South African Students Struggle and Win
This month the South African government announced an increase in public university student fees of six or more percent. Outraged students protested, beginning a campaign called “Fees Must Fall!” The minister of education Blade Nzimande laughed when he heard about the protest and said, “If the students don’t accept this we’ll start our own movement […]
Hollande: A Friend (of Finance) Who Wishes You Well…
Between them, “there is something strong”, there is “mutual trust”, a “special relationship”… During his official trip to Greece, Hollande had only sweet words towards Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras. This “friendship” had been formed last July, when the French president and the German Chancellor had dictated their terms to Greece by imposing a third draconian […]
We Are All Air France Employees!
Interviewed October 19th on RTL, François Hollande had to concede, about the early morning arrests of four Air France employees, as if they were dangerous mobsters, that “I think there are other methods”, before claiming that the government was not responsible. But when Valls himself calls the angry Air France demonstrators “thugs”, when Macron calls […]
What Does It Look Like When The Working Class Takes Power?
We are already being bombarded by constant news about the 2016 elections. We are supposed to believe that the political circus of the Democratic and Republican parties should determine our future. But, if we want to change our conditions, it will depend on our organization, our struggles as well as our understanding that those parties […]
Turkey: “Erdogan, Murderer”
Thousands of people expressed their anger, this Sunday, in major cities of Turkey, against the attack that claimed one hundred dead and more than 500 injured in Ankara. They denounced the responsibility of Erdogan’s government. The emotion is intense. The Turkish unions, with the exception of the one linked to the government, called for two […]
Killed By Cops
In 2015, there have been 791 people killed by the police. Of those people, 103 of them were killed in the month of August alone. The youngest was 12 years old, while the oldest was 65 years old. They include Freddie Grey whose spine was severed while riding unrestrained in a Baltimore police van. They […]
What Future For Young People?
What kind of future is this society offering to young people today? From work to higher education, it seems like all the doors are being slammed shut. Pathways that are supposed to help you get ahead end up being dead ends. Try to get a job? You end up competing with millions of other people […]
New Orleans – Ten Years After Hurricane Katrina
Ten years ago, Hurricane Katrina landed on the coast of Louisiana, flooding New Orleans. Even though this was a massive hurricane, the chaos that followed was man made. Who can forget the TV images of New Orleans mostly black residents, flooded out of their homes with no safe place to go, no medical care for […]
Elections 2016: A New Opening or Business as Usual?
Sunday, October 11, 2015 (Oakland, CA) Two opposing voices have emerged based on the disgust that most people feel about politics today. Donald Trump, the billionaire Republican plays on people’s fears and blames the victims of the crisis for the problems people are facing. Bernie Sanders, the independent turned Democrat addresses hopes for a better […]
Elections 2016: A New Opening or Business as Usual?
Two opposing voices have emerged amidst popular disgust over politics in Washington D.C. – those of Donald Trump and Bernie Sanders. They have both received a great deal of media attention and have generated a visible public response. It would be a serious mistake to dismiss Trump as a loud-mouthed clown. European rightwing parties, once […]
Fight Back Against the Attacks
“De Juniac, resign”, “Management, resign”, “Valls, sold out to the bosses!” … “Fed up to be played off against each other”. This is how hundreds of Air France employees demonstrated Monday morning, interrupting the extraordinary Central Works Council. Two members of management wanting to escape any discussion… have lost their shirts. Valls and others condemn […]
The Middle East – Ripped Apart by Imperialism
On September 30th, Russian bombs began falling on Syria. Russian jets targeted Islamic State bases as well as militant groups backed by the CIA to oppose the Islamic State. This makes Russia the thirteenth country to bomb Syria in the past few years. These bombs and missiles are launched by countries set on maintaining their […]
People Make History – Not Politicians
Every election season we are reminded about how important it is to exercise our right to vote. We are told to hold our breaths and pick between two parties that don’t represent our interest. We are told that voting is the way to change things. We are told that the Democratic Party is the party […]
When Revolutionaries Stood in Elections
In the elections most people have experienced, no matter how appealing the candidates seem, something remains exactly the same – the candidates are promising to run the system in our interests. Even so-called progressives like Bernie Sanders only promise better versions of the same system. They believe the best we can have is a slightly […]
2016 Elections: No Choice for the Working Class
The 2016 Presidential election primaries have begun. Many working people are distrustful of both political parties and politicians in general. President Obama’s approval rating has stayed around 40 percent while the approval rate for the U.S. Congress has been below 20 percent for over a year. In an April 2014 poll, a record high of […]