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
Communism
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: 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
Why do we have a Labour Party instead of a socialist Party?
This article originally appeared in Prometheus. It was also used to facilitate a discussion in a meeting of Talking About Socialism on 12th June 2023 – watch the video here. What sort of an organisation is the Labour Party? Its dominance of the left in Britain for over a century Continue Reading
What sort of public ownership?
Water is essential for life. Provided by nature, it should be accessible and free for all. A functioning system for treating sewage is also one of the most basic requirements for any society; without it we face disease and contagion. Yet, in the UK, one of the richest countries in Continue Reading
No short cuts
Should Jeremy Corbyn stand as an independent in Islington North? Should socialists stand candidates against Labour generally and against Keir Starmer specifically? Should socialists be calling for a new workers’ party? If so, what sort of party? None of these questions can be answered without first answering the questions that Continue Reading
The property question
The key question for socialists is who owns the resources of society and decides how to allocate them. At the moment we are fighting to force the owners’ club to give us a few scraps from their enormous wealth. It’s a daily, hourly fight. We need to own the world’s Continue Reading
The Communist Manifesto
175 years on and still relevant This month marks the 175th anniversary of the publication of The Manifesto of the Communist Party in February 1848. It appeared on the world stage in German, just in time for the revolutionary events that broke out that year across Europe. It is a brilliant, succinct, rallying Continue Reading