Category: Analysis
Capitalism Unmasked: Numbers reveal the expansion of social inequalities in the 21st century
| January 2, 2017 | 7:47 pm | Analysis, class struggle | Comments closed

Monday, January 2, 2017

Capitalism Unmasked: Numbers reveal the expansion of social inequalities in the 21st century

https://communismgr.blogspot.com/2017/01/capitalism-unmasked-numbers-reveal.html
The poorest half of the world’s population shares a bit under the 1% of the global wealth, while the richest 10% owns the 88% of the total global wealth. The 0.7% of the world’s population owns 116.6 trillion dollars!
1. The richest 1% of the world’s population controls half of the global wealth. Despite the economic crisis, the number of millionaires in a worldwide scale was increased during the last 12 months of 2016.
2. According to a survey by Credit Suisse, 3.4 billion people– the 71% of the world’s population- share only 7.4 trillion dollars, less than the wealth of the 2,473 billionaires around the world.
3. The total number of billionaires grew by 81% since 2009, a year after the collapse of Lehman Brothers, while their wealth was more than doubled. According to data provided by Wealth-X and UBS, 16.6 million people (0.334% of the global population) own 77 trillion dollars, which is almost the annual global GDP.
4. Approximately 211,275 millionaires (0.004% of the global population) own the 12.8% (29.7 trillion dollars) of the global wealth, while 2,325 billionaires own 7.3 trillion dollars.
5. The wealth of the richest 62 people has risen by 45% in the five years since 2010 – that’s an increase of more than half a trillion dollars ($542bn), to $1.76 trillion.
6. Since the turn of the century, the poorest half of the world’s population has received just 1% of the total increase in global wealth, while half of that increase has gone to the top 1%. The average annual income of the poorest 10% of people in the world has risen by less than $3 each year in almost a quarter of a century. Their daily income has risen by less than a single cent every year (Credit Suisse, 2015).
7. Approximately 780,000,000 people lack access to clean water, while 2.5 billion people lack access to sanitation.
8. Every year, approximately 3,500,000 children die from hunger.

IN DEFENSE OF COMMUNISM ©.

Social Democrats fight right wing insanity with insanity
| December 18, 2016 | 9:43 pm | Analysis, class struggle, Donald Trump, political struggle, Russia | Comments closed

by James Thompson

It was a chilling moment when I woke up to a surreal New World in which Donald Trump had been elected President of the United States (POTUS) the night before.

Just like one of the disjointed scenes from the 1971 Monty Python movie “And Now for Something Completely Different”, the present absurd reality shocks us out of the previous absurd reality. The previous buffoon has been jettisoned and a new buffoon takes the stage.

Now we are confronted with a new POTUS that some on the left characterize as a right-wing, authoritarian populist. It is too early to tell whether he is a true fascist since he has never held public office before. There can be no question that many of the kooks and clowns he has appointed to his new administration are open fascists. However, “one swallow does not make a summer.” The world will soon find out if the US people have elected a true fascist to head their government.

Meanwhile, the vanquished social Democrats in the United States refuse to be excluded from the buffoonery. The buffoon-elect is no stranger to bad ideas and bad policy. He has a terrible history of vicious public attacks on people with disabilities, women, racial minorities, immigrants, i.e. you name it, and he has attacked it. He advocates dismantling government programs and replacing them with privatization schemes which only benefit the wealthy. He has put his foot in the middle of almost all important domestic economic issues.

Do the so-called “progressive” forces in the United States call out the new buffoon in the White House on these issues? When you listen to the mainstream media, do you hear about the new POTUS’ absurd stance on these issues?

No, all you hear about are the unfiltered delusions of the progressive left about the Russians hacking poor, innocent little Hillary and causing her Majesty to lose an election that was hers to lose. All you hear about is the Russian state propaganda machine which has poisoned the minds of innocent Americans and turned them into agents of Putin.

Never before has one man had such pervasive control over the minds of Americans. Putin has been turned into a modern day Rasputin, Hitler and Darth Vader all combined into an evil individual who threatens the very survival of the American way of life. Indeed, Putin and Trump are accused of threatening “American democracy.”

Trump, in spite of his repugnant racism, sexism, misogyny, xenophobia, etc., has resisted the demonization of the Russians and has argued against the social Democrats’ rush to war with the Russians. In this regard, Trump has assumed the role of the little Dutch boy with his finger in the dike.

Trump seems to get it that war with Russia would be the end of capitalism, the bourgeoisie and the proletariat in short order.

This position infuriates the most reactionary sector of the US bourgeoisie.

So, what do the social Democrats do? In an opportunistic orgy they attempt to savage Trump in an effort to please the most reactionary sector of the US bourgeoisie. By attacking Trump’s peaceful tendencies towards Russia, they prove without a doubt that the social Democrats in the United States view their alliance with the most reactionary sector of the US bourgeoisie to be more important than their alliance with the US working class.

A war with Russia would definitely benefit the US bourgeoisie but would be devastating and catastrophic for the US working class.

The US social Democrats continue unashamedly with their historical motto “Profits before People.”

No one knows whether they will be successful in pushing the new buffoon-elect into starting a new war.

They must believe that great treasure awaits them if they please their evil Masters.

Meanwhile, the US working class is stuck in a swamp full of alligators.

Will the US working class continue to cleave to the social Democrats? The next four years should tell the story.

On the Death of Fidel Castro
| December 8, 2016 | 8:27 pm | Analysis, Fidel Castro, Marxism-Leninism Today (MLToday.com) | Comments closed

http://mltoday.com/article/2597-jose-fidel/90-frontpage-stories

From the  Editors of Marxism-Leninism Today:

Like many around the world we mourn the death of Fidel Castro. We  express our condolences to Raul Castro and the rest of Fidel’s family, the Cuban people and the Communist Party of Cuba.

However, with that mourning comes a celebration of a life well lived in the service of humanity.

Bertoldt Brecht wrote:

There are those that struggle for a day, and they are good.
There are those that struggle for a year, and they are better.
There are those that struggle for many years, and they are better still.
But there are those that struggle all their lives.
These are the indispensable ones.

Fidel Castro was one of the indispensables ones. While there are those, as in Miami, celebrating his death, those celebrations amount to just sound and fury, signifying nothing. The leader of the Cuban Revolution accomplished his work and passed away naturally after retiring.

Castro led the first socialist revolution in the Americas, which evolved from a struggle to defeat the U.S.-backed dictator, Fulgencio Batista. The armed revolt against the dictatorship was itself a fight for national liberation struggle against U.S. domination.Fidel Castro led the Cuban people in creating a socialist society with the means of production in the hands of the working class and farmers. Cuba became the first country in the Western Hemisphere to have a 100 percent literacy rate, free education and healthcare for all.

The Cuban Revolution and Fidel Castro himself irked U.S imperialism for having lost control of that island nation and they attempted to thwart the socialist project through subversion, and actual invasion and an economic embargo that is still in place.. They attempted to destroy the revolution by getting rid of its leader. The US through the the CIA orchestrated over 600 plots and attempts to murder him.

Perhaps the time that Fidel Castro’s revolutionary leadership was most tested was with the counter-revolutionary defeat of the socialist camp in Europe.With the implementation of glasnost and perestroika, Mikhail Gorbachev, introduced bourgeois ideas and bourgeois relations of production, thus opening the door to pro-capitalist elements and the counter-revolutionary overthrow of socialism. This counter-revolution spread through the other European socialist states.

Many communist leaders, both in the socialist and capitalist countries, left their Marxism-Leninism behind,  becoming social-democrats. Others became outright proponents of capitalism.

The Council for Mutual Economic Assistance, an economic organization of member-states that worked for the economic integration of socialist countries, of which Cuba was a member was disbanded.  With that, and the dissolution of the Soviet Union, Cuba lost its most important trading partners.

However, Castro maintained a staunch defence of Marxism-Leninism and the socialist system. Being a committed Marxist-Leninist, Castro was a committed anti-imperialist and led Cuba in that direction. This was an anti-imperialism that was not just words, but action. Cuba has a long list of political, military and material support for countries fighting against imperialism.  The military defence of Angola against the US-backed intervention, the support for Puerto Rican independence, and the support for the countries of Latin America to free themselves from US control comprise just a short list of the examples of Cuba’s anti-imperialism under the leadership of Fidel Castro.

While he will be missed, especially by the peoples of the world fighting for social justice and the new socialist world, his life’s work will endure as a lasting memory of  one of humanity’s indispensable persons.

Russian Leaders Pay Tribute to Castro: ‘Fidel Loved Russia, Russian People’
| November 26, 2016 | 8:54 pm | Analysis, Communist Party Russian Federation, Cuba, Fidel Castro, political struggle, Russia, USSR | Comments closed
14:46 26.11.2016(updated 19:03 26.11.2016)
Cuban revolutionary leader Fidel Castro has passed away, aged 90. A giant of 20th century politics, Castro’s passing has seen a flood of condolences from leaders from around the world. As can be imagined, Russia was no exception. Castro made a decisive personal contribution to the development of Russian-Cuban relations. On Saturday, Cuba’s Prensa Latina news agency reported the death of former Cuban President Fidel Castro. The revolutionary was known for his love of life, and was a figure recognized by both friends and foes as a legend of 20th century politics and history. Having overthrown the Batista dictatorship in 1959, Castro and his fellow revolutionaries embraced socialism in Cuba, to the ire of the US superpower, just 90 miles from Cuba’s shores. From the 1960s to the 1980s, Castro’s Cuba actively struggled against colonialism and Western imperialism, and played an instrumental role in the non-aligned movement. In the 1990s, contrary to the expectations of many, Castro’s Cuba not only survived the collapse of the Soviet Union, but lived on and preserved its independence. Castro’s passing has resulted in a virtual flood of condolences from leaders around the world. Russia, which has a long and rich history of relations with Cuba, thanks in no small part to the Fidel’s personal efforts, was no exception. Russian officials, including President Putin, Prime Minister Medvedev, senators and lawmakers, have offered their condolences over Castro’s passing, and marked their gratitude for the Cuban leader’s immense contributions to the Russian-Cuban friendship. Russian President Vladimir Putin issued a personal appeal to President Raul Castro and the Cuban people. “I express to you and to the whole Cuban people our deepest condolences on the passing of the leader of the Cuban Revolution, your brother Fidel Castro,” Putin said in a telegram sent to the Cuban president. “The name of this outstanding statesman is rightfully considered to be a symbol of an entire era in contemporary world history,” the Russian President added. “The free and independent Cuba that was built by him became an influential member of the international community, and has served as an inspiring example for many countries and peoples.” Putin stressed that Fidel Castro had made a huge contribution to the development of Russian-Cuban relations, and to strategic cooperation between the two countries in all areas. Castro was “a sincere and reliable friend of Russia,” according to the president.  “This strong and wise human being always looked with confidence to the future,” Putin’s telegram continued. “He embodied the highest ideals of politics, citizenship and patriotism, and was sincerely convinced in the rightness of the goal to which he devoted his whole life. His memory will live on forever in the hearts of Russian citizens,” Putin concluded, adding that he wished the Castro family “courage and steadfastness in the face of this irretrievable loss.” Russian Prime Minister Dmitri Medvedev also offered his condolences, saying that Castro was not just a politician and a leader, but a remarkable person. “The friendly, allied relations between our country and Cuba have been built thanks to his personal contribution,” Medvedev said. “We last spoke on the telephone in August of this year, when Fidel Castro celebrated his 90th birthday. He was keenly interested about what was happening in the world, and in Russia, and had a keen mind…to the end.” “I will always remember my meetings with this remarkable man. My deepest condolences to his family and friends, and to the entire Cuban people,” Medvedev concluded. Konstantin Kosachev, Russian Senator and chairman of the Senate’s Foreign Affairs Committee, said of Castro’s death that it was a loss not just to the Cuban nation, but to humanity as a whole. “…The scale of this personality was without exaggeration a global one, and had a real impact on the course of world history. This is not something which can be said about the passing of just any politician,” the senator noted. Kosachev added that he has “absolutely no doubt” that the Cuban leader would be written into human history “forever.” Castro, he said, had “given himself unreservedly to the service of his motherland, to his people and to his ideals…Integrity and courage, honesty and an unbendable will – these are the qualities that determined the nature of Fidel’s efforts, and predestined sympathy for his life’s work.” Kosachev recalled that Cuba under Castro had managed to withstand the “most severe” forms of external pressure, to defend its sovereignty and their right to development in accordance with their own national interests. At the same time, Castro had always loved Russia and the Russian people. This, the senator noted, was the reason why El Comandante has remained popular and beloved in Russia even after the collapse of the USSR. “Castro was a human symbol, like his comrade-in-arms Che Guevara. Through almost the entirety of his fascinating life, beginning with the legendary landing of the Granma, he served as an example to many people in the world, especially in Latin America, as a man of indomitable will, revolutionary romanticism, and sincere faith in the Idea,” Kosachev concluded. Russian Communist Party leader Gennady Zyuganov also offered his condolences, and vowed that Russia would “do everything possible to perpetuate Castro’s memory.” “This was a titan of contemporary politics, a man who devoted his life to working people, an example of the struggle for justice and dignity, a man who survived dozens of attempts on his life,” Zyuganov said. Castro, Zyuganov noted, “invigorated humanity’s consciousness, which has been rotting. He contributed his immense talent to development, especially in the areas of education and healthcare. And Cuba has become an example not only for Latin America but for our entire world. Life expectancy in Cuba is much higher than it is in many affluent countries.” The Communist Party leader criticized Mikhail Gorbachev and Boris Yeltsin’s “betrayal” of Castro and Cuba, but stressed that country “not only survived this, but came out victorious.” Other Russian officials, including Deputy Prime Minister Dmitri Rogozin, Foreign Ministry Human Rights ombudsman Konstantin Dolgov, Duma lawmaker Mikhail Emelyanov, senators Vadim Tyulpanov, Andrei Klishas and Alexei Pushkov, and others have offered their condolences. Waking up to the news of Castro’s passing on Saturday, ordinary Russians have begun bringing flowers to the residency of the Cuban Ambassador in Moscow to offer one last goodbye to the legendary Cuban leader.
Castro to Go Down in History as ‘Hero Holding Out Against the US Empire’
| November 26, 2016 | 8:24 pm | Analysis, Cuba, Fidel Castro, Imperialism, political struggle | Comments closed
21:52 26.11.2016(updated 22:07 26.11.2016)
Former Cuban President Fidel Castro has passed away. Speaking to Sputnik, veteran German journalist and Castro biographer Volker Skierka explained the significance of Fidel’s life and work, and the important mark the revolutionary has left on Cuba and the world. Castro, the Cuban revolutionary who survived hundreds of assassination attempts and nearly a dozen US presidents, passed away on Saturday, aged 90. A funeral ceremony has been scheduled for December 4, and will be held at a cemetery in Santiago de Cuba. Cuba has received a flood of condolences from leaders around the world, Russia included. Volker Skierka, veteran German journalist and author of the book “Fidel Castro: A Biography” spoke to Radio Sputnik about the man and his era. “He has been one of the most important political figures of the 20th century, and I think that he is going into history as a hero who was the only one to successfully oppose the influence of the great empire to the north,” Skierka said, speaking of Castro’s international significance. At home, Castro will be remembered for giving the Cuban people back their national independence and dignity, as well as for his “revolutionary social reforms” in healthcare and education. “This is a point that I think the Cuban people will try to keep for the future, because it’s a sort of role model for Third and Second World countries,” the journalist noted. As for Castro as a man, Skierka suggested that the revolutionary’s personality and charisma were “very important” in and of themselves in accounting for many of his successes. “He was very charismatic. I met him after I wrote this biography. We had an informal discussion, and I must say that he was so fascinating that I was really happy that I hadn’t met him before, because it would have caused difficulties to write the book.” Castro was “really outspoken, and had a talent to get you concentrated only on him,” the journalist recalled. “This was really an exceptional political talent. He was very intelligent, and was an excellent speaker. People listened to him for hours, and not because they had to, but because they wanted to.”  Asked whether Castro’s passing could signify any important political or economic changes on for the island nation, Skierka noted that if change does occur, it will be slowly. “[President] Raul Castro has implemented several changes; but it’s going very slowly, and I think the best way is to do it slowly, because if reform [proceeded too quickly], I think this could implode into chaos.” At the same time, the journalist suggested that while continuing to develop relations with the United States may be important, Western countries shouldn’t get their expectations up too high. “Because on the one hand, there is still the embargo, and on the other hand we will have to see what’s going to happen with the new American president  how he will deal with the Cuban situation. Although I could imagine that [Trump] might continue the course of Obama, to the disappointment of many of his followers.” Ultimately, looking back to the limited Cuban-US business ties established in the 1990s, mostly with Republican governors and officials, Skierka noted Trump is actually quite likely to face “high pressure on continuing and developing economic ties with Cuba. And I think they will also do so because they don’t want stand by, seeing as China, Russia, Brazil, Canada, and Europe pass them by and do business with Cuba.”

Read more: https://sputniknews.com/latam/201611261047878745-castro-legacy-sputnik-biographer-interview/

RESPONSE TO: Americans Have Grown More Supportive Of Torture
| November 15, 2016 | 12:45 pm | Analysis, political struggle, struggle against torture, Struggle for Peace | Comments closed
By A. Shaw
In some countries, sectors of parties, electorates, and peoples are judged to be either swine or human based in large part on whether they stand for or against human rights.
Respect for human rights is a kind of gauge of being human.
There was a sector of the German electorate and people who supported Nazi swine.
There is a sector of Islamic people which supports the Islamic State swine.
The Nazi and the Islamic State are the same in the type of acts they committed or commit which reduce both of them to the level of swine.
The top four ways in which they violated human rights are:
(1) They kidnap people.
(2) They throw people into concentration camps.
(3) They torture people.
(4) They murder.
Kidnapping, concentration camps, torture, and murder are the things that turn on swine the most. Swine feel a powerful rush when they do these things.
Wait!
This doesn’t mean that all or most USAs are swine.
Citing Pew data, Brittany Lyte, writing in 2014 for the website Five Thirty Eight, said this.
“Data shows that popular opinion on the use of torture by the U.S. government has subtly shifted since 2004, when Pew Research Center began polling Americans on the subject. Pew asked whether torture used against suspected terrorists to gain important information is justified, finding a majority of respondents (53 percent) said torture could never or only rarely be justified. But over the next five years, public opinion slowly reversed.”
So, in 2004, the majority sector of the electorate and people opposed torture.
Apparently, there has been a change of mind.
“In Pew’s 2011 report its most recent  53 percent said the U.S. government’s use of torture against suspected terrorists to gain important information can often (19 percent) or sometimes (34 percent) be justified, marking a turnaround from 2004,”
Lyte reported.
So, 53% of the USAs are now pro-torture.
In only seven years, the swine succeeded in dragging down a large number of USAs to the moral level of swine.
The GOPs naturally are the most swinish of all USA parties.
“There are stark differences in opinion on torture along party lines. A large majority of Republicans (71 percent) said torture could be at least sometimes justified, compared with 51 percent of independents and 45 percent of Democrats, according to Pew research,” Lyte reported.
The conclusion is that a huge sector of the USAs favor torture.
We would be more civil if we substitute the term reactionary for swine.
How did the reactionaries win over so many USAs?
The capitalist press — or more correctly, the lying cappie press — presented the question to the USAs as: Should the USÂ regime torture suspected terrorists to get information?
Suspicion means there is no need to show probable cause that the suspect is a terrorist. It means that there is no duty to inform the suspect why he or she was kidnapped. It means the suspect is not entitled to counsel or trial. It means false accusations from snitches get innocent people tortured.
Even if the suspect is a terrorist he or she has certain limited rights under the Geneva Convention and the US Anti-Torture Act. Both laws are designed to prevent violations of human rights of prisoners of war and political prisoners.
The lying cappie press deceived most USAs into believing that troops, cops, spies, and mercenaries employed by the rogue US regime would only torture if they had a basis for their suspicion.
That’s nonsense.
Most reactionary degenerates in the US military, police, mercenaries, and intelligence agencies torture people to gratify their passion for sadism and malice, not to confirm suspicions about politics.
The gratification of foul passions is a kind of personal or individual motive for torture.
There is also a political motive for torture.
“Getting information” is not relevant to 95% of torture committed.
The rogue regime in the USA has the same motive to torture as the Nazi and Islamic State which is to paralyze the victims of aggression with absolute fear so that they will be easier to oppress.
In most cases, the Nazi didn’t torture Jews because the Nazi wanted information. The Nazi tortured to scare the shit out of the Jews while the Nazi oppressed and annihilated them.
If information were the motive, why did Nazi torture four year old kids?
The rogue regime in the USA tortures Afghans, Iraqis, USAs, and others not to become informed but to scare the shit out them so that they will welcome US oppression.
On Nov. 14, 2016, the International Criminal Court announced that it may indict and prosecute US leaders who presided over torture in Afghanistan.
Fascism
| November 12, 2016 | 10:37 pm | Analysis, class struggle, Donald Trump, Imperialism, political struggle, socialism | Comments closed

Fascism

by James Thompson

Let’s examine Georgi Dimitrov’s classic definition of fascism:

Fascism has also been described as “the open terrorist dictatorship of the most reactionary, most chauvinistic and most imperialist elements of finance capital.” According to Georgi Dmitrov in a collection of his reports in 1935 and 1936 Against Fascism and War, fascism is “the power of finance capital itself. It is the organization of terrorist vengeance against the working class and the revolutionary section of the peasantry and intelligentsia. In foreign policy, fascism is jingoism in its most brutal form, fomenting bestial hatred of other nations.”

Let’s break down this classic definition into its key components:

  1. An open terroristic dictatorship of the bourgeoisie

The bourgeoisie represents the most reactionary sector of the population. The bourgeoisie displays astounding unity in its effort to fight for the interests of the bourgeois class. The bourgeoisie always fights against the interests of the working class. This is why the working class has been subjugated to abject poverty. The bourgeoisie is not shy about employing terroristic tactics to oppress the working class. Indeed, the bourgeoisie has been very effective in destroying any efforts to fight for the interests of the working class.

  1. A dictatorship of the reactionary sector of the population

Although the bourgeoisie represents the most reactionary sector of the population, they, the 1%, could not survive without the support of the general reactionary sector of the population. Currently, the bourgeoisie has the steadfast support of large numbers of sycophants, opportunists and revisionists. In the most recent electoral cycle (2016), 47% of people who voted expressed their support for extreme reaction.

  1. A dictatorship of chauvinism

Chauvinism is an expression of the belief of superiority of certain sectors of the population over others. The bourgeoisie inherently views itself as superior to everyone else. The bourgeoisie represents an extremely small sector of the population, however they have the support of large numbers of opportunists. In the most recent electoral cycle (2016), 47% of the population who voted expressed their support for extreme chauvinism.

  1. A dictatorship of imperialism

Imperialism is a strategy of subjugating the working people in other sovereign nations to the will of the bourgeoisie. It is a fight to the death for cheap labor, appropriation of natural resources and ultimately, global domination. Extreme chauvinism dictates hatred of other nations and minority sectors of the population. Terroristic tactics are used under fascist governments to destroy resistance and maximize profit for capitalist enterprises around the globe. Under fascism, working class and revolutionary resistance around the globe are mercilessly suppressed “by any means necessary.” The needs of working people around the upload are ignored and the demands of the capitalists receive first priority. “The ends justify the means” is the slogan of fascist perpetrators. Fascists also seek to confuse people by conflating fascism with socialism and/or communism. The differences between fascism and socialism/communism are stark and unmistakable.

  1. Finance capital

According to Wikipedia:

Finance capitalism or financial capitalism is the subordination of processes of production to the accumulation of money profits in a financial system.[1]

Financial capitalism is thus a form of capitalism where the intermediation of saving to investment becomes a dominant function in the economy, with wider implications for the political process and social evolution:[2] since the late 20th century it has become the predominant force in the global economy,[3] whether in neoliberal or other form.[

Finance capitalism subjugates industrial production to the maximization of profits. In order to achieve the maximization of profits, Karl Marx has proven that the capitalists must seek the cheapest labor possible.

It is no secret that Donald Trump transported Polish workers to the USA in order to construct the buildings he owns. It is easy to surmise that his agenda was to secure the cheapest labor possible in order to complete his building projects.

The working class around the world is waiting to see if a Donald Trump administration meets all the criteria of fascism. The working class around the world is also considering its options to oppose fascism in all its forms. The recent demonstrations in the USA epitomize the possibilities for resistance. The question is “Will the working class be able to continue its resistance to fascist extremism?”

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