The workers... battle-cry must be: 'The Permanent Revolution.'” — Marx and Engels, 1850

Sun 04, May 2008 @ 14:02

Socialism: The transition to Communism

What is the difference between socialism and communism? How can we get from a capitalist society with all its problems, divisions and inequalities to a communist society?

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Thu 05, July 2007 @ 18:37

A-Z of Marxism Pamphlet (PDF)

This collection of articles, which form the A-Z of Marxism Pamphlet , first appeared in the last years of the Major government....write PR...

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Sun 01, October 2006 @ 21:43

Socialism: The transition to Communism

Karl Marx was not the first to condemn capitalism for the poverty and inequality that it creates, neither was he the first to fight for a society in which poverty and inequality would be eradicated. But he was the first to realise that capitalism itself would create the forces capable of overthrowing it.

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Thu 24, August 2006 @ 22:37

Y is for Youth

Young people suffer systematic oppression in capitalist society.
In Britain young workers earn, on average, far less than their adult counterparts. Employment protection is minimal. You have to work in a job for two years before you are protected against unfair dismissal, which leaves young workers without basic rights such as compensation for redundancy.

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Thu 24, August 2006 @ 22:36

X is for Malcolm X

Malcolm Little was born in the US mid-west in 1925. By the time of his assassination on 21 February 1965, Malcolm had become an international symbol of black resistance and, along with Martin Luther King, its most eloquent spokesperson.

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Thu 24, August 2006 @ 22:36

W is for War

War is a bloody and brutal business. Our rulers deliberately air-brush the images we get of the wars they are involved in. The Gulf war against Iraq in 1991, was presented by the media as a computer choreographed fireworks show in aid of “democracy”.

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Thu 24, August 2006 @ 22:36

V is for Value

"Added value” is one of the management buzzwords of the late 1990s. Wherever you work you are constantly being told to make improvements that “add value” to the product or service to the customer. Education minister David Blunkett even talks about measuring “value added” during children’s education.

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Thu 24, August 2006 @ 22:35

U is for Unions

It’s an old message, but one that remains true today: unity is strength. On your own, you can do nothing against the power of your employer. But together, workers can resist their employers’ attacks. That is why wherever industry exists, wherever a working class is created, trade unions will be formed.

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Thu 24, August 2006 @ 22:35

T is for Trotsky

In 1937-38 Stalin put on trial the last remaining leaders of the Russian Revolution and most of the Red Army General Staff. They were convicted, amongst other things, of being “Trotskyists”, and shot.

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Thu 24, August 2006 @ 22:34

R is for Reformism and Revolution

One banner from a National Union of Mineworkers’ branch in Yorkshire, used to be a regular on demonstrations in the 1980s. It showed a large picture of the Houses of Parliament and underneath was written, “The Hope of the Workers”.

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Thu 24, August 2006 @ 22:34

Q is for Quantity and Quality

Has Blair's New Labour become indistinguishable from the Tories? Has capitalism been restored in Russia? Is Iraq an imperialist power? Is capitalism ripe for revolution?

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Thu 24, August 2006 @ 22:33

P is for Proletariat

Why do Marxists always go on about “the proletariat”? Why don’t we just say “workers”? And anyway—who are the workers? Don’t bank managers and executives go to work and get a salary cheque like everybody else?

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Thu 24, August 2006 @ 22:33

O is for Oppression

The vast majority of people in the world experience oppression. Women, youth, black people, lesbians and gay men all suffer from specific forms of oppression. But working people in general – workers, poor peasants – are also oppressed. Oppression is the denial of rights and opportunities that would enable people to achieve what they are capable of and live in a dignified way.

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Thu 24, August 2006 @ 22:32

N is for Nationalisation

Nationalisation has become a dirty word. The dominant capitalist economic policy—neo-liberalism—says nationalisation and public spending are the causes of all economic crises.

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Thu 24, August 2006 @ 22:32

M is for Materialism

In everyday speech a materialist is somebody obsessed with money, shopping and furthering their own career. An idealist is somebody who pursues a higher goal, forsaking material wealth for a noble cause, or hopelessly optimistic about human nature.

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Thu 24, August 2006 @ 22:31

L is for Luxemburg

Rosa Luxemburg was one of the great revolutionary socialists of the 20th century. She fought for internationalism against imperialist war, and for the revolutionary activity of the working class against bureaucratic leaders who betrayed the working class.

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Thu 24, August 2006 @ 22:31

K is for Kollantai

Alexandra Kollontai made three decisive contributions to revolutionary socialism:

She argued for special forms of party work among working class women, and fought for the creation of a women’s section of the Bolshevik Party during the Russian Revolution

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Thu 24, August 2006 @ 22:30

J is for Justice

Was O.J. Simpson guilty? No. Did he get away with murder? That's a different question.

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Thu 24, August 2006 @ 22:30

I is for Imperialism

Imperialism is such a dirty word that, today, no politician would ever talk of “popular imperialism” in the way they talk about “popular capitalism”.

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Thu 24, August 2006 @ 22:29

H is for History

History used to be about Kings, Queens, battles and, above all, dates. Today it is all about “experience”. You can take a “dark ride” through a recreated Viking settlement in York, or a walk through the Imperial War Museum’s “Blitz Experience”, replete with “authentic” smells, explosions and visual effects.

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Thu 24, August 2006 @ 22:28

G is for God

Marxists don’t believe in God. No surprises there. But Marxists weren’t the first atheists. In the eighteenth century a series of philosophers and natural scientists demolished the claims of the Church that the existence of God could be proved by reason.

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Thu 24, August 2006 @ 22:28

F is for Fascism

The term "fascist" was first adopted by Mussolini, whose movement swept to power in 1922, crushing Italy's trade unions and powerful workers' parties.

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Thu 24, August 2006 @ 22:27

E is for Exploitation

When people complain that they are "being exploited" at work they usually mean that they are being treated unfairly or being ripped off.

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Thu 24, August 2006 @ 22:27

D is for Democracy and Dictatorship

It is common sense to most people that democracy and dictatorship are completely opposed to each other.
Dictatorship is bad because it excludes the population from political life and concentrates all power in the hands of a despot. Democracy is good because it makes political power accountable to the people.

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Thu 24, August 2006 @ 22:26

C is for Capital

Two people buy the last remaining tickets for Les Miserables at the box office. One of them passes through to the theatre and is thoroughly entertained; the other steps outside and sells the ticket to a disappointed but desperate punter for twice the face value.

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Thu 24, August 2006 @ 22:26

B is for Bolshevism

Whole sections of the left—from Tony Benn to Class War—believe that Bolshevism led logically to Stalinism and bureaucratic tyranny. They are wrong.

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Thu 24, August 2006 @ 22:25

A is for Alienation

It was a sunny day, so the foreman let us work outside, in the yard. We sat there hammering small metal discs into shape over a die for about an hour. Then Terry, another young lad who was supposed to be showing me the ropes, announced: "I’m fed up."

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