Even if we were to free ourselves from the capitalist work ethic and provide everyone with a universal basic income, our society would still require some amount of socially necessary labor. Socialists should strive to reimagine work, not eliminate it.
The February Revolution erupted 100 years ago today and swept away a blood-soaked monarchy.
If we’re going to reverse the ravages of neoliberalism, we’ll need to rebuild a global labor movement that knows how to strike and win. A recent international “Strike School,” led by labor organizer Jane McAlevey, brought 3,000 trade unionists and activists from seventy countries to try to do just that.
Critics claim democratic socialism is pie-in-the-sky idealism. But socialists have always been at the core of reform struggles.
When the Comintern was founded in 1919, the British Empire was the most powerful state in the world. Scottish communist John Maclean promised to destroy it from within.
The crises and anxieties of our age gave Lyndon LaRouche a lot of material to work with, to create his theories and control his followers. Now, his aimless and contorted reign has come to an end.
A revolutionary upsurge after 1918 could have democratized German politics. Instead, the brutal repression used to contain that upsurge strengthened the authoritarian right, divided the German workers’ movement, and facilitated the rise of Hitler.
Tariq Ali, the legendary leftist writer, editor, and filmmaker, recalls his time with John Lennon and Mick Jagger at the height of the 1960s upheavals.
Ralph Miliband was right in urging socialists to leave the legacy of Leninism behind us. But achieving socialism will still require a change in the fundamental nature of the state.
The November Revolution of 1918 replaced Germany’s monarchist regime with a parliamentary system. But its Social Democratic leaders made a pact with the old ruling class to repress the left-wing radicals who wanted to go further, crippling the new Weimar Republic from the start.
One thing we can be certain of is that capitalism will end.
For decades, Canada has been a consistent bulwark against the success of popular forces in Haiti. As Haiti’s capital is engulfed in protests and violence, Canadian calls for international intervention to “help” sound ominous, not reassuring.
When the Right charges the Left with advocating amnesty, we should show them to be correct.
It is precisely social democracy's history that shows why we need a more radical socialist politics today.
If workers refuse to work, the bosses can't produce anything. If soldiers refuse to fight, the generals can't wage wars. That's the power of a strike.
Despite its ultimate demise, the Socialist Party shows us that the United States possesses no special immunity against socialist politics.
The German Marxist thinker Karl Kautsky uncovered the radical history of Christianity, from the early years of the Church to the Reformation and the German Peasant War. His pioneering work in Marxist historiography deserves to be remembered today.
Die Linke’s Stefan Liebich recently met with members of Québec solidaire to talk politics. Bringing together vantage points from both sides of the Atlantic, the discussion covered political strategy, regional differences, and tactics for future left victories.
