class struggle – All Points of View

Category: class struggle

Paul Robeson Speaks! 1958 KPFA Radio Interview

worker | February 27, 2017 | 8:57 pm | African American Culture, African American history, Analysis, class struggle, Paul Robeson, political struggle, Struggle for African American equality | Comments closed

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

worker | 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 â€“ 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

worker | 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.

Fascism

worker | 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:

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.

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.

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.

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.

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?”

La Riva: Solidarity with Standing Rock!

worker | November 3, 2016 | 8:05 pm | class struggle, environmental crisis, police terrorism, political struggle, socialism, Struggle for Native American equality | Comments closed

http://icp.sol.org.tr/americana/la-riva-solidarity-standing-rock

The Gloria La Riva for President Campaign stands in solidarity with the water protectors at Standing Rock and calls for an end to the construction of the Dakota Access Pipeline. La Riva calls for freedom for all those who have been arrested at Standing Rock including the 141 people arrested on Oct. 27; all charges should be dropped. Millions of people witnessed the arrests over social media; the police have exposed themselves as protectors of private property and the oil companies, and as agents of ongoing colonialism.

October 27 started out normally in the camps surrounding the Dakota Access Pipeline and Standing Rock Sioux tribal lands. People had begun morning prayers and activities but police began to converge on an area outside of the main camp known as Treaty Camp or bridge 1806.

By 11 am the police were reinforced with light armored vehicles and riot police. As resistance increased, the police attacked the people with concussion grenades, bean bag rounds, rubber bullets, and other weaponry. .

Police actions included attacking people in a sweat lodge at gunpoint and shooting at horseback riders via ATV. This resulted in a horse being so severely injured it had to be put down.

As protectors continue to stand up for clean water and energy, the voices of Native people have been heard across the world. The UN has called for the United States to end the Dakota Access Pipeline and people in many major cities are gathering in support of the NO DAPL stance of the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe. We can’t drink oil, keep it in the soil!

La Riva in solidarity with Standing Rock

worker | November 3, 2016 | 7:44 pm | Analysis, class struggle, environmental crisis, political struggle, Struggle for Native American equality | Comments closed

http://icp.sol.org.tr/americana/la-riva-solidarity-standing-rock

Within the context of Vote Socialist in 2016 campaign, Party for Socialism and Liberation (PSL) issued a statement in soldarity with the water protectors at Standing Rock.

ICP, 2 November 2016

The Gloria La Riva for President Campaign of the Party for Socialism and Liberation issued a statement in solidarity with the water protectors at Standing Rock, demanding an end to the construction of the Dakota Access Pipeline. The campaign also demanded the release of all those who have been arrested at Standing Rock and that all charges be dropped.

“As protectors continue to stand up for clean water and energy, the voices of Native people have been heard across the world. The UN has called for the United States to end the Dakota Access Pipeline and people in many major cities are gathering in support of the NO DAPL stance of the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe. We can’t drink oil, keep it in the soil!” says the statement.

For the full statement see the link.