En Passant

A new year brings thoughts of a better world and renewed optimism to the fore among many many people. As the new year begins, let us join together, united by our hope for a new world, one free of war, poverty, racism, sexism and homophobia. Let us continue our daily, systematic, unglamourous work towards, as Trotsky wrote, a society cleansed of all evil, oppression and violence.

Almost 18 months ago I asked: ’Are our troops [in Afghanistan] engaged in assassinations of villagers similar to Operation Phoenix in Vietnam?’  (See Operation Phoenix: rising from the ashes in Afghanistan?) Operation Phoenix was a special campaign of assassination and torture in Vietnam aimed at destroying networks of Vietcong sympathisers in the South. I answered the question in the affirmative, [...]

Is facebook down – 14.30 Australian Eastern Summer Time Thursday 30 December (about 10+ hours GMT)?

It is time for a revolution in cricket in Australia. Let’s grab our game back from the exploiters. The grass roots should rise up and take over its running in the interests of every kid and adult playing, watching or otherwise participating in local cricket.

During 2010 the third phase of the global financial crisis – making workers pay – began to play itself out. Capital in Europe has used and is using its parliamentary dominance - it doesn’t matter whether reformists or conservatives are in power – to attack their working classes. While there have been magnificent strikes and demonstrations involving masses [...]

It is the holiday season, with the aspirations of billions for peace and love coming up hard against the reality of a society of war and hate. This is systemic. No amount of wishing or praying for something is going to make it happen. A mass movement of the majority of the class that produces the wealth for a [...]

When production is organised democratically to satisfy human need, we, the producers of society’s wealth, will have no interest in killing each other. Then every day will be Christmas.

It is the hope of the despairing Not caught but wearing Life in vests Escaping the empty nest Taken, not blessed, upon the sea, the holy sea of cant and won’t be in our place Belonging is their other face staring, staring, staring upon our shores Whose dead are these? the question asks And the [...]

The left must defend Wikileaks and its role. But we must accept that Assange needs to address and answer the allegations against him in a way that does not put him at risk of US retribution for unrelated matters, namely publishing their lies.

We must begin the task of getting organised around revolutionary ideas today if we are to make the most of the inevitable reaction against the horrors and inequalities of the capitalist system in the future, and to overthrow it for good.