apologists for the pro-corporate union bureaucracies.
Marcus Day•
Deere workers denounce UAW “dirty tricks” operation to pass contract: “They’re criminal scumbags”
As 10,000 John Deere workers have begun to return to plants and warehouses in recent days following the shutdown of their five-week-long strike, anger has remained high at the United Auto Workers union.
Marcus Day•
Death of UAW official from COVID underscores danger in John Deere plants
If a UAW official contracted the virus outside of working in a plant, what of the Deere workers who are now returning to the factories, working side by side, as the pandemic continues to rage?
George Gallanis•
Marcus Day•
Marcus Day, Tom Hall•
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Mack Truck Workers Rank-and-File Committee•
Marcus Day•
Preface to the Turkish-language edition of Leon Trotsky and the Development of Marxism
Read
Campus opposition at University of Michigan mounts to victimization of Bright Sheng
Professors and students continue to speak out against the anti-democratic victimization of University of Michigan professor and composer Bright Sheng.
James McDonald, Sam Wayne•
Australian High Court sets precedent for sacking dissenting academics
The judges effectively cleared the way for universities to dismiss staff for criticising management or breaching confidentiality rules.
Mike Head•
University of Michigan faculty open letter supports witch-hunt, rejects letter signed by hundreds defending victimized professor Bright Sheng
The letter aims to intimidate all those who oppose the strictures of racial and identity politics and their enforcement by institutionalized thought police by branding them as “racist.”
Matthew Brennan, Barry Grey•
Over 700 University of Michigan faculty sign open letter protesting administration witch hunt against composer and Professor Bright Sheng
The open letter from UM faculty takes a principled stand in defense of Sheng, demanding that the university reinstate Sheng to his undergraduate course in composition and make a public apology both for the sanctions taken against him and the outrageous charges of racism.
Barry Grey•
James McDonald•
David Walsh•
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Matthew Brennan•
International Youth and Students for Social Equality (IYSSE) at UM•
Dana Fort Wayne workers voice growing opposition as USW stonewalls on local contract
After workers voted to reject the local contract at both the Dana Fort Wayne, Indiana and Louisville, Kentucky plants, the United Steelworkers is keeping them in the dark on the status of a possible renegotiation of the agreement.
George Kirby•
Dana auto parts workers report as much as 60 percent of their signing bonus was taken out in taxes and union dues
On top of taxes, the USW and UAW are “entitled” to a 1.45 and 1.7 percent cut, respectively, of the signing bonuses. This means that the two unions made more than $150,000 in instant cash just for getting the contract passed, on top of monthly union dues.
George Kirby, Tom Hall•
The “No” vote by John Deere workers shows Dana workers must overturn the illegitimate UAW-USW-Dana contract!
Now is the time for Dana workers to join Deere workers and all auto workers to overturn the fraudulent contracts signed by the UAW in recent months and years.
Dana Workers' Rank-and-File Committee•
Dana fires temps en masse in apparent retaliation for leak that revealed they were making $25 per hour
The revelation sparked outrage among full-time Dana workers at management and the UAW and USW unions, who had bullied them into accepting a contract with wages far below what Dana has been compelled to pay temps to maintain production.
George Kirby•
Eric London•
George Kirby•
George Kirby•
Tom Hall•
George Kirby•
100 years since the birth of Jean Brust
August 31, 2021 marks 100 years since the birth of Jean Brust, a leading figure in the Trotskyist movement. Comrade Jean, who died November 24, 1997 at the age of 76, joined the Trotskyist-led Young Peoples Socialist League as a teenager in 1937.
Washington hails victory of Honduran opposition candidate
The victory of Xiomara Castro brings to an end a dozen years of rule by the National Party, which consolidated its grip on power through a US-backed coup in 2009.
Bill Van Auken•
7.5 magnitude earthquake leaves Peru’s impoverished Amazonas in ruins
The tragedy could have been reduced to a minimum if it were not for the criminal policy of Peru’s central government, which abandons the regions furthest from the capital.
Cesar Uco•
The deadly impact of COVID-19 in Peru: A health expert’s perspective
“Everything is being prepared to accept death. This is terrible. Why did I study medicine only then to accept death? Why would I do that?”
Benjamin Mateus•
Presidential election lays bare sharp class divisions in Chile
The two main victors in Sunday’s presidential election in Chile are the fascistic José Antonio Kast of the Christian Social Front and Gabriel Boric of the pseudo-left-Stalinist electoral front Apruebo Dignidad.
Mauricio Saavedra•
Miguel Andrade•
Tomas Castanheira•
Mauricio Saavedra•
Bill Van Auken•
Santiago Guillen, Alejandro López•
Twenty years since the September 11 terror attacks
The horrific massacre of civilians was immediately exploited by the imperialist powers, led by the United States government itself, to justify far-reaching attacks on the democratic rights of their own populations, and the launching of decades-long wars in the Middle East and Africa.
Read more
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, 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•
Open letter to co-leader of Germany’s Left Party Janine Wissler
The Socialist Equality Party and WSWS call on Wissler and the Left Party to publicly condemn the DSA leaders’ Twitter posts and other media publications celebrating Trotsky’s assassination.
Johannes Stern•
Howard University students announce agreement to end campus occupation
The administration has refused to reveal the contents of the agreement that has ended the protest against unsanitary dorms at the historically black college in Washington D.C.
Nick Barrickman•
Open letter exposes difficult conditions imposed on final year Australian high school students amid pandemic
The letter gives voice to the sentiments of students and young people, especially year 12 students, who are being forced to sit major exams as COVID continues to spread, with students being provided no additional support.
Oscar Grenfell•
#BlackburnTakeover protesters must appeal to the working class
Reject Howard University’s attempts to blame students for cafeteria layoffs!
The attempt by administrators to blame student protesters for the layoff of school cafeteria workers is a provocative attack on the rights of workers and students alike and must be actively opposed.
International Youth and Students for Social Equality•
Student protest at Howard University over abysmal living conditions enters fourth week
Students expressed frustration with the university’s leaders, who have refused to address their demands, and instead subjected them to hours of “campus renovation” PowerPoint presentations.
Dominic Gustavo•
Christoph Vandreier•
J. L’Heureau•
Kevin Reed•
Dominic Gustavo•
International Youth and Students for Social Equality (IYSSE) at UM•
Lives before profits! Stop the pandemic!
Ending the COVID-19 pandemic requires rejecting the concept that profit interests must be “balanced” against saving lives.
Statement of the World Socialist Web Site editorial board•
The Oxford High School shooting: What lessons are to be drawn?
A grim scene, all too familiar in American life, occurred Tuesday afternoon as 15-year-old sophomore Ethan Crumbley carried out a mass shooting at Oxford High School in a suburban community on the outer edges of the Detroit, Michigan Metro region.
Niles Niemuth•
Supreme Court launches frontal assault on right to abortion
For the first time in US history, the court is preparing to rescind a basic democratic right.
Patrick Martin•
Omicron variant exposes “vaccine only” strategy to combat COVID-19
The Omicron variant has shattered the lie that the pandemic can be ended without a globally-coordinated strategy aimed at the elimination and eradication of Sars-CoV-2.
Joseph Kishore, David North•
Patrick Martin•
Evan Blake•
WSWS Editorial Board•
Peter Schwarz•
Joseph Kishore•
US-trained Afghan intelligence agents, elite troops reported joining ISIS
In the final analysis, ISIS is itself a product of the interventions by Washington and its allies in the Middle East and Central Asia.
Bill Van Auken•
Biden administration steps up war threats against Iran
Washington’s special envoy for Iran warned Monday that if diplomacy fails, the US will “use other tools to prevent Iran from acquiring a nuclear weapon.”
Bill Van Auken•
Israel outlaws six Palestinian human rights groups, branding them “terrorist organisations”
The outlawing of human rights groups and persecution of humanitarian activists follows Israel’s decades-long suppression of the Palestinians that has included collective punishment, house demolitions, deportations, detention without trial, torture, targeted assassinations and most recently the denial of COVID-19 vaccinations.
Jean Shaoul•
Turkey threatens to expel US, NATO ambassadors
Relations between Turkey and several of its major NATO allies, including the United States, Germany and France, are teetering at the breaking point.
Ulaş Ateşçi•
Ulaş Ateşçi•
Jean Shaoul•
Bill Van Auken•
Jean Shaoul•
Jean Shaoul•
Thousands support SGP’s lawsuit against the German secret service
With the lawsuit filed by the Sozialistische Gleichheitspartei against the Federal Republic of Germany set to be heard in court in the coming days, more than 5,300 workers and young people have expressed their support for the SGP’s case and its fight to defend democratic rights.
our reporters•
Oppose the Sri Lankan government’s massive price hikes!
The working class must organise an offensive against the government’s austerity measures, independent of the trade unions, pseudo lefts and so-called opposition parties, and based on socialist policies.
The Socialist Equality Party (Sri Lanka)•
Sri Lankan plantation workers oppose Rajapakse government’s emergency laws
The SEP’s campaign against the state of emergency is receiving significant support from workers in various sectors, including from the education, health services and plantation action committees established under the party’s guidance.
Our correspondents•
Socialist Equality Party (Canada) holds meeting to discuss pandemic election and struggle for socialism
Saturday’s meeting, which was addressed by leading members of the SEPs of Canada, the United States, and Germany, advanced a fighting program for the working class.
our reporters•
Our correspondents•
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Robert Sutherland•
Socialist Equality Party (Sri Lanka)•
Cliff Slaughter: A political biography (1928-1963)
By David North
Cliff Slaughter died on May 3, 2021, in Leeds, England, at the age of 92. His enduring contribution in the 1960s to the defense of Trotskyism stands in tragic contrast with his subsequent political opportunism and repudiation of revolutionary Marxism.
A comparative analysis of COVID-19 and the flu highlights the immense dangers of the pandemic
The facile equation of COVID and the flu made by right-wing politicians are lies on both sides of the comparison. The flu is nothing to trifle with, but COVID is infinitely worse, a brutal killer with incalculable consequences even for those who survive its initial ravages.
Benjamin Mateus•
COP26 climate summit ends in failure
The world’s major capitalist powers and giant corporations have no solution to the climate emergency they have created.
Patrick Martin•
The Glasgow summit, climate change, and the case for socialism
The past two years have seen a series of escalating climate disasters in all regions of the globe, including massive wildfires from the Australian bush to the American west, devastating flooding in Europe, Asia and the Americas, and deadly heatwaves the world over.
Daniel de Vries•
Lucy spacecraft begins 12-year mission to study asteroids and the origins of the Solar System
The probe is slated to study eight asteroids in the main asteroid belt and among Jupiter’s trojans as part of a campaign to more closely study the origins of Earth and the other planets in the Solar System.
Bryan Dyne•
Philip Guelpa•
Benjamin Mateus•
Bryan Dyne•
Philip Guelpa•
Frank Gaglioti•
US and NATO ramp up anti-Russia war drive
US and NATO representatives are pressing ahead with hysterical anti-Russian rhetoric and threats of war.
Andrea Peters•
Canadian Armed Forces providing military training to Ukrainian neo-Nazis
The Canadian military has been training and collaborating with neo-Nazi groups active in the Ukrainian Armed Forces, with the knowledge and tacit approval of successive Canadian governments.
James Clayton•
US admiral calls for “six, seven or eight” aircraft carriers in the Pacific
Following another major joint naval exercise in the Pacific, Vice Admiral Karl Thomas declared that while the war games represented “an incredible amount of power,” US allies needed to go further.
Peter Symonds•
Army general to lead Germany’s coronavirus crisis response team
The decision to put a general in charge of its COVID-19 crisis team permits only one conclusion: the German government in waiting does not regard the pandemic as a medical problem, but rather as a security issue.
Peter Schwarz•
Roger Jordan•
Jean Shaoul•
John Braddock•
Jacob Crosse•
Oscar Grenfell•
Sudan’s military seek to crush opposition demanding civilian rule
The claim that the civilian-military transitional government established in 2019 would be capable of resolving the enormous social and economic problems confronting Sudanese workers was a dangerous trap.
Jean Shaoul•
Sudan’s military oust transitional civilian-military government
Sudanese workers’ opposition to the al-Burhan’s power grab takes place amid growing militancy throughout the Middle East and North Africa.
Jean Shaoul•
South Africa union calls off metalworkers’ strike
Amid a cloud of pseudo-revolutionary rhetoric, NUMSA leader Irvin Jim accepted the “final” employer offer the union had rejected only a week ago.
Patrick Martin•
Workers Struggles: Europe, Middle East & Africa
Danish nurses continue one-hour wildcat strikes over pay and understaffing in defiance of unions and fines; French public transport workers’ strikes among bus drivers, coach drivers and rail workers over pay, conditions and privatisation; South African metal workers national pay strike in third week threatened as union moves towards company offer; Sunday stoppages by ScotRail workers, Scotland begun March continue to demand equal overtime rates with drivers
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Alex Lantier•
Patrick Martin•
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Anthony Torres•
Alex Lantier•
Former White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows begins “engaging” with House committee investigating January 6 coup
Meadows is the highest-ranking former Trump official to begin handing over documentation and agree to testify before the Committee.
Jacob Crosse•
House Select Committee issues 10 new subpoenas targeting fascist militia group leaders, Trump political operative Roger Stone and InfoWars host Alex Jones
The new subpoenas come as recent reporting in Rolling Stone and Pro Publica detail the high level coordination between the Trump White House and previously subpoenaed organizers of the Stop the Steal rallies .
Jacob Crosse•
Donald Trump meets with Kenosha shooter Rittenhouse at Mar-A-Lago
Former president and January 6 coup-plotter Donald Trump reported on Tuesday evening that he met with Kyle Rittenhouse at his Mar-A-Lago resort and referred to the teenage vigilante shooter as a “really nice young man.”
Kevin Reed•
Donald Trump and fascist right celebrate acquittal of Kyle Rittenhouse
The jury verdict of not guilty on all charges in the trial of teenage fascist shooter Kyle Rittenhouse has been hailed by Donald Trump and other extreme right-wing political figures as a vindication of their assault on anti-police violence protesters.
Kevin Reed•
Tom Carter•
Jacob Crosse•
Jacob Crosse•
Jacob Crosse•
Jacob Crosse•
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
Socialist Equality Party summer school prepares membership for growth of class struggle
The Socialist Equality Party in the United States held a summer school from August 1 through August 6. It was devoted to an analysis of the major social and political events in the US and internationally since the previous SEP school, held in July of 2019.
Barry Grey•
SEP Summer School 2021 Lecture
The historical background and initial stages of the COVID-19 pandemic
This report to the 2021 SEP summer school was delivered by Dr. Benjamin Mateus, who has led the coverage on the WSWS of the scientific and medical issues posed by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Benjamin Mateus•
SEP Summer School 2021 Lecture
January 6, 2021: Donald Trump’s plot against America
The following lecture was delivered at the Socialist Equality Party (US) 2021 summer school by Eric London, a writer for the WSWS and author of Agents: The FBI and GPU Infiltration of the Trotskyist Movement.
Eric London•
The lessons of the 2021 Volvo strike
This lecture was delivered at the Socialist Equality Party (US) 2021 summer school, held August 1 through August 6, by Marcus Day, a writer for the World Socialist Web Site .
Marcus Day•
Tom Carter•
Jerry White•
Tom Mackaman•
Andre Damon•
Patrick Martin•
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
New Zealand police announce they have photographed bodies in Pike River mine
The discovery sparked anger among some families of the 2010 Pike River mine disaster victims, and supporters, who questioned why the Labour Party-led government had sealed the mine, preventing the recovery of the 29 men who died.
Tom Peters•
Recovery 29 whitewashes New Zealand government’s cover-up of Pike River mine disaster
The television documentary sets out to justify the government’s decision to abandon the underground investigation of the 2010 Pike River mine disaster, which killed 29 people, and for which no one has been held accountable.
Tom Peters•
Public anger over cover-up of Pike River mine disaster
The media has blacked out the widespread opposition to the New Zealand Labour Party government’s decision to seal Pike River mine that prevents a thorough investigation and accountability for the deaths of 29 men in the 2010 disaster.
Tom Peters•
New Zealand government installing final seal at Pike River mine
The Labour Party-led government is close to permanently sealing Pike River mine, ending the underground investigation into the 2010 disaster that killed 29 men, for which no one has been held accountable.
Tom Peters•
Socialist Equality Group (New Zealand)•
Tom Peters•
Tom Peters•
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Whistleblower testimony launches bipartisan campaign for Facebook censorship
The Senate testimony by former Facebook employee Frances Haugen has intensified the bipartisan drive to clamp down on left-wing and socialist political content on social media platforms.
Kevin Reed•
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•
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
A disgraced liar accuses scientists: Matt Ridley’s Viral
In the most systematic defense of the Wuhan lab libel to date, Matt Ridley proves only the falsehood of his bad-faith attack on science.
Andre Damon•
How US capitalism established the modern two-party system of bourgeois rule
American capitalism has systematically disenfranchised the poorest and most exploited sections of the working class.
Fred Mazelis•
Woodward and Costa’s Peril: An inside account of Trump’s coup d’etat
The recent book by journalists Bob Woodward and Robert Costa reconstructs Trump’s efforts to overthrow American democracy, leading up to the attack on the Capitol last January 6.
Andre Damon•
Soviet writer Vasily Grossman’s final work, An Armenian Sketchbook
This volume, presenting an informal account of the author’s trip to the small Soviet republic in 1961, is in its own slighter fashion as deeply moving as his monumental war novels.
Fred Mazelis•
James McDonald•
David Walsh•
Erik Schreiber•
Erik Schreiber•
Peter Schwarz•
