The coronavirus pandemic — while rather old at this point — has persisted throughout much of the world. While countries like China, New Zealand, and Vietnam handled the highly precarious situation with very high degrees of effectiveness, countries like the United Kingdom and the United States continue to struggle with government mismanagement and new strains. Keeping this in mind, economic warfare is consistently at play against countries such as Iran and Venezuela, hindering their ability to combat the virus.
The initial spreading phase of COVID-19 has long been over, with preventative measures being taken by most people in one way or another. Talk of vaccines being produced and transported are positive developments amidst a global pandemic. That being said, the greatest effort at preventing the acquisition of the virus can still be in vain and result in a positive test result — or even getting hospitalized. …
Every late December, the holiday season largely comes to a close. This is then prompted by the desire for a prosperous new year, especially when it feels as though the year that has ended was, for lack of a better term, just dreadful. It is plastered on advertisements across concrete jungles, on the Facebook feeds of anyone aged 20 or older, as well as through countless blog posts talking about how a new year means a “new me”.
Of course, 2020 has certainly been different than other years, given the presence and persistence of the COVID-19 pandemic. The inability for most capitalist governments to effectively regulate industry and production has resulted in the already poor circumstances of the working class only being exacerbated even more. In the United States, the infamous one-time $1,200 check was not nearly enough to cover the losses and destitute conditions of many working class Americans. …
It goes without saying that in the era of news being available at the tip of your finger, misinformation is abundant. When scrolling through Facebook or Twitter, copious amounts of information is being processed by your mind, even if that information is fake. Usually, misinformation is understood as the manufacturing of content that appears to be real, but is false (or, at the very least, misleading) in actuality. Perhaps the idea of a troll farm comes to mind, or maybe news being pumped out of ‘biased’ state-funded news outlets.
However, some of the biggest perpetrators of producing fake news are, at least in appearance, the most ‘trustworthy’ outlets in the world. …
Before the October Revolution in the Russian Empire, many bourgeois scholars stated that socialism would be impossible to implement, going as far as exclaiming that it would be undesirable for the economic system to exist in any capacity regardless. This would lead to liberals embarking on the belief that capital and labour both need each other, when this is most definitely not the case.
However, following the success of the revolution and the subsequent establishment of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR), the bourgeoisie throughout the world feared an educated and united proletarian mass pitted against them. …
Many self-proclaimed ‘leftists’ and ‘socialists’ in the Western world choose to support immigration, largely as a reaction against the anti-immigration narratives espoused by conservatives and fascists alike. This is an incorrect approach to comprehending the way in which immigration works, the interests that it appeals to, and more.
To fully understand how immigration functions and its perceived inherent ‘goodness’, it is imperative to analyze the questions of why immigration happens in the first place as well as why they choose to go to countries like Canada or the United States. …
As socialists, the question of what to call the developing world has been one that has been given much prominence over the course of history, especially following the end of World War II (WWII). The world that is depicted as colonial (and ‘post-colonial’) has been referenced in countless ways, ranging from ‘dependent states’ to the ‘over-exploited world’. This article will examine the majority of the terms used, as well as why it does not necessarily matter, outside of particular contexts.
The following terms are, arguably, the most common ways of describing the portions of the world that have had their peoples historically subjugated, resources stolen, markets overtaken, and…
In mainstream political discourse, the concept of a political revolution that overthrows a government — namely a pro-Western one — tends to be associated with the creation of a very scary image. For instance, the themes of terrorism, military dictatorship, unnecessary blood being shed, and the destruction of existing so-called “democracy” comes to mind.
People may point to countries like France, where the creation of a liberal republic turned into the infamous Reign of Terror, despite the fact that the French Revolution itself was a bourgeois revolution. They may also point to coup d’etats that have occurred throughout various countries and then incorrectly frame them as popular uprisings or justified rebellions against ‘authoritarian’ leadership. …
When one becomes an ideological proponent of Marxism, the desire to build a working class movement becomes more apparent, largely due to the fact that the individual in question has become more class conscious than they previously were. This is, for the most part, a universal phenomenon and can be attributed to the fact that the necessity for revolution and the proclamation of a proletarian republic becomes glaringly clear.
The first steps towards developing a working class that is fundamentally ready for an uprising is to organize locally within your community or alongside a revolutionary organization. In many cases, this tends to be the largest communist party that is available within your city, state, province, or country overall. The desire to get involved is most definitely there, and this is why people will gravitate towards such organizations, chiefly because the foundation for a working class movement has historically been laid out through these groupings. …
Following the landslide electoral victory of the Movement for Socialism (MAS-IPSP) party in Bolivia on October 18, 2020, alongside the inauguration of President Luis Arce and the return of former President Evo Morales, a revived political energy and force has emerged out of the country. Nearly 365 days of illegal governance, political repression, heightened ethnic tension, and economic catastrophe has finally come to a close.
A couple of days prior to the inauguration of Arce and Vice President David Choquehuanca on November 8, 2020, foreign delegations from Iran and Venezuela arrived to celebrate the victory of the MAS-IPSP and the removal of the coup-based government in Bolivia. Foreign ministers of both aforementioned countries, Javad Zarif and Jorge Arreaza, were present at the ceremony. …
With November 11, 2020 approaching rather quickly, talk of remembering those who have fallen in the line of battle is becoming prevalent once again, particularly in countries such as Australia, Canada, New Zealand, South Africa, and the United Kingdom. In fact, controversy has risen over Whole Foods Market banning the symbol being worn, and then reversing the decision due to backlash in Canada. Usually, most civilians wear a red poppy as a symbol of respect for the individuals who have served in war and have lost their lives in times of war.
But what does the poppy mean to people who live outside of those countries? What about anti-war activists? What does the poppy represent to people vehemently opposed to the imperialist practices of these nations throughout history? What would the poppy mean to someone who has actively fought against British conquest in an anti-colonial struggle? …
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