Posted by lenin-is-my-murshid-deactivated
Reblogged from When in Rome, do as the Romanians do.
The Pakistan Trade Union Defence Campaign has organised a campaign of public meetings to commemorate the hundreds of workers who were recently killed in fire factories in Karachi and Lahore, exposing the criminal behaviour of the owners who had locked all exits bar one [at the Karachi factory] and even then insisted that finished goods should have priority over workers trying to escape to save their lives! The capitalists of Pakistan stand condemned before the whole of the working people.
(via wilnyc)
Source marxist.com
Posted by spittingonhegel-deactivated2012
We begin a series of interviews with revolutionaries from around the world. Today we’re publishing an interview with Comrade Riaz Lund, Chairman of the Pakistan Trade Union Defence Campaign (PTUDC).
Posted by spittingonhegel-deactivated2012
The prospect of a Syriza government caused a wave of panic in the bourgeoisie of Greece and internationally. They organized a massive campaign to drive people away from Syriza, warning of economic catastrophe if they came to power. That was sufficient to panic wide sections of the middle class, older people and backward layers into voting for the New Democracy.
Greece
However, the election result has solved nothing. The economic problems remain as they were before. There is a very fragile and temporary calm in the situation, which will not last long. The mood amongst the broad masses is just as sceptical and pessimistic as it was before the elections. Even among those who voted for the New Democracy few believe that Samaras will achieve anything. This is not a very solid base from which to launch a new series of attacks on the living standards of the Greek people!
After three years of continuous fights and upheavals there must also be an element of tiredness among the Greek masses. There may be a temporary lull. But new upheavals are inevitable in the next period. In reality, Tsipras was lucky he did not win the elections. A Syriza government would have been immediately put under enormous pressure from the bourgeoisie and the masses. But now Samaras will be responsible for solving a crisis that on a capitalist basis cannot be solved.
The electoral support for New Democracy will soon begin to erode. In opposition, Syriza will grow. This is already beginning to happen. There are many reports of people who are trying to find Syriza in their areas and beginning to organise themselves. These are especially the advanced militants but also include thousands of young people, especially the unemployed and students.
However, Syriza itself is still relatively small in terms of members. Many of its cadres are imbued with reformist ideas, some are ex-Stalinists and a fair number are old eurocommunist reformist sceptics. The problem is aggravated by an influx of sectarians whose only experience is of running around without doing any serious effort to organise the members. These are serious obstacles to building a genuine communist party. But the party will be built in any case, and the masses will know how to overcome these problems.
Inside Syriza there are different tendencies: on the right as well as the left. Tsipras himself stands on the left but his programme is confused. And in a situation like this, confusion is very dangerous. The Greek Marxists within Syriza have an important role to play in offering clear ideas and perspectives to the party as a whole.
In the last elections Syriza won 52% of young people of 18-24 years. That is a very important fact. This layer will play an important role in transforming the party. In 1917 the Mensheviks accused the Bolsheviks of being a “party of kids”, which was largely true. The membership of the Bolshevik Party was very young. The Mensheviks were mainly older trade unionists, inclined to reformism.
The main slogans of the Marxists must be: Get organized in Syriza! For a revolutionary Syriza! Build the revolutionary Marxist tendency of Syriza! On that basis a consistent Marxist policy can come to the fore. We are confident of the superiority of Marxist ideas and programme, and we are sure that over a period of time, on the basis of experience, these ideas will become the ideas of the party as a whole.
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Source marxist.com
Posted by spittingonhegel-deactivated2012
Reblogged from Lēthē
yfis:
With the June 17 elections, Greece has entered into a new period. Austerity programmes have left the Greek economy in tatters and the working class have faced an onslaught of unprecedented proportions. The deepening of the capitalist crisis in Greece poses the need for socialism more clearly than ever before. The Greek Marxists have carried out a determined struggle for Marxism and a socialist programme, but they need your help.
Donate.
Since 2007, the Greek economy has shrunk by more than 13%. Wages have fallen by an average of 30% and since the May elections the bosses have been asking for even bigger reductions. Youth unemployment is at 44% and total unemployment around 22%. The economy is in free fall, and the crisis has only begun.
The workers have answered the austerity programme with 18 general strikes but the ruling class is unrelenting. The workers have now turned to SYRIZA to redress their grievances with a massive swing, first in May and now also in June. The political situation is becoming increasingly polarised. The centre ground is quickly disappearing, with SYRIZA moving ahead. The fascists are also beginning to rear their ugly heads. Events are rapidly moving in a revolutionary direction.
Although the workers in Greece have shown their willingness to fight, time and time again, what has been lacking has been the leadership necessary to overthrow capitalism. The programme and leadership of SYRIZA are important steps forward compared to the PASOK but the leadership stops short of preparing the working class to seize power.
Now more than ever, Greece needs a strong Marxist tendency to put forward a socialist alternative. However, the comrades in Greece need financial resources. The crisis has weakened their financial position, precisely when they need to take a step forward and they have asked for our assistance. They have even had to introduce a special hardship fund for a small number of their comrades who cannot even afford to buy enough food. They are asking for our help with subsidies to take 13 comrades to the congress of the IMT this summer and for help in financing an office in Athens for one year. The total cost would be €5,000. We are asking all our readers to help raise this money.
(via spittingonhegel-deactivated2012)
Posted by spittingonhegel-deactivated2012
Reblogged from Workers International League-NYC
wilnyc:
The political and professional representatives of the troika and the Greek ruling class disregard as “impractical” any programme that is directed against the interests of the bankers and other predatory capitalists. Any demand to break the shackles of wage slavery and of the huge army of unemployed, who are being forced to eat the leftovers of society, is dubbed as “populism” and “adventurism” by these good Christian gentlemen.
Read more…
Posted by spittingonhegel-deactivated2012
Reblogged from Workers International League-NYC
wilnyc:
As the Spanish government got its €65bn austerity package passed in Parliament, millions of people took to the streets in unprecedented demonstrations against cuts on July 19, 2012. The day after, as the Valencian regional government asked for a central government bail out (of 3.5bn euro), the risk premium on Spanish bonds hit a new record, while 10 year bonds were yielding 7.3%. The Spanish economy is on the verge of a full bail out.
Read more…
Posted by revolutionaryhopes-deactivated2
Reblogged from Workers International League-NYC
wilnyc:
Planning on coming to Engels Day?
Don’t be shy! Come join us on an unofficial Marxist tour of the Museum of Natural History. We’re excited to meet you!
Please RSVP by emailing: kk.marxist@gmail.com
For assistance on the day of the event please call: 917-830-MARX
July 29th, 2:30pm, Museum of Natural History. 200 Central Park West.
“The essence of Marxism consists in this, that it approaches society concretely, as a subject for objective research, and analyzes human history as one would a colossal laboratory record. Marxism appraises ideology as a subordinate integral element of the material social structure. Marxism examines the class structure of society as a historically conditioned form of the development of the productive forces; Marxism deduces from the productive forces of society the inter-relations between human society and surrounding nature, and these, in turn are determined at each historical stage by man’s technology, his instruments and weapons, his capacities and methods for struggle with nature. Precisely this objective approach arms Marxism with the insuperable power of historical foresight.”
![The Pakistan Trade Union Defence Campaign has organised a campaign of public meetings to commemorate the hundreds of workers who were recently killed in fire factories in Karachi and Lahore, exposing the criminal behaviour of the owners who had locked all exits bar one [at the Karachi factory] and even then insisted that finished goods should have priority over workers trying to escape to save their lives! The capitalists of Pakistan stand condemned before the whole of the working people.](http://24.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_mavevaW5891rafqpjo1_500.jpg)
