|
By David May & Paul Poposky in the U.S.
|
|
Friday, 02 January 2009 |
 On Thursday morning, December 11th, the 250 workers occupying the Republic Windows and Doors factory in Chicago had something to be proud of: they had fought back against one of the biggest banks in the U.S. and had won all of the severance pay owed to them. The workers unanimously agreed Wednesday evening to approve a deal reached between negotiators from their union and Republic's creditor, Bank of America, prompting an end to the six day occupation. While the struggle did not result in keeping the factory open and jobs in place, the UE workers were able to win an important partial victory by winning the money owed to them.
|
|
By Karl Belin in the U.S.
|
|
Thursday, 18 December 2008 |
 Yesterday a communique reached the Campus
Antiwar Network national discussion e-mail list announcing the
occupation of the New School University's cafeteria by students both
from the New School, as well as from other universities in the
surrounding area from New York and New Jersey. The students have
occupied the cafeteria, claiming it as an autonomous students center.
|
|
By US Socialist Appeal
|
|
Thursday, 11 December 2008 |
 Workers from the Revolutionary Front of Occupied Factories (FRETECO) in Venezuela and Members of the Executive Committee of CC.OO. branch in Navantia-Ferrol (Spain) send messages of solidarity and support to the courageous workers of Republic Windows and Doors in Chicago, USA. In English and Spanish/En español y inglés.
|
|
By David May in the USA
|
|
Monday, 08 December 2008 |
 Beginning Friday, around 300 workers at the Republic Window & Door
factory in Chicago have occupied the plant demanding severance and back-pay owed
by the company. For the first time since the birth of the CIO union federation
in the 1930s, US workers are occupying their workplace. As the bosses push to
place the burden of the failing economy on workers' shoulders,
the class struggle is back on the agenda in the US.
|
|
By Josh Lucker in the USA
|
|
Friday, 05 December 2008 |
 An overwhelming 95 percent of black voters cast their ballots for Barack Obama in the recent elections in the United States. The scenes on the streets in Chicago and around the country were full of jubilation, as many working people, both Black and white, fervently believe that change is now on the horizon. But does Obama's victory really mean the end of racism in America?
|
|
By Thomas Anderson in the USA
|
|
Tuesday, 18 November 2008 |
 In the United States anger continues to boil over about the nearly one
trillion dollar bailout of the banking industry . It's no surprise, then, that
there is a growing ear for populism of the far-right. Many working people are
very confused about where the system "went wrong" and are looking for someone to
"fix it." Third party figures of the right, such as Bob Barr, Chuck Baldwin and
Ron Paul, claim to have the solutions.
|
|
By John Peterson, Socialist Appeal (U.S.)
|
|
Wednesday, 05 November 2008 |
 The U.S. has elected a new president,
Barack Hussein Obama. Along with the dramatic turn in the economic
situation, this marks a definite turning point in the history of the
country and of the world. Big illusions have been created that Obama
will provide "change". What American workers have voted for is an
end to policies that benefit the rich, but Obama does not represent
real change. In the coming years workers will learn from real life
experience that what is required is a genuine voice of the US working
class, and that can only be a mass party of labor.
|
|
By Ed Riley in the USA
|
|
Monday, 13 October 2008 |
 As the crisis of world and American capitalism continues to unfold, continued attacks on the living standards of the working class will eventually lead to militant strikes and protest movements. Labor activists and young workers will rediscover the traditions of the past. In this process they will break with the Democrats and move towards building their own party.
|
|
By Jorge Martin
|
|
Friday, 10 October 2008 |
 Millions of US
families are being threatened with eviction from their homes, some because they
cannot pay their mortgages and others because their landlords cannot pay
theirs. Now a County Sheriff in Illinois, has refused to carry out any more
evictions.
|
|
By US Socialist Appeal Editorial Board
|
|
Wednesday, 08 October 2008 |
 It was not the immediate crisis on Wall Street that has “caused” the public outrage against the Big Business bail out. This was only the “straw that broke the camel’s back.” This has simply brought to the surface deep-seated discontent that had been brewing for years.
|
|
By Mark Rahman in New York
|
|
Monday, 29 September 2008 |
|
Last weeks' rallies in New York
against the proposed bail-out of failed banks revealed a very angry mood.
Comrades of the Workers' International League were on the rallies and
they provide here an interesting insight into the real mood that is
developing among US workers as capitalism plummets into
crisis.
|
|
By James Scofield in the U.S.
|
|
Thursday, 25 September 2008 |
|
The much ballyhooed movie There Will Be Blood is supposedly based upon Upton Sinclair’s 1927 novel Oil!, but it surely miscasts Sinclair’s focus and technique. The movie limits itself to a study of a manic, ruthless oil prospector, more a personality study, but the novel is a much wider socialist attack on corporate power and labor suppression, top-to-bottom government corruption, and corporate control of war, universities, and Hollywood . The social and economic concerns read just like the present even though it is set in the World War I and 1920s era, mostly in the early California oil fields.
|
|
By Shane Jones - www.socialistappeal.org
|
|
Friday, 19 September 2008 |
|
After years of Bush’s open-ended war
on working people at home and abroad, many on the “left” in the
United States and beyond are desperate for an alternative. For many,
that alternative is Barack Obama. Obama, has been careful to portray
himself as a “sensible progressive”. However, far from being a
“progressive” alternative, Obama is at his core a typical
representative of the bosses’ political parties.
|
|
By Ed Riley in the USA
|
|
Thursday, 18 September 2008 |
|
Up to the present, the working class in the United States has not yet built its own political party, unlike in most major industrial countries and even in many less industrialized countries. So what are the prospects that the US workers will eventually build such a party? |
|
By Shane Jones in the U.S.
|
|
Wednesday, 10 September 2008 |
|
Elections can reveal a lot about a country, and the fast-approaching
U.S. presidential election is proving to be no exception. Above all,
the current election shows just how much working Americans need their
own political representation. This fact is expressed and cynically
taken advantage of by Barack Obama’s campaign slogan: “Change We Can
Believe In.” Even the “old guard” represented by John McCain has had to
raise the idea of change in his campaign rhetoric.
|
|
By US Socialist Appeal
|
|
Wednesday, 10 September 2008 |
|
Millions have hoped against hope that Barack Obama represents real
change. But these sincere hopes were dealt another blow with the
selection of Senator Joseph Biden from Delaware as Obama’s vice
presidential running mate. Biden has had a long career in politics, and
is often portrayed as a “liberal.” However, a brief look at his
policies only goes to show the sorry state that bourgeois liberalism
finds itself in!
|
|
By US Socialist Appeal Editorial Board
|
|
Monday, 01 September 2008 |
|
It’s official. Barack Obama is the presidential candidate of the
Democratic Party. His rapid rise to national prominence and eventual
nomination have left millions of American workers and youth dizzy with
hope for real change. Many have lamented or attempted to justify his
shift to the right since he won the nomination (a shift from the
so-called “center” of U.S. politics as he has never been on the
“left”). But few have drawn the logical conclusion from this: that as
we have explained time and again in the pages of Socialist Appeal,
Obama does not represent real change and is organically incapable of
changing anything fundamental. How could he? He is a Big Business
politician and he will defend Big Business’ interests.
|
|
By Josh Lucker in the USA
|
|
Thursday, 17 July 2008 |
|
The death of another female US soldier fighting in Iraq has
aroused serious suspicions as to the circumstances that led to her death. The
war in Iraq
is causing far more casualties than the official figures indicate. The case of
LaVena Johnson is yet another tragic example of why we demand the troops be
brought home now! For more information, please visit www.lavenajohnson.com.
|
|
By US Socialist Appeal Editorial Board
|
|
Wednesday, 16 July 2008 |
|
The U.S.
is in the worst housing slump since the Great Depression as home prices fell by
a record 15.3 percent from a year ago in the first few months of the year.
Mortgage defaults and home repossessions have skyrocketed as working people are
unable to make ends meet.
|
|
By Shane Jones in the USA
|
|
Wednesday, 16 July 2008 |
|
The rising cost of oil, and gasoline in particular, is
having an effect on everything, further stretching the limits of the already
strained wallets of US workers. The oil and energy barons are making big
profits at the expense of US workers. It is time to call for the expropriation
of these parasites.
|
|
By Workers International League
|
|
Wednesday, 25 June 2008 |
This document on the Black Struggle and the Socialist Revolution was passed at the 2008 National Congress of the Workers International League. |
|
By Socialist Appeal - USA
|
|
Monday, 02 June 2008 |
|
The US Marxists analyse the situation that is developing in
the USA, dealing with the deepening economic crisis, the impact of the ongoing
war in Iraq, the upcoming elections and the future that awaits the US workers
and youth.
|
|
By US Socialist Appeal
|
|
Wednesday, 28 May 2008 |
|
On the weekend of May 17 and 18, nearly 30 members of the Workers
International League gathered in Minneapolis, MN for the WIL National
Congress, the most important event in the political life of the
organization. Comrades were present present from Portland, San
Francisco, Minneapolis, Madison, St. Louis, Nashville, New York,
Pittsburgh, Providence, and Washington DC.
|
|
By Socialist Appeal USA
|
|
Monday, 28 April 2008 |
|
Inflation in the USA is rising across the board. And
it's not just housing, gasoline, heating, transportation, health care and
education. The cost of that most basic of all necessities - food - is now also
quickly rising for American workers and their families.
|
|
By US Socialist Appeal Editorial Board
|
|
Monday, 31 March 2008 |
|
Almost overnight, the media, corporate CEOs and government officials
have gone from proclaiming that the U.S. would somehow avoid an
economic slump, to all but recognizing that the country has probably
already entered a recession. They are simply acknowledging what
millions of workers have known for months and even years: the economy
is in trouble, and working people and the poor are being hit hard.
|
|
By Shane Jones in the USA
|
|
Monday, 31 March 2008 |
|
Many people are looking to the Democrats, and in particular
to Barack Obama for a real change, especially when it comes to the Iraq war. But
on the question of war and foreign policy, does Obama really differ from the
current White House administration, or from his party mate Hillary Clinton, or
for that matter, from the entire DC political establishment?
|
|
By Harry Whittaker
|
|
Friday, 28 March 2008 |
|
The year was 1776 and it was time for Americans to sever
links with Britain
and assert their independence. Thomas Paine set himself the task of writing
what was to become the biggest-selling, most widely read and successful
political pamphlet in history: Common
Sense.
|
|
By US Socialist Appeal Editorial Board
|
|
Thursday, 06 March 2008 |
|
The situation in the USA is one of increasing crises. The wars in
Iraq and Afghanistan continue to trail on, costing nearly $275 million per
day. The situation at home is one of increasing unemployment and continual
crisis in the housing and credit markets. US workers will be called on to
go to the polls to elect a party of big business, but this era of crises will
only serve to cause more people to question the world in which they live.
Editorial for Socialist Appeal Issue 37.
|
|
By Alan Woods
|
|
Thursday, 06 March 2008 |
|
Alan Woods' introduction to the latest book from Wellred USA. The book
includes four Marxist classics: the Communist Manifesto, Socialism:
Scientific and Utopian, State and Revolution, and the
Transitional Program. It is intended to introduce readers in the
USA to the most fundamental aspects of Marxist theory. Available from Wellred USA.
|
|
By Luiz Bicalho in Rio de Janeiro
|
|
Friday, 22 February 2008 |
|
Obama may
well end up being the official Democratic candidate in the US Presidential
elections. But what kind of an alternative is he? Luiz Bicalho, a leading
member of Esquerda Marxista in Brazil,
explains that Obama promises many things but remains a defender of capitalism.
The answer is not Obama. The answer is an independent party of the US working
class fighting to change society.
|
|
By Shane Jones in the USA
|
|
Wednesday, 13 February 2008 |
|
For those following US electoral politics right now, it
is clear that the big business candidates are presenting their respective
religiosities as credentials of a sort to prospective voters. The open pandering
to the "faith vote" displays the cynical depths the representatives of the
ruling class are willing to go to win votes. This is not simply a harmless
phenomenon but a noxious indication of the rottenness of the
system.
|
|
By Ed Riley in the U.S.
|
|
Thursday, 07 February 2008 |
|
The vast majority of the 300 million people in the
USA are workers and their families. Just
as they have learned that if we band together at work into a union, where
our strength is united into a single force, we can more effectively fight the
boss, if we band together into a political party, created by and under the
democratic control of the labor movement, we can better fight the government of
the employers.
|
|
By John Peterson in the U.S.
|
|
Thursday, 07 February 2008 |
|
The U.S. election cycle is in full swing a full nine months before voters actually go to the polls on November 4th. On "Super Tuesday" registered voters in 24 states came out to vote in caucuses and primary elections.
|
|
By the Editorial Board US Socialist Appeal
|
|
Monday, 14 January 2008 |
|
Editorial for US Socialist Appeal 36: The campaign to elect the
next President of the United States is in full swing. The Democratic
and Republican primaries and caucuses have begun, accompanied by a
media frenzy intended to make it seem as though there truly are
significant differences between the candidates, and to distract working
people from the pressing problems we face. As we go to press, the race
to nominate the next presidential candidates of big business is still
wide open. But the real question is, who will represent the working
class majority of American society?
|
|
By Shamus Cooke
|
|
Tuesday, 18 December 2007 |
|
The Democrats have continued to support the Iraq War, and
have colluded with the Republicans on many key matters. It is not a question of
this or that individual. It is one of common class interests shared by both
parties. We, the working people in the USA, need to begin the process of
building our own political alternative.
|
|
By Zach McCall
|
|
Tuesday, 18 December 2007 |
|
A large part of the US arms industry is now openly
backing Hilary Clinton for President, a further confirmation that there is no
fundamental difference between the Democrats and the Republicans.
|
|
By Shane Jones
|
|
Tuesday, 18 December 2007 |
|
Does Republican Congressman Ron Paul offer anything that can
truly be called a "revolution", or is he more of the same from the capitalists'
ranks? Should workers and students in the anti-war movement, or in general,
give him support in any way?
|
|
By The Editorial Board US Socialist Appeal
|
|
Tuesday, 11 December 2007 |
|
The world situation is one of increasing political and economic instability, social polarization, and the ravages of war and famine. Across the planet, layoffs, cuts in social services, and the merciless squeezing of the working class and poor is on the order of the day. But there is an opposite side to these counter-revolutionary tendencies: the revolutionary movement of millions of people who are saying “enough is enough!”
|
|
By John Peterson
|
|
Thursday, 18 October 2007 |
|
After
Blackwater USA’s recent street shoot out in Baghdad, the role of mercenaries in Iraq has
received extra attention in the media. Although they have played a key
role in the occupation of Iraq, these
“private security contractors” have for the most part flown under the
public radar. During the 1991 Gulf War, the troop-to-private
contractor ratio was about 60 to 1. Now they outnumber uniformed
troops, more than doubling the actual size of the occupation force.
|
|
By US Socialist Appeal Editorial Board
|
|
Thursday, 18 October 2007 |
|
Most working people would agree that quality jobs, health
care, education, housing and infrastructure aren't too much to ask for.
Instead, capitalism gives us war, racism, economic turmoil, and
unemployment. It’s not as though the money isn’t there – over $2
billion is spent each week just on the occupation of Iraq – it’s a
matter of priorities. Just imagine how many badly-needed schools,
bridges and hospitals could be built, providing quality jobs for
millions of people in the process.
|
|
By Shane Jones - www.socialistappeal.org
|
|
Friday, 12 October 2007 |
|
Millionaire trial lawyer, one time Senator, and former VP hopeful John
Edwards, is now seeking the U.S. Presidency. Like the rest of the
candidates, he seeks to differentiate himself from Bush and even from
many in his own Party, as there is a much-deserved disgust with the
political rulers in Washington. But is Edwards fundamentally any
different from the rest of the bosses’ candidates?
|
|
By Mark Vorpahl - www.socialistappeal.org
|
|
Thursday, 20 September 2007 |
|
The
Iraq War is taking place in a different historical period than the Vietnam War. The U.S. is
by far the largest imperialist power, but its economic and political
foundation are more unstable then was the case during the Vietnam War.
Furthermore, it is now clearer to tens of millions of Americans that
the Iraq War is being accompanied by a war on workers’ historic gains,
living standards, and democratic rights here at home. The situation
today is potentially far more combustible then it was even at the
height of the Vietnam War.
|
|
By Socialist Appeal USA - www.socialistappeal.org
|
|
Thursday, 20 September 2007 |
|
Like the Katrina disaster two years ago, the collapse of the I-35
bridge in Minneapolis, MN is yet another reminder of the real effects
of the capitalist policy of “guns before butter”. A recent opinion poll showed
that Americans are as concerned about corruption in government and the
economy as they are about the war in Iraq. This is an indication of
things to come, as opposition to the war begins to shift to domestic
issues.
|
|
By Fred Weston
|
|
Tuesday, 11 September 2007 |
|
Today the death of nearly 3000 people during the September 11 attacks will
be officially commemorated once again. But will anyone at those commemorations
mention how those deaths were cynically exploited by the Bush administration to
carry out a plan hatched by the US oil lobby for its own greedy interests?
|
|
By Workers' International League - www.socialistappeal.org
|
|
Friday, 20 July 2007 |
|
Last spring, millions of immigrant workers, their families, and allies
took to the streets of the U.S. in a spontaneous movement against the
draconian anti-immigrant measures being proposed in the form of the
Sensenbrenner Bill (HR4437). But this was only the spark that lit up
the inflammable material that had accumulated for decades.
|
|
By the US Socialist Appeal
|
|
Monday, 09 July 2007 |
|
In their never-ending pursuit of profits, the capitalists are
aggressively dismantling U.S. industry and shifting their investments
to other countries and the services sector. This has led to the
decline of organized labor, which has been losing ground for the last
30 years.
|
|
By Workers' International League - www.socialistappeal.org
|
|
Tuesday, 03 July 2007 |
|
The Workers International League enthusiastically endorses ANSWER's May
31 call for a peaceful, legal, united front antiwar demonstration. The
basic unifying slogan "End the War Now!" can effectively mobilize the
millions of workers and youth who want the war ended immediately.
|
|
By Workers' International League - www.socialistappeal.org
|
|
Tuesday, 03 July 2007 |
|
After weeks of political show-boating, the Democrats have voted to continue the war in Iraq.
Editorial for the American Socialist Appeal no. 31.
|
|
By Workers' International League - www.socialistappeal.org
|
|
Tuesday, 03 July 2007 |
|
After years of Bush’s open-ended war on working people at home and
abroad, many on the “left” are desperate for an alternative. For many,
that alternative is Barack Obama, a Democratic Senator from Illinois. However,
far from being a “progressive” alternative, Obama is at his core a
typical representative of the bosses’ political parties.
|
|
By the US Socialist Appeal
|
|
Monday, 02 July 2007 |
|
Since 2001 the US economy has limped along,
never really taking off as it did in the 1990s. This "jobless" expansion has
been based entirely on the relentless squeezing of the US and world working
class. Worker productivity and profits have increased tremendously while wages
and job growth have stagnated or fallen behind. Overall GDP has continued to
grow, very little has "trickled down" to the mass of the population. Things are
far worse now for the majority than they were just 25 years ago.
|
|
By the US Socialist Appeal
|
|
Thursday, 28 June 2007 |
|
Control over Iraq's oil was one reason for the
invasion, although not the main factor. Overall strategic control of the region
and teaching a "lesson" to any country that dares "step out of line" was the
main objective. But none of US imperialism's political, economic, or military
objectives have been achieved. Far from demonstrating its power, US imperialism
has d | |
Visit www.socialistappeal.org, the website
of the US Marxists, and subscribe to
Socialist Appeal.
And be sure to visit the Youth for International Socialism
website as well.
