Aidan Beatty's new book is not a biography, but rather a political diatribe against Gerry Healy and Trotskyism.
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The following letter was sent by Steve Long, a former member of the Socialist Labour League/Workers Revolutionary Party who writes for the World Socialist Web Site as Stefan Steinberg.
Perspective
Betrayal on the docks: ILA sells out longshoremen’s strike
The bureaucracy has shut down the strike because it was having a powerful impact on corporate America. More significantly, the strike threatened to undermine the US escalation of war in the Middle East and against Russia.
Every day across the Southeast the historic extent of the devastation and its consequences are being revealed.
The 165-page filing conclusively demonstrates that Trump, and his Republican co-conspirators, knowingly sought to overturn the 2020 election with deceit, falsehoods and violence.
Denouncing Iran as a “terrorist regime,” Trudeau told reporters, “Obviously, Israel has the right to defend itself against these attacks.”
In a press conference Thursday, Fain made it clear the UAW had no intention of calling a strike at Stellantis.
We have to press our advantage. We are demonstrating in every industry that we are the most powerful social force, and now it must be organized.
The speakers at the rally limited themselves to hollow pacifist phrases and fuelled the illusion that the federal government could be dissuaded from its war course in this way.
The recent strike wave by workers in Kenya, following the Gen Z-led uprising, reflects deep-seated anger towards the regime of President William Ruto and its International Monetary Fund-backed austerity measures. Workers and the youth must forge a new path grounded in Leon Trotsky’s theory of Permanent Revolution—the programme that inspired the October 1917 Russian Revolution. It is essential to revive the struggle of Trotskyism against Stalinism, Maoism, Pabloism, and bourgeoisie nationalism.
The Frontline Socialist Party is sowing illusions in Sri Lanka’s new right-wing, pro-imperialist government, which is led by the Sinhala chauvinist JVP and its electoral front, National People’s Power.
She had little time for celebrity, saying: “One went to school, one wanted to act, one started to act and one’s still acting.”
The Biden/Harris administration’s decision to end schools’ federal COVID funding relief and prioritize war spending has created a massive fiscal cliff across the US. Class battles over the right to public education are set to occur, but require a new political perspective and the formation of independent rank-and-file committees of educators, parents and students.
Seminal documents of the Soviet Trotskyist movement from the early 1930s published for the first time
Published for the first time 90 years after they were written, the documents are an irrefutable vindication of the century-long struggle by the Trotskyist movement against Stalinism and for historical truth.
Analyzing a World in Chaos from an Island of Tranquility
This speech was given by David North at the second international commemoration of the work of Leon Trotsky on Büyükada (Prinkipo), Turkey, during the first period of his exile from the Soviet Union between 1929 and 1933.
A reply to an anarchist’s falsification of the Leon Trotsky commemoration on Prinkipo
The event was covered by many national and local media outlets and widely discussed on social media before and after the event in Turkey. However, a former Maoist and current anarchist published an article on his website denouncing and misrepresenting David North’s remarks.
On the anniversary of the assassination of Leon Trotsky
Eighty-four years ago today, on August 20, 1940, Leon Trotsky was assassinated by an agent of the Stalinist secret police, the GPU, in his villa in Coyoacan, Mexico, where he spent the final three years of his life as a political exile.
Trotsky's assassination was the greatest political crime of the 20th century. Alongside Vladimir Lenin, Trotsky was the leader of the 1917 October revolution in Russia, which led to the establishment of the first workers’ state in history, and the preeminent strategist of world socialist revolution.
"We must fight for Bogdan's freedom!"
Ukrainian youth speaks out in support of Bogdan Syrotiuk
This statement in support of Bogdan Syrotiuk was submitted to the WSWS by a Ukrainian youth who fled the war and is now working and studying in Germany.
Russian organizations and social media pages demand Bogdan Syrotiuk’s release
A number of Russian leftist organizations and media outlets have expressed their support for Bogdan, demanding his immediate release.
Release comrade Bogdan Syrotiuk unconditionally and immediately!
The persecution of Bogdan demonstrates that the defense of democratic rights is inseparable from the mobilisation of the international working class against imperialist war and capitalism.
Left-wing organisations in Sri Lanka support “Free Bogdan Syrotiuk” campaign
The United Socialist Party, the Socialist People’s Forum and the Frontline Socialist Party’s “Youth for Change” have issued statements demanding the immediate release of Bogdan Syrotiuk.
New release from Mehring Books
Sounding the Alarm: Socialism Against War, by David North
This September, Mehring Books published the speeches delivered by David North at the ICFI's Online May Day celebrations over the past decade. The speeches are a timely year-by-year analysis of the relentless escalation of imperialist militarism and the growing danger of a nuclear third world war.
Biden escalates toward disastrous war against Iran
The United States and Israel stand on the verge of a direct attack on Iran, with the most far-reaching and catastrophic consequences for the Middle East and the whole world.
East and Gulf coasts dock strike part of growing rebellion by the working class
The strike wave poses both the urgent need, as well as the possibility, of an independent class movement directed against the capitalist profit system as a whole.
Jacobin and DSA member Aidan Beatty falsify the so-called “Tate Affair”
In an interview in Jacobin, DSA member Aidan J. Beatty repeated his slanderous biography's claim that Gerry Healy and the British Trotskyists employed violence against political opponents and party members.
Washington pressures Vietnam against cable deal with China
It is preparation for military warfare, not simply trade warfare, that underlies the US pressure campaign.
Chinese central bank measures boost stock market, but economic problems mount
The stimulus was welcomed in financial circles, but the overwhelming sentiment is that much more must be done to halt the slide in the economy.
Australian military-intelligence insider calls for war mobilisation powers
Under the headline, “Warnings as Doomsday Clock edges ever closer to midnight,” Alan Dupont urged “national mobilisation on a scale we haven’t seen since World War II.”
Australian Labor government boasts of cutting social spending to produce record budget surpluses
Labor ministers were at pains to contrast their record of slashing spending with that of the last Coalition government headed by Scott Morrison.
One-day general strike in France for repeal of pension reform; ongoing protests escalate against worsening conditions in Iran; police use teargas and live ammunition against hunger protests in Nigeria
Workers Struggles: Europe, Middle East & Africa
One-day general strike in France for repeal of unpopular pension reform and against imposition of right-wing Barnier government; ongoing protests escalate against low wages, pensions and worsening social conditions across Iran; demonstrations against hunger and soaring prices of fuel and imports in major cities across Nigeria met with police bullets and teargas
“We will not accept business as usual”: Workers across the US support East Coast docks strike
"We have to press our advantage. We are demonstrating in every industry that we are the most powerful social force and now it must be organized."
Mexican workers: Refuse to handle redirected freight in support of US and Canadian dock strikes!
Amid the need to mobilize workers across North America to refuse to handle redirected shipments, the union bureaucracies are ordering their members to scab on the historic US strike.
A call to all workers: Press the offensive of the dockworkers’ strike! For a united struggle!
All workers must stand shoulder to shoulder with dockworkers and launch a joint struggle that unites all sections of the working class.
Twisters: Social disaster as empty spectacle
The film is totally uninterested in the social issues bound up with so-called “natural” disasters.
Canada’s media abets government-backed intimidation campaign to suppress anti-war film Russians at War
The campaign, which led to the temporary suspension of the film’s screening at Toronto’s world-renowned film festival, included threats of violence by fascists against festival organizers and visitors. Virtually no condemnation of this outrage or the tacit approval it received from the Liberal government is to be found in the media.
Michigan State University cancels event over pro-Palestinian art
MSU in East Lansing recently canceled a campus event over a piece of art with a pro-Palestinian image.
Arts Faculty cuts at Australia’s Macquarie University underscore Labor’s pro-business restructuring agenda
Throughout the university sector, managements have responded to Labor’s “loopholes” legislation by preventing casuals from gaining any claim to permanency or ending their employment altogether.
UK Prime Minister Starmer declares for war on Iran
In a televised speech in Downing Street Tuesday evening, Starmer turned reality on its head, declaring that Iran was the aggressor in the Middle East and was threatening the world with carnage.
Erdoğan warns of war between Israel and Turkey
War and genocide cannot be stopped by appealing to the Zionist state, the imperialist powers or the international institutions under their control.
US, Israeli officials demand major attack on Tehran after Iranian missile strike
US and Israeli officials openly endorsed a large-scale attack on Iran Tuesday, following a strike by Iran on Israel with 185 ballistic missiles the same day.
Israel launches ground operations in Lebanon amid ongoing air bombardment
Underscoring the central involvement of American imperialism in the escalating region-wide war, State Department spokesman Matthew Miller said Washington is in “continuous conversation” with the Israeli military about its invasion.
Julian Assange delivers first speech since release from UK prison: “I pleaded guilty to journalism”
Assange told the parliamentary assembly of the Council of Europe: “I am not free today because the system worked, I am free today after years of incarceration because I pled guilty to journalism.”
Australian spooks and their media mouthpieces bemoan Assange’s freedom
The complaints have a pathetic character to them, but also underscore the fact that the assault on democratic rights associated with the persecution of Assange persists and deepens.
The Australian Labor Party’s record in the Assange case
The Australian government's involvement in the plea deal arrangements was the result of mass popular pressure. It followed years of Labor actively assisting the persecution of Assange.
Julian Assange arrives in Australia free
In a press conference, Stella Assange hailed a global support movement for creating the conditions for Assange's freedom, while warning of an ongoing assault on press freedom that had to be fought.
Hurricane Helene death toll rises to 190 as US Southeast digs out from catastrophe driven by climate change
The full extent of the damage to infrastructure is still largely unknown, while hundreds of thousands of people in the Southeast are still without running water, electricity and cell phone service.
Residents divided as judge approves $600 million settlement over East Palestine, Ohio derailment
Victims of industrial poisoning of East Palestine say that the class action settlement does not go far enough to restore what they have lost, or to compensate them if health problems develop in the future.
Six factory workers dead or missing in Eastern Tennessee after being kept on the job during Helene’s deluge
Impact Plastics made employees come in to work on Friday morning despite the imminent threat of flooding from Helene and kept them there as the nearby Nolichuky River overflowed its banks and inundated the plant.
Texas executes Garcia Glen White despite claims of mental deficiencies
White’s life story mirrors that of many of the more than 2,200 men and women still on death row in America, as well as those of the 1,600 individuals who have already been sent to their deaths since the US Supreme Court reinstated the death penalty in 1976.
Vice-presidential debate: Political humbug covers up US drive to global war
The 90-minute debate between Senator JD Vance and Governor Tim Walz put on display the basic agreement between the two right-wing corporate parties.
Campaigning in Arizona, Kamala Harris pledges to “work across the aisle” to expand border police
Hours after Trump promised to carry out mass deportations of legal immigrants, Harris, who has yet to visit Springfield, Ohio, flew to the US-Mexico border wall where she pledged to adopt virtually all of the Republicans' anti-immigrant agenda.
Trump fascists continue terror campaign against Haitian immigrants with racist X post
In response to a nonprofit Haitian immigrant group filing criminal charges against Trump and Vance, Higgins posted a racist statement on X accusing Haitians of “eating pets” and to get “their ass out of our country before January 20th.”
What’s behind the Teamsters’ decision not to endorse in the presidential election
While the union presents itself as staying neutral, the decision is a de facto endorsement of Trump. A real fight against fascism requires an independent movement of the working class against both parties and the pro-corporate bureaucracy.
Cornell president launches attack on student facing deportation for opposing Gaza genocide
Cornell University President Michael Kotlikoff issued a statement to the entire university community on Monday defending the crackdown on campus protesters and the suspension of international graduate student Momodou Taal.
Pennsylvania professor fired for opposing Gaza genocide
Anthropology professor Maura Finkelstein’s dismissal from Muhlenberg College, in Allentown, Pennsylvania, came after the intervention of the US Department of Education.
Australia: Labor government threatens arrests, deportation over protests against Israel’s attacks on Lebanon
The presence of a few Hezbollah flags was seized upon as a pretext for a stepped-up denunciation of the mass anti-genocide rallies.
Banishment of over 110 protesters by UC Santa Cruz challenged in new legal complaint
The lawsuit, launched by the ACLU in California, alleges that the summary banishment by the University of California Regents was illegal.
Two new studies on mucosal vaccines and Long COVID underscore the criminality of the “forever COVID” policy
The studies highlight the dangers posed by COVID reinfection and the need to bring to clinical trials effective treatments that can prevent transmission once and for all.
While over 1 million Americans continue to be infected with COVID each day
Study shows that COVID-19 causes cognitive decline among those without long COVID symptoms
Significantly, infected controls did not report any symptoms related to these cognitive deficits, indicating that potentially billions of people worldwide with a history of COVID-19, but no symptoms of long COVID, could have persistent cognitive issues without knowing it.
Study by international researchers zeroes in on the natural origin of the COVID pandemic
The latest research deals a devastating blow to the fascistic conspiracy theory claiming the virus was created in a Chinese lab in Wuhan.
As over 1 million Americans continue to be infected with COVID-19 each day
New studies show growing risk of chronic neurological diseases associated with Long COVID
The 9th wave of the pandemic and new research into the neurological effects of Long COVID have firmly established the criminality of the "forever COVID" policy.
Fighting against war means fighting capitalism!
Never before has the threat of nuclear annihilation been as great as it is today. It is high time to stop the unbridled escalation of the wars in the Middle East and Ukraine by the NATO powers.
Austria’s far-right Freedom Party wins parliamentary election
The result of last Sunday's Austrian parliamentary elections followed the same pattern as the 2022 elections in Italy, 2023 in the Netherlands and 2024 in the German states of Thuringia, Saxony and Brandenburg.
European Left supports escalation of NATO war against Russia
The class character of political tendencies is particularly revealed in their attitude to war, as demonstrated by the vote on the European Parliament resolution for support to Ukraine.
House of Lords lays out plans to make UK fully war ready
The House of Lords International Relations and Defence Committee has issued its report, “Ukraine: a wake-up call” proposing measures by which the UK and Europe can take on “Putin’s Russia” and China.
Transportation unions call for strike in Argentina
Argentina’s poverty rate has reached 52.9 percent, the highest in 20 years, a 13 percent increase since Milei took power.
Rival factions of MAS ruling party clash in Bolivia
The implosion of the Movement Toward Socialism (MAS) in Bolivia sums up the fate of the so-called “pink tide” of bourgeois nationalist governments across Latin America.
Forest fires engulf the entire Amazon basin
Forest fires have consumed tens of millions of hectares in the Amazon basin this year, due to global warming, an extreme two-year drought, and illegal burning of forests and pastures.
Union prepares to suppress opposition to GM’s job cuts in Brazil
Against the illusions promoted by the union, GM workers showed their determination to fight by voting down two contract proposals at Monday’s mass assembly.
Biden congratulates Sri Lanka’s new president
Far from simply balancing between the major powers, Dissanayake and the JVP/NPP have made abundantly clear that his government will continue the pro-US line of its predecessor.
The Sri Lankan elections: JVP assumes responsibility for defending capitalism amid a deepening revolutionary crisis
The election of Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna leader Anura Kumara Dissanayake as Sri Lanka’s executive president is a major international event that warrants careful examination.
Sri Lankan big business rushes to congratulate new president
The rapacious Sri Lankan elites see the IMF’s harsh austerity demands as encouraging greater foreign direct investment and expanding their opportunities for boosting profits.
New Sri Lankan president calls snap elections
Dissanayake wants to establish a “stable” government with a clear parliamentary majority in order to carry out the harsh austerity measures dictated by the IMF.
The first-ever outbreak of Marburg virus disease in Rwanda
Six people have died and 20 others are being treated for Marburg virus disease in Rwanda. This is the first-ever outbreak of the deadly hemorrhagic disease in the country.
China’s economic ascendancy in Africa threatens US imperialism
China has supplanted the United States and the European Union as Africa’s main trading and investment partner.
Kenyan trade unions shut down aviation workers’ strike in one of Africa’s largest airports
The airport contributes more than $9.5 billion to the economy annually—around 4.6 percent of Kenya’s GDP. The unions, however, had no intention of fully leveraging workers’ power.
Strike wave erupts across Kenya despite trade unions’ attempt to strangle it
The working class is confronting a supposed “broad-based” government—a newly installed coalition of President William Ruto and his United Kenya Party and the main opposition party—that is committed to IMF austerity and enjoys the backing of the bureaucrats who run the Central Organization of Trade Unions.
Opening report to the Eighth Congress of the Socialist Equality Party (US)
We are publishing here the opening report to the Eighth Congress of the Socialist Equality Party (US), given by David North, the national chairman of the SEP. The congress was held from August 4 to August 9, 2024.
Report to the SEP (US) Eighth National Congress
16 years since the Founding Congress of the Socialist Equality Party
We are publishing here the report to the Eighth Congress of the Socialist Equality Party (US) given by Joseph Kishore, the national secretary of the SEP.
H5N1 Bird flu, climate change, and the social rights of the working class
The threat of pandemics and the deepening climate crisis raise existential concerns for all life and well-being on the planet, with capitalism bringing the world to the brink of annihilation.
Report to the SEP (US) Eighth National Congress
The barbarism of “forever COVID” and the fight for socialist public health
We are publishing here the report to the Eighth Congress of the Socialist Equality Party (US) given by Evan Blake. The congress was held from August 4 to August 9, 2024.
New York City Mayor Eric Adams charged with bribery
Eric Adams, the Democratic mayor of law and order whose administration has been engulfed by corruption charges, faces five counts of taking bribes and committing fraud.
SMART union endorses fascist Republican Senator Josh Hawley
Hawley, a major co-conspirator in the January 6, 2021 attempt to overturn the election, is a leading figure in the Republicans’ attempts to make a right-wing populist appeal to workers.
Biden-Harris administration intensifies economic war against China
New bans on Chinese software have been announced, citing “national security” concerns.
More information emerges about would-be Trump assassin Ryan Routh
Despite a rap sheet a mile long, Routh was able to freely travel to Ukraine, recruit mercenaries for the war effort, return to the US, acquire a high powered rifle and come within 500 yards of the former president.
Despite Putin’s nuclear warning, NATO escalates campaign to allow strikes deep inside Russia
Powerful factions of the NATO ruling classes aim to provoke a Russian retaliation, hoping the shock at home will create political conditions to launch a Europe-wide war on Russia.
As US prepares to allow NATO weapons to strike Russia, Putin threatens nuclear retaliation
Amid ongoing high-level meetings between NATO leaders and Ukrainian officials at the United Nations over plans to allow Ukraine to strike Russian cities with NATO weapons, Russian President Vladimir Putin outlined Wednesday a proposed update to Russia’s nuclear policy document that would expand the conditions under which Russia would use nuclear weapons.
German government readies further war package for Ukraine
According to media reports, the German government is preparing another massive arms package for Ukraine, worth 1.4 billion euros.
Massive explosion at Russian arms depot leaves unanswered questions
The explosion marked one of the largest strikes on a Russian arms depot since the start of the war. The arsenal in Toropets, located 300 miles north of Ukraine and 230 miles west of Moscow, reportedly housed long-range missiles and glide bombs.
This lecture was given by World Socialist Web Site International Editorial Board Chairman David North at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor on Tuesday, March 12.
Turkish government’s Medium Term Program: A frontal attack on the social conditions of the working class
The program, which focuses on maintaining fiscal discipline to reduce inflation and close the budget deficit, shows that the attacks on the living and working conditions of the working class will continue and deepen.
What does Turkey’s application to join BRICS mean?
The discussion of Turkey's possible membership of BRICS comes amid US authorisation for Ukraine to strike deep into Russia with NATO long-range weapons, bringing the two nuclear-armed powers to the brink of direct war.
Erdoğan welcomes al-Sisi to Turkey for the first time in the shadow of the Gaza genocide
Erdogan and al-Sisi are taking steps to strengthen their ties amid Israel’s US-NATO-backed genocide in Gaza, which is spreading to the West Bank, and preparations for war against Iran.
The Middle East arena of competition between the US and China
Washington has no intention of allowing Beijing to extend its influence in the Middle East, or anywhere else in the world, and will not hesitate to use all the means at its disposal to prevent this—utilising support for Israel’s annihilation of the Palestinians in Gaza as the basis for an expanding war for control of the region initially targeting Iran.
Some revealing comments on the state of the global economy
European Central Bank president Christine Lagarde said the world economy faced pressures similar to those of the 1920s.
US Fed announces large rate cut, but Wall Street wants more
The move was significant given that in July Powell said the Fed was not even considering a 50 basis point reduction.
Total capitulation by US Federal Reserve on bank regulation
Proposed measures gutted after an intense campaign by major banks employing nearly 500 lobby groups.
World’s two biggest economies show recessionary trends
US labour market contracts and deflation spreads in China.
This week in history: September 30-October 6
Paddington rail crash; Spinola steps down in Portugal; People’s Republic of China founded; League of Nations adopts bankrupt anti-war measure.
Book Review: The Demon of Unrest by Erik Larson
Contemporary lessons from the slave power’s plot to overturn the 1860 election
Erik Larson’s new book The Demon of Unrest, published this year by Penguin Random House, contains critical lessons for the fight against Trump and the threat of dictatorship today.
Reflections on the death of Lt. Willam Calley Jr.: Imperialist atrocities, from My Lai to Gaza
Calley spent only three days in prison for his role in directing the mass murder of 504 Vietnamese men, women and children. He is now reported to have died April 28 at the age of 80.
80 years since the liberation of Lublin-Majdanek concentration camp: From Hitler’s war in the East to the Holocaust
The history of the Majdanek camp reveals the links between Nazi Germany’s war of aggression against the Soviet Union and the Holocaust, and the extermination of the Jewish population, which primarily affected Poland and Eastern Europe.
Fifty years after Chile’s horrific September 11 coup, its political relevance is becoming ever more urgent as the specter of dictatorship once again haunts the political life of Latin America.
Support the Dakkota auto parts strike! An injury to one is an injury to all! Ban the use of scab parts from Dakkota!
As their strike reached a critical juncture, rank-and-file Dakkota auto parts workers in Chicago issued a statement Tuesday appealing for a ban on scab parts from their factory.
Dakkota workers’ strike in danger as UAW demands fifth vote on sellout agreement: “We have the strength to stand up and fight back”
The courageous rebellion of striking Dakkota parts workers, who defied an unprecedented four sellout agreements, is in danger of being shut down and betrayed as the UAW is threatening workers with a fifth vote on the same agreement.
Dakkota Integrated Systems: The low-wage sweatshop workers are fighting against
Dakkota was founded in 2001 as a joint venture between Rush Group LLC, owned by trucking and auto supply business owner Andra Rush, and Canada-based Magna International Inc.
Autoworkers need to communicate around the world and make a plan to fight back
I have always been told my job is more secure than most because we are one of the most profitable plants for GM. This sense of certainty has dwindled rapidly.
Mehring Books, the publishing arm of the Socialist Equality Party (US), is proud to announce the publication of Volume 1 of COVID, Capitalism, and Class War: A Social and Political Chronology of the Pandemic, a compilation of the World Socialist Web Site's coverage of this global crisis.
Students speak on mass spread of COVID on college campuses as semester begins
The WSWS spoke to several students who are witnessing the mass infection of their peers on college campuses in the US and Canada.
One fifth of world’s youth not in employment, education or training
These conditions testify to the powder keg that is Africa and indeed vast parts of the world. Youth-led protests have broken out in several countries over recent months calling for political change.
Ten months of the Gaza genocide: The way forward in the fight against war
As millions of students are re-entering their classrooms in schools and on college campuses across the United States for a new semester, the threat of world war and fascism is greater today than at any point since the 1930s.
IYSSE launches petitions for Special General meetings at Australian universities against Gaza genocide
At the working-class campuses of Western Sydney University (WSU) and Victoria University (VU) in Melbourne, the IYSSE clubs’ campaigns have been met with enthusiasm from students.
Failure of Boeing spacecraft strands 2 astronauts on the International Space Station
It should be asked why NASA continues to trust Boeing, the airplane manufacturer which developed the MAX 8 jets responsible for the deaths of 346 men, women and children in two separate crashes in 2018 and 2019.
Scientists reveal two previously unknown mechanisms for Antarctic ice shelf melting
If these gigantic ice shelves disintegrated, they would raise the global sea level by 58 meters, nearly 200 feet.
Coral bleaching threatens 73 percent of world’s reefs
Coral bleaching is another further warning of the climate crisis, with the working class and poor across the world bearing the primary brunt of its consequences as global temperatures rise, including in the oceans.
Global temperature records again broken on Monday and Tuesday
Rising levels of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, largely as a result of the burning of fossil fuels, are producing record temperatures year after year.
January 21 marked 100 years since the death of Vladimir Lenin in 1924. This page includes a collection of essays reviewing the life and ideas of the great Marxist theoretician, founder of the Bolshevik Party, and co-leader of the Russian Revolution.
SEP in Sri Lanka commemorates second anniversary of death of Trotskyist leader Wije Dias
Wije Dias belonged to the group of young people who took up the initiative in 1968 to form the Trotskyist party in Sri Lanka and he played a leading role in the movement for 54 years until his death.
UK Socialist Equality Party election rally advances socialist and internationalist opposition to war
The meeting’s platform featured many of the principal leaders of the party that the working class needs in the battles ahead—the International Committee of the Fourth International, the world party of socialist revolution founded by Leon Trotsky.
Attendees at UK general election rally speak: “The Socialist Equality Party is what I want to dedicate my efforts to building.”
WSWS reporters spoke to some of those in attendance on their response to the Socialist Equality Party (UK) general election rally held in London on Sunday.
Billions for education not war! Support the Socialist Equality Party (UK) campaign for a unified struggle against capitalism and war!
Teachers in the UK must prepare to take on Labour as it prepares to take office. This requires a break from the trade union bureaucracy whose function, in order to secure their privileged existence, is to block the development of a struggle in defence of educators’ independent interests.
May Day 2024: The working class and the struggle against imperialist war
This is the text of the introductory speech delivered by WSWS International Editorial Board Chairman David North to the 2024 International May Day Online Rally.
The political significance of the 2024 May Day Online Rally
This is the text of the speech delivered by Johannes Stern, editor of the German-language edition of the WSWS, as a summation to the 2024 International May Day Online Rally.
The struggle against imperialist war among students and youth
This is the text of the speech delivered by Dilaxshan Mahalingam, an IYSSE member in Sri Lanka, to the 2024 International May Day Online Rally.
The fight against imperialist war in New Zealand and the Pacific
This is the text of the speech delivered by Tom Peters, a leading member of the Socialist Equality Group in New Zealand, to the 2024 International May Day Online Rally.
Helen Halyard (1950-2023), a tribute to a life dedicated to the victory of world socialism
We are publishing here the tribute given by David North to Helen Halyard, a leading member of the Socialist Equality Party and the International Committee of the Fourth International for more than half a century, who died suddenly at the age of 73 on November 28. North’s remarks opened a memorial meeting for Helen held Sunday, December 3.
Remarks by David North at the conclusion of the international memorial meeting for Helen Halyard
We are publishing here the summation given by David North to the memorial meeting for Comrade Helen Halyard held on December 3.
“Building the world party was Helen’s goal in life, to which she made an indelible contribution”
We are publishing here the tribute to Helen Halyard written by Patrick Martin, a member of the US editorial board of the World Socialist Web Site and a member of the Workers League and Socialist Equality Party for 52 years, and Esther Galen, a member of the Workers League and Socialist Equality Party for 53 years.
Tribute to Helen: Beverly Lozano, a supporter from California
A tribute to Helen Halyard written by Beverly Lozano, a supporter of the WSWS.
Report to Sri Lanka meetings
Imperialism, the genocide in Gaza, and the world struggle for socialism
Socialist Equality Party (US) National Secretary Joseph Kishore delivered the following report to a meeting titled “Leon Trotsky and the Struggle for Socialism in the 21st Century” in Colombo on December 10.
University of Michigan IYSSE protests attack by pro-government thugs on Sri Lankan SEP members
We are publishing here a letter being sent by the International Youth and Students for Social Equality (IYSSE) at the University of Michigan condemning the violent attack on two members of the Socialist Equality Party (SEP) in Sri Lanka by pro-government thugs.
Magistrate court hearing on violent assault on Sri Lankan SEP members
While police have visited the crime scene and recorded witness statements they requested more time to obtain hospital medical reports.
Academics denounce pro-government thug attack on Sri Lankan SEP members
The SEP is calling on all those who are concerned to defend democratic rights of freedom of expression to register their opposition by sending protest letters to the relevant authorities.
The essays in this book, though written over the span of more than 40 years, are connected by a central argument: Leon Trotsky was the most significant figure in the history of socialism during the first four decades of the twentieth century, and his legacy remains the critical and indispensable theoretical and political foundation of the ongoing contemporary struggle for the victory of world socialism.
Order your print or epub version of the book from Mehring Books today.
Wisconsin documents reveal details of strategy behind Donald Trump’s 2020 fake elector scheme
A trove of court documents released on Monday show Wisconsin attorney Kenneth Chesebro and former judge Jim Troupis were instrumental in formulating the strategy of Donald Trump to overturn the 2020 elections through court cases that generated “a cloud of confusion” combined with the appointment of “alternative” electors in seven key states.
Appellate court rejects Trump’s claim that he cannot be prosecuted for seeking to overthrow the 2020 election
The Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia ruled against Donald Trump's assertion of absolute immunity from criminal prosecution for seeking to overthrow the 2020 election.
Third Trump coup lawyer pleads guilty and agrees to testify in Georgia election case
Jenna Ellis is the third lawyer and fourth defendant to plead guilty in relation to the conspiracy to overturn the 2020 presidential election in Georgia.
Trump coup plot accomplice Chesebro pleads guilty in Georgia fake elector case
Kenneth Chesebro, attorney and close associate of Donald Trump, pleaded guilty on Friday to one felony charge in exchange for his agreement to testify against the former-president and 16 other defendants in the fake elector scheme to overturn the 2020 election results in Georgia.
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.
1985-86: The victory of Trotskyism within the ICFI
The following lecture was delivered by Chris Marsden, the national secretary of the Socialist Equality Party (UK), and Ulaş Ateşçi, a leading member of the Sosyalist Eşitlik Grubu (Socialist Equality Group) in Turkey, to the SEP (US) International Summer School, held between July 30 and August 4, 2023.
The Workers League’s defence of the Theory of Permanent Revolution against the opportunism of the Workers Revolutionary Party
The following lecture was delivered by Tom Peters, a leading member of the Socialist Equality Group of New Zealand, and Thomas Scripps, a leading member of the Socialist Equality Party (UK), to the SEP (US) International Summer School, held between July 30 and August 4, 2023.
1982: Marxism, the revolutionary party, and the critique of Healy’s Studies in Dialectics
The following lecture was delivered by Christoph Vandreier, the national secretary of the Sozialistische Gleichheitspartei (Socialist Equality Party) of Germany to the SEP (US) International Summer School, held between July 30 and August 4, 2023.
The role of Security and the Fourth International in the fight for the continuity of the International Committee of the Fourth International
The following lecture was delivered by Eric London, a leading member of the Socialist Equality Party (US), to the SEP (US) International Summer School, held between July 30 and August 4, 2023.
Vadim Z. Rogovin (10 May 1937 – 18 September 1998) was a Soviet Marxist sociologist and historian. Working in close collaboration with the International Committee of the Fourth International, Rogovin helped lay the foundations for the Trotskyist movement’s fight against the post-Soviet school of historical falsification, including in his six-volume Was There an Alternative? This page collects major essays and commemorations on Rogovin as well as links to his own writings.
Former Montgomery, Alabama teacher testifies about the forced reopening of schools in 2020-21
In this interview, Tynisa Williams, former teacher in Montgomery, Alabama, describes the experience of being forced to teach in-person in the fall of 2020 and winter of 2021. She and her coworkers waged a courageous struggle to stop the deadly return to in-person learning that cost the lives of eight educators in the district.
Accomplices to social murder
The international pseudo-left and the lifting of Zero-COVID in China: Part 1
The pseudo-left’s hostility to public health and support for imperialism found sharp expression in their universal demand—echoing that of the Western corporate media and political establishment—that China abandon its Zero-COVID strategy.
Accomplices to social murder
The international pseudo-left and the lifting of Zero-COVID in China: Part 2
The pseudo-left’s hostility to public health and support for imperialism found its sharpest expression in their demand—echoing that of the Western corporate media and political establishment—that China abandon its Zero-COVID strategy.
Immunocompromised mother in Manhattan speaks to Global Workers’ Inquest into the COVID-19 Pandemic
Melanie, whose children attend public schools in New York City, spoke to the WSWS about the toll the “let it rip” policy toward the pandemic has taken on her and her family.
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 Wuhan “lab leak” fraud: A political witch-hunt against science and public health
The hearings before the House subcommittee have been a bipartisan effort to foment anti-Chinese hysteria.
Democrats join with Republican fascists to witch-hunt scientist Peter Daszak
During Wednesday’s House Subcommittee on COVID-19 with Dr. Peter Daszak, president of EcoHealth Alliance, Democrats joined ranks with fascistic Republican colleagues to promote the Wuhan lab-leak lies.
The Wuhan lab lie: “Weapons of mass destruction” redux
In an uncanny instance of history repeating itself, the lies used to justify the 2003 invasion of Iraq based on false claims about “weapons of mass destruction” are being used to promote the United States’ unprecedented military buildup around China.
A discredited conspiracy theory about the origins of COVID-19
The Wuhan Lab Leak slander being resurrected to bolster US war drive against China
The Wall Street Journal disclosed that the Department of Energy has shifted its opinion on the origin of the coronavirus to it being most likely a result of a lab leak. However, unnamed sources who have read the report indicate the evidence is of low confidence.
Nikole Hannah-Jones’ Center for Democracy and Journalism: Racialist politics in the service of US imperialism
After one year, the Center’s main accomplishment has been to deepen the mutual embrace between sections of the upper middle class and the military-intelligence apparatus.
The 1619 Project and the New York Times’ promotion of the racialist ideology of Ukrainian nationalism
The racialist historical revisionism of the Times and the racialist ideology of the Ukrainian neo-Nazis share a common premise: the mythological reimagining of history as a struggle of “the nation” and “the race.”
Oppose political censorship of antiwar views at Howard University!
We call on all students, faculty and staff members at Howard University to oppose this censorship and demand that the IYSSE be allowed to hold its planned meeting on campus.
Marcus Garvey and the reactionary logic of racialist politics
More than one hundred years after the formation of his Universal Negro Improvement Association (UNIA), Marcus Garvey's legacy remains highly relevant in the struggle to overcome efforts to divide the working class along racial lines.
Comrade Wije Dias, the longtime general secretary of the Socialist Equality Party (Sri Lanka), died in Colombo on July 27, 2022. This exhibit includes two tributes to Wije by WSWS International Editorial Board Chairman David North as well as a selection of Wije’s most significant articles and speeches.
The arrest of journalist Richard Medhurst and the fight to defend democratic rights
Medhurst said of his detention at the UK’s Heathrow Airport, “I believe I'm the first journalist to be arrested under this provision of the Terrorism Act.”
Instagram shutters account of Palestinian publisher Quds News Network
Instagram shut the account without explanation. Quds is one of the most popular Palestinian networks and has featured on-the-spot exposures of the war crimes in Gaza.
WSWS readers demand Facebook reverse ban on SEG in New Zealand
Readers have expressed outrage at the social media company’s anti-democratic censorship of the Trotskyist Socialist Equality Group in New Zealand.
Facebook blocks Socialist Equality Group in New Zealand from advertising
We call on readers to oppose Facebook’s blatant political censorship of the Trotskyist movement in New Zealand.
October 16 marked the 45th anniversary of the assassination of Tom Henehan, a member of the Political Committee of the Workers League—the predecessor of the Socialist Equality Party in the US. We are republishing here a tribute delivered by David North at a meeting in 1997.
Over 80,000 sign petition against NYU Langone’s termination of a pro-Palestinian resident physician
Over 80,000 people have signed a petition opposing the anti-democratic termination of Dr. Zaki Masoud by NYU Langone.
Report exposes fraudulent antisemitism accusations at UK universities
The report concludes that critics of the Israeli state, advocates for Palestinian rights and those teaching the history and politics of the region have been “subjected to false allegations of antisemitism.”
An interview with Harvard anthropology Professor John Comaroff—Part one
We spoke recently to South African-born John Comaroff, the Hugh K. Foster Professor of African and African-American studies and of Anthropology, and Oppenheimer Research Fellow in African Studies, Harvard University.
Harvard UAW, pseudo-left groups organize provocation against professor John Comaroff
The right-wing witch-hunt of John Comaroff at Harvard University continued Tuesday with a stage-managed protest during his first class of the semester.
Israel murders 274 Gazans in a further escalation of the genocidal war
For a demonstration on July 24 in Washington D.C. to protest congressional invitation for Netanyahu
The World Socialist Web Site calls on workers and youth to respond to Congress’ invitation to the war criminal Netanyahu with a demonstration in Washington D.C.
Leaders of London rally issue dead-end call for Sunak and Starmer to reverse support for Israel’s genocide
The determined opposition of workers and young people is being corralled into a dead-end, with calls that the only way to stop Israel is to put pressure on the Tories and, above all, the Labour Party of genocide apologist in chief, Sir Keir Starmer.
TikTok bans video demanding Bogdan Syrotiuk’s freedom, branding it “hate speech”
The TikTok ban comes just days after the Zelensky regime issued an order banning access to the World Socialist Web Site across Ukraine. The order was issued by the Ukrainian State Special Communications Service, a wing of the country’s military-intelligence apparatus.
Australian government, opposition launch hysterical attacks on the Greens over Gaza genocide
The Greens are serving as something of a placeholder, with the real target the mass opposition to the genocide among workers and young people.
This interactive timeline presents some of the most important events that have brought humanity to the brink of World War III. It includes links to critical articles and statements produced by the International Committee of the Fourth International over the past 30 years.
A comment on David North’s review: Biography as demonology: Aidan Beatty’s The Party is Always Right: The Untold Story of Gerry Healy and British Trotskyism
The following letter was sent by Steve Long, a former member of the Socialist Labour League/Workers Revolutionary Party who writes for the World Socialist Web Site as Stefan Steinberg.
Book Review
Biography as demonology: Aidan Beatty’s The Party is Always Right: The Untold Story of Gerry Healy and British Trotskyism
Aidan Beatty's new book is not a biography, but rather a political diatribe against Gerry Healy and Trotskyism.
Book Review: The Demon of Unrest by Erik Larson
Contemporary lessons from the slave power’s plot to overturn the 1860 election
Erik Larson’s new book The Demon of Unrest, published this year by Penguin Random House, contains critical lessons for the fight against Trump and the threat of dictatorship today.
Bankers in the Ivory Tower by Charlie Eaton
The financialization of higher education and the fight against war
Eaton’s book traces the financialization of higher education from the 1980s through the 2010s, which underlay the subordination of academia to Wall Street and the war machine of US imperialism.
The WSWS is publishing the report delivered by David North 25 years ago, on February 1, 1997, motivating the proposal to end publication of the SEP’s printed newspaper and replace it with an international website; as well as North’s reply to the National Committee ‘s discussion of the proposal.
Betrayal on the docks: ILA sells out longshoremen’s strike
The bureaucracy has shut down the strike because it was having a powerful impact on corporate America. More significantly, the strike threatened to undermine the US escalation of war in the Middle East and against Russia.
Biden escalates toward disastrous war against Iran
The United States and Israel stand on the verge of a direct attack on Iran, with the most far-reaching and catastrophic consequences for the Middle East and the whole world.
East and Gulf coasts dock strike part of growing rebellion by the working class
The strike wave poses both the urgent need, as well as the possibility, of an independent class movement directed against the capitalist profit system as a whole.
Hurricane Helene: Capitalism turns a natural disaster into a social catastrophe
The death toll from Hurricane Helene topped 130 Monday night making it the deadliest storm to hit the US mainland since Katrina drowned the city of New Orleans in 2005.
Review the most critical essays, lectures and letters produced by the ICFI in the course of its intervention in response to the crisis of Stalinism and the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991.
New Zealand: Court action continues over Pike River mine disaster
Families of some of the 29 workers killed in the 2010 coal mine disaster are continuing their fight for answers about why authorities dropped charges against Pike River Coal chief executive Peter Whittall over the extremely dangerous conditions in the mine.
Police locate more bodies in New Zealand’s Pike River mine
The police investigation into the 2010 disaster that killed 29 mineworkers has been dragged out until at least the end of 2023, with no guarantee that anyone will be charged over the avoidable deaths.
New Zealand police extend investigation into Pike River mine disaster until the end of 2023
Police are delaying their decision on whether to lay charges over the 2010 Pike River mine disaster that killed 29 people, until after the October election.
Nine dead, 44 still missing in mine collapse in China
The disaster tragically exposes the brutal working conditions faced by miners in China in the reckless drive for profits ahead of lives and safety.