This meeting was chaired by Nick Wrack, on 18th September 2023. Watch the video here. Ed Potts introduces a discussion looking at democracy. What sort of democracy do we have under capitalism? What sort of democracy do we need? What should democracy mean in the workers’ movement? Ed starts by reflecting on the Continue Reading
Socialism
50 years since Pinochet’s coup in Chile
To mark fifty years since General Augusto Pinochet’s coup in Chile, carried out on 11 September 1973, we carry this poem by Janet Sillett. The disappeared By Janet Sillett Stooping women searching in the arid sand of Atacama Desert bone fragments meticulously cleaned the loudest of silences The baked earth Continue Reading
Online Discussion: After Corbynism, what next for the left? Part Two.
Zoom session on 17th April 2023. Watch the video here. Read Nick Wrack’s background paper here. In the second of our sessions looking at the tasks and challenges facing the left after the demise of the Corbyn project, Nick Wrack introduced the discussion by focussing on our fundamental goal as Continue Reading
Online discussion: Who we are, and the ideas that guide us
Zoom session on 4th September 2023. Watch the video here. Read the statement here. The group who organise the Talking About Socialism website and Zoom discussions have published a statement about who we are, and the ideas that guide us. It is the basis of our collaboration, and on the back of which Continue Reading
Niger and Gabon: Only the working class can offer a solution
The military coup in the former French colony of Gabon (population of 2.3 million) on 30 August 2023 was the eighth in the former French colonies of West and Central African region in three years. It followed the military takeover in Niger (population 26 million) just a month earlier, on Continue Reading
Online Discussion: What sort of public ownership do socialists want?
Zoom session on 29th May 2023. Watch the video here. Read Nick Wrack’s article here. Nick Wrack introduced this session, looking at what sort of public ownership socialists should call for. Socialists often talk about nationalisation, and about the need for state ownership. Nick argues that at root we should Continue Reading
Capitalist Environmental Crises: A Socialist Response
In ‘Revenge of Nature: did the Rain Spoil your Grand Prix?’[1], Will McMahon paints a stark picture of the choices facing humanity under capitalism in the face of environmental catastrophe, but also throws down a gauntlet to socialists regarding our responsibilities in response to the crisis. What are we, and should Continue Reading
What sort of new party of the left?
A call has been put out by a number of small left-wing groups and individuals for a new party. Left Unity, the Breakthrough Party, the People’s Alliance of the Left, and three Liverpool Community Independents councillors, together with other individuals have put out a call for a new party of Continue Reading
Acemoglu, AI and automation
There is a new burst of techno-optimism emerging over the application of ChatGPT and LLMs. One analyst reckons that AI “has huge potential to boost economy-wide productivity” and cited a recent MIT study that showed a massive improvement in productivity while using ChatGPT. Also, much of the productivity gains were seen Continue Reading
In defence of Ken Loach: History is for all of us to discuss
I wrote this short article just over a year ago, before I was myself expelled from the Labour Party. It explores how right-wing Zionists in the Party had somehow succeeded in smearing and vilifying Ken Loach, even amongst broad layers of progressive activists in the Party who you’d have expected Continue Reading