Perspective
Perspective
Perspective
American capitalism normalizes mass death
The daily death toll of the COVID-19 pandemic, with more than 2,000 people dying in the United States every day, is being treated as the “new normal.”
Top Stories
The US government is violating international law in its forcible deportation of migrants without so much as a hearing.
Chase Lawrence•
A “study” promoted by President Bolsonaro secretly medicated elderly COVID-19 patients with hydroxychloroquine and erythromycin, resulting in hundreds of deaths.
Eduardo Parati•
In the days following Abimael Guzmán’s death, the political life of Peru was dominated by a heated and macabre debate over what was to be done with his corpse.
Bill Van Auken•
Whitty estimated that “roughly half” of all schoolchildren aged between 12 and 15 have already been infected. He added, “virtually any child unvaccinated is likely to get an infection at some point…”
Robert Stevens, Thomas Scripps•
To prevent the subordination of human life and education to corporate profits students must fight to build a movement in the working class to eradicate the virus.
Samuel Tissot•
The reopening of schools across the US has been a horrifying disaster, with both children and educators dying of COVID-19 at a rate of at least three per day nationwide.
Emma Arceneaux•
K-12 schools in Michigan have been open for less than a month, and they have quickly become not just the number one source of COVID-19 outbreaks in the state, but the source of the absolute majority of new outbreaks.
Zac Corrigan, Debra Watson•
The run-up to the election this coming Sunday has been characterised by an unprecedented wave of strikes, protests and demonstrations.
Ulrich Rippert•
The climate issue, like all major social issues—social inequality, coronavirus, right-wing extremism, refugee policy and war—is a class issue. It requires an international, social response.
Sozialistische Gleichheitspartei (SGP) and IYSSE•
Senator Cory Booker and Representative Karen Bass announced the abandonment of efforts to push through the George Floyd Act, in the face of predictable Republican opposition and White House indifference.
Trévon Austin•
Unconfirmed reports indicate that a recently terminated employee returned to his former workplace and shot multiple workers and customers before shooting himself.
Jacob Crosse•
The delay is aimed at holding back the struggle of Dana workers in order to help the corporation push through its model changeover. The reality is the UAW and USW have nothing to “negotiate” with Dana because they already agreed to whatever Dana wanted months ago.
Eric London•
Historian Woody Holton launches 1619 Project-inspired attack on the American Revolution
The University of South Carolina historian holds that the American Revolution was launched to defend the institution of slavery against the British Empire.
Read More
Twenty years of the “war on terrorism” in Australia: War crimes and police-state measures
The Australian government was the first in the world to offer unconditional support to the Bush administration’s plans to exploit the 9/11 attack to invade Afghanistan and Iraq.
Mike Head•
America’s deadliest pandemic: COVID-19 eclipses the Spanish flu
This month, COVID-19 officially became the deadliest outbreak of infectious disease in American history, eclipsing the 1918 Spanish flu pandemic that killed 675,000 Americans over two years.
Benjamin Mateus•
Scientists hone in on “missing link” in the natural origins of COVID-19
The discovery by an international team of scientists further exposes the lie that the pandemic originated in a laboratory in Wuhan, China.
Andre Damon•
Stop the deportation of Haitian refugees!
Scenes of border agents on horseback charging and whipping defenseless Haitian immigrants on the US southern border have provoked shock and revulsion across America and around the world.
Bill Van Auken•
Verena Nees•
Roger Jordan, Keith Jones•
Alex Lantier•
Ulrich Rippert•
WSWS Autoworker Newsletter•
From the WSWS Archives
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
Video: Why students and young people support the Socialist Equality Party
“I think that it’s important for me to take a stand and joining the SEP, as an electoral member, was one way that I could do that.”
our reporters•
Australia: Why are the socialists leading the fight to defend basic democratic rights?
The Socialist Equality Party is conducting an intensive campaign against the new anti-democratic electoral laws pushed through the Australian parliament.
Socialist Equality Party (Australia)•
Workers oppose Australia’s anti-democratic electoral laws: “People don’t hold the views of the three main parties, which all defend the capitalist framework”
A new Socialist Equality Party electoral member said: “Wherever you go it is almost the same. All over the world if the people don’t demand their rights the governments don't give them. You have to fight for your rights.”
Our reporters•
Enthusiastic response to fight against Australia’s anti-democratic election laws at SEP public meeting
“We are defending much more than the right to mark the SEP on an election ballot. We are defending the democratic and social rights of the entire working class,” Eric London tells online meeting.
Our reporter•
Our reporters•
Our reporters•
Postal Workers Rank-and-File Committee•
The International Youth and Students for Social Equality (Australia)•
Socialist Equality Party (Australia)•
Alberta’s overwhelmed hospitals on verge of leaving patients to die as Canada’s fourth pandemic wave accelerates
There were 1,040 COVID-19 patients in Alberta’s hospitals Wednesday, the highest at any time since the pandemic began.
Omar Ali•
Ukraine on the verge of the fourth wave of the pandemic
In the western L’viv region, people were forced to bury COVID-19 victims in makeshift graves outside of their homes due to a lack of cemetery spaces.
Jason Melanovski•
All US schools must be closed as part of a strategy to eradicate COVID-19!
The unfolding catastrophe in the US makes clear the need to immediately close all schools as part of a broader strategy of eliminating COVID-19 in the US and ultimately eradicating the virus worldwide.
Socialist Equality Party (US)•
The eradication of COVID-19 is the only way to stop the pandemic
The global spread of the highly infectious Delta variant and the drive to fully reopen schools worldwide, despite the well-known risks to children, has made clear that the only viable strategy is the eradication of COVID-19 internationally.
Evan Blake, David North•
Our reporters•
Genevieve Leigh•
Jean Shaoul•
Margaret Rees•
Andy Thompson•
Australia: Interview with Year 12 student who called for final exams to be cancelled amid pandemic
A petition calling for the final Year 12 high school exams to be cancelled in New South Wales, under conditions of an escalating COVID crisis, has been signed by thousands of students and their supporters.
Our reporters•
Pennsylvania COVID-19 cases and deaths up tenfold after full reopening of schools
The surge in infections and deaths has been driven by the lifting of all restrictions and the reopening of schools in August, promoted by Democratic Governor Tom Wolf along with local politicians.
Samuel Davidson•
After 592 students and 384 staff test positive in first week of classes
New York City mayor reduces quarantine protocols in schools
The curtailment of quarantining will undoubtedly accelerate the spread of the highly contagious Delta variant of the virus, which is already surging through the city, among children and in their communities.
Sandy English•
Educators and parents must unite in Washington state to close the schools, end the pandemic, and save lives!
We have established this committee to oppose the dangerous and unsafe school reopenings in Washington. We aim to be a rallying point for educators, parents and all workers throughout the Pacific Northwest region.
Washington Educators Rank-and-File Safety Committee•
Henry Lee•
our reporters•
Our reporters•
Pennsylvania Educators Rank-and-File Safety Committee•
Renae Cassimeda•
Kone escalator workers strike in Coal Valley, Illinois for better pay and benefits
Workers at the escalator production facility have been on strike since Monday, fighting to end a two-tier pay system and to improve retirement benefits.
James Martin•
UAW reports massive $2 million theft of union funds at Local 412 in Detroit
A UAW spokesman confirmed that the financial secretary of the amalgamated local has been suspended after an audit found $2 million missing, a huge amount for a small unit with about 2,700 members.
Shannon Jones•
Danish nurses continue wildcat stoppages in defiance of unions over pay and lack of staff; teachers across France walk out for 24 hours to demand more staff, better pay and conditions; Sunday pay strikes at ScotRail continue; Nigerian resident doctors on strike for nearly two months over pay arrears
Workers Struggles: Europe, Middle East & Africa
Danish nurses continue wildcat stoppages in defiance of unions over pay and lack of staff, joined by sympathy strike of Silkeborg social workers; teachers across France walk out for 24 hours to demand more staff, better pay and conditions; Sunday pay strikes at ScotRail continue for over six months, 24-hour safety strikes continue at East Midlands Rail; Nigerian resident doctors on strike for nearly two months over pay arrears, while other health unions prevaricate about calling members out over same issues
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Mobilize the working class to support the striking Washington state carpenters!
The nearly week-long strike by thousands of carpenters centered in the metro Seattle area has reached a critical juncture.
Kayla Costa, Jerry White•
Our reporters•
George Kirby•
Warren Duzak•
Peter Schwarz•
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UK: Unite union calls off Greater Manchester Metrolink strike over pay
The first intervention among public transport workers by Sharon Graham as General Secretary of Unite has been to call off a strike on the largest tram network system in the UK.
Margot Miller•
Former French health minister charged for “endangering the lives of others” over COVID-19 policies
Buzyn’s indictment underscores the widely felt sense in the population that the ruling class pursued a policy of social murder in response to the pandemic.
Anthony Torres•
Sozialistische Gleichheitspartei final election rally: A socialist perspective against welfare cuts, militarism and herd immunity
The Sozialistische Gleichheitspartei (Socialist Equality Party, SGP) held its closing rally for the federal election on September 19.
Our reporters•
What can be expected from a red-green federal government in Germany?
Like the Left Party, the SPD and the Greens have ensured that an unprecedented redistribution of wealth from the bottom upwards has taken place during the coronavirus pandemic.
Christoph Vandreier•
Robert Stevens•
Santiago Guillen•
Chris Marsden•
Clara Weiss•
Alex Lantier•
Australian police exploit extreme right-wing, anti-vax rallies to deploy new repressive weaponry
The real target of the repressive build-up is not the extreme right—many of the fascists enjoy close relations with sections of sympathising police—but the working class.
Patrick O’Connor•
New Zealand PM “pleased to see” AUKUS military pact
New Zealand is not part of the recently announced military pact between the US, Britain and Australia targeting China, but Prime Minister Ardern welcomed their aggressive engagement in the Pacific region.
Tom Peters•
Beijing condemns military pact between the US, Britain and Australia
The Chinese regime fears that Biden is accelerating the confrontation with China and preparations for war that began with President Obama and was expanded under Trump.
Peter Symonds•
Australia: Victorian Labor government announces homicidal plan to lift lockdown
The Victorian government’s own modelling says there is a 63 percent chance the lifting of restrictions will overwhelm the state’s hospital system.
Oscar Grenfell•
Teacher-Student-Parent Safety Committee•
Mike Head•
Tom Peters•
Postal Workers Rank-and-File Committee•
Tom Peters•
Turning Point: 9/11 And The War On Terror—An account of the terror attacks and their aftermath
9/11 has become the subject for numerous novels, films and television series. A number have effectively described the character of the events and their psychological impact, few have shed much light on their source and larger implications.
Joanne Laurier•
Cuban musician, composer and band leader Adalberto Álvarez (1948-2021)
A reader has contributed this obituary of the remarkable Cuban musician, composer and band leader Adalberto Álvarez.
Rufus Boulting-Hodge•
Toronto International Film Festival 2021: Part 1
Stanley Nelson’s Attica: A striking treatment of the 1971 prison revolt and massacre
This year’s Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF), like every other global public event at present, took place in the shadow of the COVID-19 pandemic. A documentary about the 1971 Attica prison revolt was one of the more powerful films.
David Walsh•
1232 KMS: Seven Indian migrant workers head home during the COVID-19 pandemic
The film documents the odyssey of a group of workers who, having been stripped of all income by the Modi government’s pandemic lockdown, bicycle to their village in Bihar hundreds of miles away.
Yuvan Darwin, Daniel Woreck•
James McDonald•
Paul Bond•
Erik Schreiber•
Nick Barrickman•
James Martin•
Biden, Macron pledge to meet amid mounting US-EU conflicts over China
EU officials criticized Washington’s signing of the anti-Chinese AUKUS alliance and the canceling of a Franco-Australian submarine contract.
Alex Lantier•
Biden gives Johnson short shrift even as UK ruling class lines up behind AUKUS
So dependent is the UK government on proving itself a loyal ally to the US that Johnson followed up his failed appeals to Biden with a provocative jibe at France.
Thomas Scripps•
California wildfires threaten millennia-old giant sequoias
The most immediate danger is from the KNP Complex, a recent merging of the recently sparked Paradise Fire and Colony fire, which has grown to 25,142 acres and is 0 percent contained.
Adria French•
Chicago police refuse to give answers about killing of 28-year-old Turell Brown
The Chicago Police Department has kept obstinately quiet since officers killed Brown on Chicago’s South Side on Sunday, stating “that’s for COPA to investigate.”
Jessica Goldstein•
Alexandra Greene•
Jessica Goldstein•
Patrick Martin•
Roger Jordan•
Jacob Crosse•
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•
IYSSE (Sri Lanka) meeting discusses US debacle in Afghanistan
Students from almost all of Sri Lanka’s universities participated in the event, indicating that young people are seeking a serious analysis of crucial international developments.
Our correspondents•
Online public meetings: The socialist perspective in the California gubernatorial elections
At these online town hall meetings, David Moore, the Socialist Equality Party’s candidate for governor of California, will make the case for a socialist response to California’s political crisis and the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.
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SGP election spot: “Life instead of profits!”
We are publishing here the SGP’s official election spot for the German federal election with subtitles in English, French and Turkish.
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Robert Sutherland•
Socialist Equality Party (Sri Lanka)•
Socialist Equality Party (US)•
Our reporters•
Wije Dias•
100 years since the Battle of Blair Mountain
Between August 25 and September 2, 1921, as many as 20,000 coal miners in southern West Virginia waged armed combat against a private army employed by the coal companies.
Andy Thompson, Jerry White•
This week in history: September 20-26
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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Eighty-five years since the outbreak of the Spanish Civil War
Eighty-five years ago, on July 17, 1936, the Spanish army launched a fascist coup against the the country’s Republic, provoking the Spanish Civil War.
Alejandro López•
100 years since the founding of the Chinese Communist Party
The world historical significance of the 1921 founding of the Chinese Communist Party stands in stark contrast to the hypocrisy and falsifications that characterise the official centenary celebrations.
Peter Symonds•
Peter Schwarz•
Warren Duzak, Tom Mackaman•
David North•
Clara Weiss•
Carl Bronski•
US Border Patrol agents whip and corral Haitian migrants
Photos showing border agents herding migrants like cattle produced political shock waves in the United States and around the world.
Patrick Martin•
The Freedom to Vote Act: Another capitulation to the Republican assault on democratic rights
The new bill kneels to the demands of right-wing Democratic Senator Joe Manchin while failing to reverse the most serious Republican attacks on voting rights.
Alex Findijs•
Biden administration begins mass deportation flights from Texas to Haiti
Hundreds of Haitian refugees were flown back to Port-au-Prince Sunday in the first step of what officials said would be the removal of all 12,000 refugees sheltering under an underpass in Del Rio, Texas, on the US-Mexico border.
Patrick Martin•
Tens of thousands face eviction, social misery in Missouri with lifting of moratorium
According to the US Census Bureau, millions of people in the US face the possibility of imminent eviction.
Cole Michaels•
Kevin Martinez•
Trévon Austin•
Barry Grey•
Kevin Martinez•
Barry Grey•
For a global strategy to eradicate the coronavirus and save lives!
Read more
Wall Street welcomes latest Fed decisions
While he indicated the Fed could announce a “tapering” of its asset purchases in November, Fed chair Jerome Powell said the Fed’s monetary policy would remain “accommodative” and any lift in interest rates was “well away.”
Nick Beams•
China’s Evergrande problems deepen
Evergrande, the country’s second largest property developer, with debts of more than $300 billion, has admitted it is on the brink of default and is desperately scrambling to build up cash.
Nick Beams•
Treasury Secretary Yellen warns US government could run out of money unless debt ceiling is lifted
The Financial Times reports that while the debt ceiling issue is sometimes regarded as “political theatre,” the current standoff is being viewed with “increasing seriousness” by the Biden administration.
Nick Beams•
Concerns grow over where speculative bubble will end
Recalling the high-risk speculation that led to the sub-prime mortgage crisis of 2008, the Wall Street Journal reports that “sales of securities backed by bundles of risky corporate loans set a new monthly record for August.”
Nick Beams•
Nick Beams•
Nick Beams•
Trévon Austin•
Nick Beams•
Nick Beams•
100 years since the birth of Trotskyist Jean Brust
August 31, 2021 marks 100 years since the birth of Jean Brust, a leading figure in the Trotskyist movement whose legacy lives on in the work of the US Socialist Equality Party and the entire International Committee of the Fourth International.
Read more
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•
SEP Summer School 2021 Lecture
From PATCO to Volvo: The resurgence of the class struggle and the tasks of the Socialist Equality Party
This lecture was delivered at the Socialist Equality Party (US) 2021 summer school, held August 1 through August 6, by Jerry White, labor editor of the World Socialist Web Site.
Jerry White•
SEP Summer School 2021 Lecture
Race, class and social conflict in the United States
This lecture was delivered at the Socialist Equality Party (US) summer school, held August 1 through August 6, by Niles Niemuth, a writer for the World Socialist Web Site.
Niles Niemuth•
SEP Summer School 2021 Lecture
The 1619 Project and the attack on the American Revolution
This report was delivered at the Socialist Equality Party (US) 2021 summer school, held August 1 through August 6, by Tom Mackaman, a writer for the World Socialist Web Site.
Tom Mackaman•
Andre Damon•
Tom Carter•
Johannes Stern•
Jacob Crosse•
Benjamin Mateus•
Classes at NYU are not safe! For a full transition to remote learning! Link up with students and educators across the city!
The IYSSE at NYU is hosting a public online meeting Saturday to discuss the science of the pandemic and a political strategy to fight for the safety and lives of students and educators.
IYSSE at NYU•
“We have to stand together to push back”
NYU student speaks out on the dangers of in-person classes amidst COVID-19 resurgence
The Socialist Equality Party and the International Youth and Students for Social Equality (IYSSE) are waging an international campaign to provide the scientific information and organizational means to the working class to put an end to the pandemic, using a full eradication strategy.
John Conrad, Owen Mullan•
Appalachian State faculty call for shift to online classes as COVID-19 cases surge
Over 200 faculty at Appalachian State University in Boone, North Carolina have presented a petition calling for a return to online instruction in the midst of spiraling case numbers.
Appalachian State International Youth and Students for Social Equality•
Stanford University resident assistants strike over COVID-19, wages
The strike by the University’s resident assistants at over two dozen student dormitories sheds light on the increasingly impossible situation facing students and student workers.
Gabriel Black•
International Youth and Students for Social Equality (US)•
Jesse Thomas•
Trévon Austin•
James Langley•
International Youth and Students for Social Equality at University of Michigan•
Right-wing recall campaign defeated in California
The vote was a blow to the Trump-style campaign waged by the recall supporters and the leading Republican candidate, Larry Elder.
Patrick Martin•
Town Hall meeting: SEP candidate David Moore urges workers to mobilize to eradicate COVID-19 and save lives
David Moore, SEP candidate for California, held a second Town Hall meeting online to mobilize workers in the fight for socialism
our reporters•
Vote for SEP candidate David Moore in California recall
The Socialist Equality Party calls on working people in California to vote “no” in the election to recall Governor Gavin Newsom, and then to cast a replacement vote for our candidate, educator David Moore, the only socialist running in this election.
Socialist Equality Party•
Stop the inundation of California hospitals! Stop community spread and close schools!
A predictable crisis is unfolding throughout California hospitals, which are facing an influx of critically ill COVID-19 patients.
Statement of David Moore—California gubernatorial candidate of the Socialist Equality Party•
Patrick Martin•
Statement of David Moore—California gubernatorial candidate of the Socialist Equality Party•
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Brian Dixon, Kimie Saito•
Statement of David Moore—California gubernatorial candidate of the Socialist Equality Party•
Israel responds to jail break with dragnet across the occupied West Bank and Israel
Following an unprecedented dragnet operation across Israel and the occupied West Bank, the Israeli authorities captured four of the six Palestinians on the run after their audacious jail break on Monday from the maximum-security jail in Gilboa, Israel.
Jean Shaoul•
Israel escalates attack on the Palestinians in Gaza
Recent IDF operations mark the heaviest escalation in hostilities since Israel’s 11-day war on Gaza last May that killed more than 250 Palestinians, including at least 66 children and 41 women.
Jean Shaoul•
Surge in COVID deaths adds to pressure on Iran’s clerical regime
Saturday saw Iran’s highest single-day COVID-19 death toll of the pandemic, as 684 people succumbed to the disease and more than 36,400 new cases were confirmed.
Jean Shaoul•
At least 70 dead, 47 missing as floods hit northern Turkey
The recent disaster in Turkey came as hundreds of millions of people are affected by floods worldwide, from the United States to Europe and East Asia.
Çetin Akın, Ozan Özgür•
Ulaş Ateşçi•
Hasan Yıldırım, Ulaş Ateşçi•
Jean Shaoul•
Jean Shaoul•
Jean Shaoul•
Dana workers in powerful position to shut down auto industry and win their demands
The “just-in-time” parts delivery system, first introduced to undermine the position of workers, has made the auto industry vulnerable to strategic strikes.
WSWS Autoworker Newsletter•
In memory of Danny Walters, 1960 - 2021
Video: Death of a Dana worker
Danny Walters lost his life after having a seizure at work at Dana's Dry Ridge, Kentucky plant on the night of June 1, 2021. In this video, his widow Marcia speaks out against the sweatshop conditions which contributed to his untimely death.
Zac Corrigan and Eric London•
COVID-19 spreads at Dana plants as company, unions force workers to stockpile parts
Dana workers are only at work because the UAW and USW have foisted a day-to-day contract extension on them after they repudiated a sellout agreement by wide margins.
Eric London, Tom Hall•
“Every Dana employee is not only fighting the company, they’re fighting the people who are supposed to be fighting for them”
Former Dana worker describes deadly work conditions at Tennessee plant
A former Dana worker in Paris, Tennessee discusses the conditions workers face and why they have taken up a fight against both the company and the UAW.
Zac Thorton•
Dana Workers’ Rank-and-File Committee•
Eric London•
Tom Hall•
Eric London•
Dana Workers Rank-and-File Committee•
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.
Brazil’s PT and PSOL ally with right in face of Bolsonaro’s coup threats
In response to the disintegration of Brazil’s bourgeois regime, the pseudo-left is promoting extreme right movements as their “democratic” allies.
Tomas Castanheira•
WHO reports fifth “variant of interest” as COVID pandemic worsens
The variant, designated “Mu,” was first identified in Colombia and may be more resistant to vaccines.
Benjamin Mateus•
New rail strike in São Paulo exposes conflict between workers and unions
A rail strike by 2,000 workers in São Paulo paralyzed three railway lines on August 24. It came in the wake of hundreds of transit strikes and work stoppages in Brazil during the pandemic.
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Pseudo-left presidential candidate Gabriel Boric intervenes to close down 83-day strike in Chile
The fraud that the Tottus agreement is an “unprecedented victory” should be treated with contempt. Without invalidating the courageous stand of the 189 Tottus retail workers, it must be stated frankly that the union apparatus transformed the strike into an election campaign stunt.
Mauricio Saavedra•
Tomas Castanheira•
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Miguel Andrade•
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Benjamin Mateus•
An interview with David North
The debacle in Afghanistan and the fight against war
The lead candidate of the Sozialistische Gleichheitspartei (Socialist Equality Party), Christoph Vandreier, spoke with North about the debacle for US imperialism in Afghanistan and its implications for the struggle against militarism.
Watch the video
Richard C. Lewontin, a pioneer in molecular genetics, dies at 92
Lewontin demonstrated that genetic differences between human populations are smaller than had previously been thought, rejecting race as a valid biological category.
Philip Guelpa•
Scientists identify new hominid species Homo longi, or “Dragon man”
The virtually complete skull was found on a riverbank near the city of Harbin nearly 90 years ago but then hidden away for decades.
Frank Gaglioti•
The enduring significance of the Hubble Deep Field
NASA is this week celebrating the advance enabled by the Deep Field and its subsequent scientific results.
Bryan Dyne•
Chinese paleontologists discover fossilized remains of largest land mammal to ever inhabit the Earth
The giant Paraceratherium’s skull alone was roughly the size of a human torso while the animal’s shoulders would have reached five meters above the ground.
Ronan Coddington•
Statement of the WSWS Editorial Board•
Alex Johnson•
Thomas Scripps•
Adria French•
Shawn Velia•
What the WSWS wrote about the invasion of Afghanistan in 2001
From the outset, the WSWS exposed the lies of Washington that its illegal invasion of Afghanistan was an act of self-defense in response to the terrorist attacks of September 11.
Read more
UK High Court sides with US against Assange
The decision confirms that the January 4 ruling against extradition was only a tactical pause in an ongoing pseudo-legal manhunt, which is again proceeding apace.
Thomas Scripps•
Julian Assange’s Ecuadorian citizenship revoked
Assange’s lawyer, Carlos Poveda, will appeal the “purely political” decision, which he argued was based on unsubstantiated allegations. He commented, “More than the importance of nationality, it is a matter of respecting rights and following due process in withdrawing nationality.”
Thomas Scripps•
UK High Court grants US government right to appeal on Assange extradition
Stella Moris warned yesterday that the High Court’s decision meant her partner, “is still at risk of extradition where he faces a 175-year prison sentence and where according to the magistrate he is almost certain to lose his life.”
Laura Tiernan•
Assange turns 50 in Belmarsh prison, his life still under threat
Assange has now spent more than one fifth of his life persecuted by the US state and its allies.
Thomas Scripps•
Oscar Grenfell•
Oscar Grenfell•
Thomas Scripps•
Julie Hyland•
Clara Weiss•
Woodward revelations expose Democrats’ calls for “unity” with Republican coup plotters
The Biden White House and Democratic leaders in Congress see any investigation into the January 6 plots as an obstacle to bipartisan collaboration with the Republicans.
Patrick Martin•
New book details Trump’s efforts to instigate war with China as part of January 6 coup attempt
The new revelations shatter all attempts to downplay the significance of the events of January 6. Moreover, they emerge just days after Trump used the 9/11 anniversary to deliver fascist rants to police and firefighters in Manhattan.
Barry Grey•
Trump praises Christian-fascist Unification Church leader at “Rally of Hope” conference
The Unification Church and its offshoots are deeply integrated into the Republican Party.
Jacob Crosse•
Republicans plan fascist rally on September 18 in Washington D.C. to back jailed January 6 insurrectionists
Organized by a former Trump campaign staffer, Matt Braynard, the rally in defense of fascist militia members arrested for their actions on January 6 is a continuation of the Republican Party’s defense of Trump’s attempted coup.
Jacob Crosse•
Patrick Martin•
Jacob Crosse•
Jacob Crosse•
Jacob Crosse•
Jacob Crosse•
Biden, Macron pledge to meet amid mounting US-EU conflicts over China
EU officials criticized Washington’s signing of the anti-Chinese AUKUS alliance and the canceling of a Franco-Australian submarine contract.
Alex Lantier•
Biden gives Johnson short shrift even as UK ruling class lines up behind AUKUS
So dependent is the UK government on proving itself a loyal ally to the US that Johnson followed up his failed appeals to Biden with a provocative jibe at France.
Thomas Scripps•
Pentagon admits Kabul drone strike targeted innocent civilians
General Frank McKenzie admitted in a US Department of Defense press conference on Friday that the deadly drone strike in Kabul on August 29 had killed “10 civilians including up to seven children.”
Kevin Reed•
Canadian imperialism shaken by US debacle in Afghanistan
Outside Washington and Wall Street, the collapse of the Kabul regime has arguably dealt no imperialist ruling elite a bigger blow than Canada’s.
Roger Jordan, James Clayton•
Jean Shaoul•
Patrick Martin•
Patrick Martin•
Patrick Martin•
Tom Hall•
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•
The way forward against the Labour government’s sealing of Pike River mine
Only the intervention of the working class, independently of the unions and every party in parliament, can stop the state cover-up of the Pike River mine disaster.
Socialist Equality Group (New Zealand)•
New Zealand government lies about Pike River mine re-entry promises
Andrew Little, Minister for Pike River re-entry, has repeated false statements that it is too dangerous to re-enter the mine workings to discover the precise cause of the 2010 explosion that killed 29 workers.
Tom Peters•
Former deputy PM says New Zealand government is covering up mine disaster
NZ First leader Winston Peters was deputy prime minister in the Labour-led government when it announced it would end the underground investigation of the 2010 Pike River mine disaster which killed 29 people.
Tom Peters•
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Tom Peters•
Tom Peters•
Tom Peters•
US seizes PressTV.com and 32 other Iranian media website domains
In a provocative act of censorship and imperialist gangsterism, the Biden administration took control of three dozen internet domains and shut down websites affiliated with Iran-based media organizations on unsubstantiated grounds of “disinformation campaigns and malign influence operations.”
Kevin Reed•
Why is the World Socialist Web Site still blacklisted on the Reddit r/coronavirus and r/politics forums?
We are calling on Reddit members to demand that the moderators of r/coronavirus and r/politics halt the McCarthyite blacklisting of content links from the World Socialist Web Site .
Kevin Reed•
Stop the censorship of COVID-19 whistleblower Rebekah Jones!
Jones’s suspension from Twitter comes less than 10 days after she was officially designated as a whistleblower by the state of Florida.
Alex Johnson•
Florida data scientist Rebekah Jones granted whistleblower status
The action comes after Jones was fired and witchhunted by Governor Ron DeSantis for opposing his campaign to ignore COVID-19 and reopen schools and workplaces.
Trévon Austin•
WSWS Educators Newsletter•
Jesse Thomas•
Tom Peters•
Tensions high in Volvo Trucks plant at end of first week back after strike
Workers angered over the concessions imposed by the company and the UAW are refusing to volunteer for work over the scheduled maintenance shutdown that begins next week.
Jerry White•
UAW president hails “labor-management” partnership following sellout of Volvo strike
Less than a week after United Auto Workers President Ray Curry conspired with management to shut down the five-week Volvo strike and ram through a contract previously rejected by workers, he wrote a feature column in the Detroit New s titled “UAW works with employers for union members.”
Jerry White•
Valley Labor Report radio program falsifies record of Volvo strike, denounces rank-and-file committees
While mouthing certain criticisms of the conduct of the UAW, the Valley Labor Report program completely falsified the record of the strike, writing out the role of the World Socialist Web Site and the Volvo Workers Rank-and-File Committee.
Tom Hall•
Volvo Group announces $1.1 billion second-quarter profits, after telling Virginia workers it could not afford wage and benefit improvements
Volvo’s substantial earnings contradict the dishonest argument advanced by both the company and the UAW over the course of the past three months that there was simply not enough corporate money to meet workers’ demands.
Marcus Day•
Jerry White•
Barry Grey•
Tom Hall, Ed Hightower•
Marcus Day•
our reporters•
Rand Paul, Anthony Fauci and the witch-hunt against science
Last Tuesday, Senator Rand Paul publicly accused Anthony Fauci of having helped to genetically engineer the virus that caused the COVID-19 pandemic.
Andre Damon•
Scientists demolish “Wuhan lab” conspiracy theory of coronavirus origins
On Wednesday, 21 of the world’s leading experts on the origins of infectious diseases published a preprint paper demolishing the conspiracy theory promoted by the Biden administration and the US media that COVID-19 was a man-made virus.
Andre Damon•
How science demolishes the right-wing fiction of a Wuhan “lab leak” as the source of coronavirus
The science underlying the origins of SARS-CoV-2 distinctly points to the virus emerging from nature rather than from a laboratory.
Benjamin Mateus•
“Wuhan lab” theory proponent Nicholas Wade pushed racist pseudo-science in 2014 book
The New York Times and Washington Post are citing a serial fabricator whose 2014 book was condemned by the biologists whose research he cited, together with more than 140 other scientists.
Andre Damon•
Andre Damon•
Andre Damon•
Andre Damon•
Alice Summers•
Julie Hyland•
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
An Open Letter to Maria Svart, National Director of the Democratic Socialists of America
This letter, by Socialist Equality Party Chairman David North, responds to Twitter posts by DSA leaders in support of the 1940 assassination of Leon Trotsky by an agent of Stalin’s secret police.
David North•
Democratic Socialists of America must issue public apology for celebrating assassination of Leon Trotsky
Historian Victoria Bynum issued the following statement demanding the DSA repudiate and apologize for the leadership’s coordinated celebration of the assassination of Trotsky and discipline those responsible.
Victoria Bynum•
Joseph Kishore and Eric London explain political significance of DSA’s praise for Trotsky assassination on Progressive News Network with Brook Hines
The program addressed the pro-imperialist origins of the DSA and the significance of its present celebration of the crimes of Stalinism.
our reporters•
Joseph Kishore, Eric London discuss DSA’s celebration of Trotsky assassination on “Eclectic Radical with Chris Richards”
On Saturday, June 5, Socialist Equality Party National Secretary Joseph Kishore and WSWS writer Eric London appeared on the podcast “Eclectic Radical” hosted by Chris Richards.
Our Reporters•
Johannes Stern•
Eric London•
our reporters•
David North•
David North•
Nikole Hannah-Jones rejects UNC tenure offer to take position at Howard University, backed by millions in foundation funding
The 1619 Project creator will join writer Ta-Nehisi Coates in founding the Center for Journalism and Democracy at Howard with $20 million in funding from the Knight Foundation, MacArthur Foundation, the Ford Foundation and an anonymous donor.
Niles Niemuth•
1619 Project creator Nikole Hannah-Jones granted tenure after weeks of media furor
The University of North Carolina Chapel Hill Board of Trustees voted to grant Hannah-Jones’ application for a full tenure professorship after weeks of outrage and accusations of racism over an initial decision to postpone a vote.
Niles Niemuth•
A letter to the Chronicle of Higher Education on the World Socialist Web Site, Nikole Hannah-Jones and the 1619 Project
This letter from WSWS International Editorial Board Chairperson David North was sent to the Chronicle of Higher Education in response to its article, “‘What the Hell Happened?’ Inside the Nikole Hannah-Jones tenure case.”
David North•
Introduction to The New York Times’ 1619 Project and the Racialist Falsification of History
This is the introduction by WSWS International Editorial Board Chairman David North to a volume, available for delivery in January 2021, containing the main interviews and essays published by the WSWS exposing the New York Times’ racialist falsification of American history.
David North•
Andrea Peters•
Trévon Austin, Tom Mackaman•
Tom Mackaman, David North•
David North, Tom Mackaman•
Tom Mackaman•
The definitive left-wing critique of the 1619 Project. This volume includes interviews with eminent historians and essays from the World Socialist Web Site exposing the New York Times’ racialist falsification of history.
Baltimore Amazon workers endorse International Workers Alliance of Rank-and-File Committees
The Amazon BWI2 Independent Rank-and-File Safety Committee hereby affiliates itself with the IWA-RFC, and calls for our fellow Amazon workers to do the same.
BWI2 Independent Rank-and-File Safety Committee•
Rank-and-File Committee for Safe Education in Turkey supports call for IWA-RFC
At its latest online meeting, the Rank-and-File Committee for Safe Education in Turkey adopted two important resolutions.
Our reporters•
Forward to the International Workers Alliance of Rank-and-File Committees!
The International Committee of the Fourth International will mark May Day with an online rally to issue a call for the formation of the International Workers Alliance of Rank-and-File Committees (IWA-RFC).
Statement of the International Committee of the Fourth International•
May Day 2021 and the global class struggle
We are publishing here the text of the opening report to the 2021 International Online May Day Rally delivered by David North.
David North•
our reporters•
Peter Symonds•
Pennsylvania Educators Rank-and-File Safety Committee•
Our reporters•
Joseph Kishore•
Sixty nine dead in Algeria as forest fires devastate the Mediterranean region
Dozens have died in Algeria as forest fires and record temperatures ravage the north of the country and the entire Mediterranean region.
Alex Lantier•
Egypt’s el-Sisi steps up repression as opposition mounts to mass poverty and inequality
Egypt’s military dictator Abdel Fattah el-Sisi is using the courts, new laws and censorship of the internet and social media to suppress all opposition to his brutal regime.
Jean Shaoul•
ANC government roiled by angry protests as South Africans protest worsening social conditions
The protests were initially triggered by last week’s jailing of former president Jacob Zuma, ordered by the Constitutional Court for contempt of court for initially defying its order to appear at an inquiry into corruption during his presidency from 2009 to 2018.
Jean Shaoul•
Ethiopia wracked by internal war and inter-state conflict as famine rages in Tigray
Abiy’s loss of Mekelle marks a turning point in a war that has plunged Ethiopia, Africa’s second most populous country of 112 million people, into chaos amid escalating ethnic conflicts around the country.
Jean Shaoul•
Jean Shaoul•
Kumaran Ira•
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Kumaran Ira•
Kumaran Ira•
One year of the coronavirus pandemic
March 11 marks one year since the World Health Organization declared COVID-19 a global pandemic. We are republishing below statements and articles from the WSWS analyzing the response to the pandemic and calling for emergency measures to contain it.
Read more
For a globally coordinated emergency response to the coronavirus pandemic!
Vast resources must be immediately mobilized to contain the spread of the disease, treat and care for those who are infected, and secure the livelihoods of the hundreds of millions of people who will be affected by the economic fallout.
International Committee of the Fourth International•
The coronavirus pandemic crisis intensifies
Capitalism is at war with society
The spread of the coronavirus has exposed the disastrous consequences of decades of the massive concentration of wealth and inequality spawned by capitalism.
Joseph Kishore, David North•
The response of the ruling elite to the coronavirus pandemic: Malign neglect
Governments around the world are making a deliberate decision to minimize their response to the pandemic, threatening the lives of millions of people.
Alex Lantier, Andre Damon•
Message from big business on coronavirus pandemic: Save profits, not lives
As the death toll from the coronavirus soars and hospitals fill up, the White House and the US media are insisting that the profits of the corporate-financial elite must take precedence over the lives of millions.
Andre Damon•
Statement of the Socialist Equality Party•
Joseph Kishore•
Andre Damon•
Statement of the Socialist Equality Party (United States)•
The relaunch of the World Socialist Web Site and the future of socialism
The relaunch of the WSWS and the growth of its influence reflect a process of mass political radicalization under conditions of the greatest crisis since the 1930s.
David North•
Closing remarks from SEP national secretary Joseph Kishore
The WSWS has exhaustively documented and analyzed the political crisis and historical decay of American democracy.
Joseph Kishore•
The approach of the World Socialist Web Site to science
The WSWS was the only publication to warn very early on the dangers the working class faced if the coronavirus became a pandemic.
Bryan Dyne•
“The WSWS has not only commented on the struggles of the working class it has been an active participant in them”
In the vast archive of the WSWS, the working class will find the most critical lessons from the history of the global class struggle and an international socialist perspective needed to conduct its fight against world capitalism today.
Jerry White•
Genevieve Leigh•
Niles Niemuth•
Bill Van Auken•
Patrick Martin•
Tomas Castanheira•
WSWS Online Meeting
150 years since the Paris Commune
A discussion about the first time in history that the working class took power.
Watch the video
The historic and contemporary significance of the 1871 Paris Commune
On April 3, the International Committee of the Fourth International held a meeting commemorating 150 years since the Paris Commune, the world’s first workers’ state.
Joseph Kishore•
150 years since the Paris Commune
On March 18, 1871, the armed working class districts of Paris rose up and established the first workers state in world history, the Paris Commune.
Alex Lantier•
Lessons of the Paris Commune
This essay by Leon Trotsky was first published in French as a preface to the book by C. Talès, La Commune de 1871. It was written in the town of Zlatoust, on February 4, 1921, in the lead up to the 50th anniversary of the Paris Commune.
Leon Trotsky•
Paris Workers’ Revolution and Thiers’ Reactionary Massacres
Armed Paris was the only serious obstacle in the way of the counter-revolutionary conspiracy. Paris was, therefore, to be disarmed.
Karl Marx•
Karl Marx•
Friedrich Engels•
Vladimir Lenin•
Barry Grey•
Vladimir Lenin•
Socialist publisher Mehring Books launches Australian website
Mehring Books Australia will feature works by the great socialist fighters and theoreticians of the 19th and 20th centuries, including Leon Trotsky, Karl Marx, Friedrich Engels, Vladimir Lenin, Georgi Plekhanov and Rosa Luxemburg.
For more information
Video: Why students and young people support the Socialist Equality Party
“I think that it’s important for me to take a stand and joining the SEP, as an electoral member, was one way that I could do that.”
our reporters•
In memory of Danny Walters, 1960 - 2021
Video: Death of a Dana worker
Danny Walters lost his life after having a seizure at work at Dana's Dry Ridge, Kentucky plant on the night of June 1, 2021. In this video, his widow Marcia speaks out against the sweatshop conditions which contributed to his untimely death.
Zac Corrigan and Eric London•
Town Hall meeting: SEP candidate David Moore urges workers to mobilize to eradicate COVID-19 and save lives
David Moore, SEP candidate for California, held a second Town Hall meeting online to mobilize workers in the fight for socialism
our reporters•
Video: Attend SEP public meeting opposing Australia’s anti-democratic electoral laws
SEP Assistant National Secretary Max Boddy warns that the new laws are an attempt to deregister political parties and suppress widespread opposition among working people towards the political establishment.
Socialist Equality Party (Australia)•
Christoph Vandreier, David North•
Joseph Kishore•
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K. Nesan, Gregor Kahl, Thas Anton, Jan Ritter•
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Sylvia Ageloff and the assassination of Leon Trotsky
With David North and Eric London
North and London discussed the significance of the latest revelations of the the Security and the Fourth International investigation into Trotsky’s assassination.
Watch the video
150 years since the birth of Rosa Luxemburg
The meeting examined Luxemburg’s role as a Marxist theoretician and political leader, and discussed the significance of her legacy to the contemporary struggle to build a Marxist leadership.
Watch the video
Historian Joseph Scalice exposes the role of Stalinism in the rise of Duterte
What was most significant in the panel was the interaction between Scalice and the second speaker, Walden Bello, who has a prominent international reputation as a figure of the left and an opponent of globalization.
John Malvar•
Watch lecture video “Three Grenades in August: Fifty Years since the Bombing of Plaza Miranda in the Philippines”—another devastating exposure of Stalinism
Scalice demonstrated that the “overwhelming weight of evidence” suggested that the Communist Party of the Philippines was responsible for the bombing and indicted its claims that fascism and martial law are “good for revolution.”
our reporter•
Stalinist CPP attacks Dr. Scalice’s upcoming lecture on the 1971 Plaza Miranda bombing in the Philippines
In a desperate bid to turn people away from this week’s lecture, Marco Valbuena, Chief Information Officer of the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP), has again slandered Scalice as operating on behalf of the CIA.
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“Falsifications and slander are the weapons of Stalinism”
Joseph Scalice responds to Stalinist attacks over Diliman Commune article
“The honest assessment of history is the bedrock of revolutionary politics. Falsifications and slander, on the other hand, are the primary weapons of Stalinism.”
Joseph Scalice•
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Peter Symonds•
Joseph Scalice•
Peter Symonds•
John Malvar•
Ten years since the Egyptian Revolution
To mark the anniversary of the 2011 revolution in Egypt, we present a selection of key statements and analyses produced by the WSWS in the course of the events of that year and their aftermath.
Read more
A video statement by WSWS International Editorial Board Chairman David North
Welcoming the relaunch of the World Socialist Web Site
The WSWS has been relaunched with an entirely new design and with vastly enhanced functionality.
From the Marxist Library
Thirty years since the reunification of Germany
To mark the 30th anniversary of the German reunification, the WSWS is presenting a special exhibit of documents and statements produced by the International Committee of the Fourth International amidst the crisis of Stalinism in the former GDR.
American capitalism normalizes mass death
The daily death toll of the COVID-19 pandemic, with more than 2,000 people dying in the United States every day, is being treated as the “new normal.”
Andre Damon•
America’s deadliest pandemic: COVID-19 eclipses the Spanish flu
This month, COVID-19 officially became the deadliest outbreak of infectious disease in American history, eclipsing the 1918 Spanish flu pandemic that killed 675,000 Americans over two years.
Benjamin Mateus•
Stop the deportation of Haitian refugees!
Scenes of border agents on horseback charging and whipping defenseless Haitian immigrants on the US southern border have provoked shock and revulsion across America and around the world.
Bill Van Auken•
The UN General Assembly and the threat of imperialist aggression against China
The UN General Assembly opened in New York City under the shadow of the sudden announcement last week of the Australia-UK-US alliance aimed at China.
Alex Lantier•
Evan Blake•
Peter Symonds•
Deepal Jayasekera•
Patrick Martin•
Barry Grey•
Hero journeys: Louise Erdrich’s The Night Watchman
The Night Watchman tells the story of the Turtle Mountain tribe of Chippewa in North Dakota as they fight to survive the US government’s attempt in 1953 and 1954 to “terminate” them.
James McDonald•
150 years since the birth of Theodore Dreiser, the great American novelist
August 27 marks the 150th anniversary of the birth of writer Theodore Dreiser in Terre Haute, Indiana. Dreiser was the author of a number of the most important American novels ever written.
David Walsh•
Class interests and cultural divides
An interview with poet Christopher Kempf, author of What Though the Field Be Lost
The author of the recent collection What Though the Field Be Lost discusses his interest in history and his thoughts about our current cultural and political moment.
Erik Schreiber•
“May our flags / kneel for us.”
What Though the Field Be Lost: Poet Christopher Kempf’s historical view of contemporary America
With Milton as his guide, a poet examines present-day America through the lens of Civil War history.
Erik Schreiber•
Peter Schwarz•
Peter Schwarz•
Andrea Peters•
Clara Weiss•
Bernd Reinhardt, David Walsh•
The Political Origins and Consequences of the 1982–86 Split in the International Committee of the Fourth International
This lecture was delivered by David North, chairman of the International Editorial Board of the WSWS, at the opening of the Socialist Equality Party (US) Summer School on July 21, 2019.
David North•
Drawing the lessons of the ICFI split—International Strategy and National Tactics: The change in the ICFI’s approach to national liberation movements
This lecture was delivered to the Socialist Equality Party (US) Summer School on July 25, 2019 by Deepal Jayasekera, Assistant Secretary of the Socialist Equality Party in Sri Lanka
Deepal Jayasekera•
The World Capitalist Crisis and the Tasks of the Fourth International: An analysis of the ICFI Perspectives resolution of 1988
This lecture was delivered to the Socialist Equality Party (US) Summer School on July 23, 2019 by Andre Damon, regular writer for the World Socialist Web Site and leading member of the Socialist Equality Party in the US.
Andre Damon•
The ICFI and the Crisis of Stalinism
This lecture was delivered to the Socialist Equality Party (US) Summer School on July 24, 2019 by Barry Grey, US national editor of the World Socialist Web Site and leading member of the Socialist Equality Party in the US.
Barry Grey•
