4 September 2018

The burning down of Brazil’s national museum: A capitalist crime against the heritage of humanity

By Bill Van Auken, 4 September 2018

The devastating fire, entirely predictable and preventable, is emblematic of the criminal policies pursued by capitalism in Brazil, throughout Latin America and worldwide.

Seattle Education Association orders teachers to work without contract vote

By Kayla Costa and Alec Andersen, 4 September 2018

The move comes after teachers in Washington’s largest district voted overwhelmingly to authorize a strike last week.

As union seeks to wrap up strikes, Washington teachers rally and call for statewide walkout

For a statewide strike in Washington to defend public education!
Build rank-and-file committees to unify educators, parents and students

United Steelworkers union extends contract at ArcelorMittal and US Steel

By Jessica Goldstein, 4 September 2018

The USW has called for a strike vote at US Steel to let workers blow off steam while the union works behind the scenes to push through another sellout deal.

Steelmakers in US demand historic concessions as contracts for 31,000 workers set to expire

US report on Chinese “United Front Work” seeks to whip-up hostility towards China

By Gabriel Black, 4 September 2018

The report contains justifications for mass spying on Chinese nationals and warns against cultural exchange programs that leave Americans with positive views of China

US push for sanctions of China over treatment of Uyghur minority

By Peter Symonds, 4 September 2018

Washington’s spotlighting of abuses has nothing to do with defending democratic rights but is aimed at stirring anti-Chinese sentiment and encouraging separatist movements in China.

Trump hits out at China over North Korea

Australian media promotes right-wing Steve Bannon and calls for confrontation with China

By James Cogan, 4 September 2018

The logic of Bannon’s positions is a devastating military conflict.

New York University president receives base pay of $1.3 million

By Katy Kinner, 4 September 2018

Andrew Hamilton’s total pay, including compensation and bonuses, would be roughly $2 million, placing him tenth on the list for highest-compensated university administrators.

Millionaire Democrats face off in New York gubernatorial debate

By Philip Guelpa, 4 September 2018

Neither incumbent Governor Andrew Cuomo or his “left” challenger Cynthia Nixon offered any policies to meet the needs of working people.

UK: Momentum’s Jon Lansman aids witch-hunt against Corbyn, joins Blairites at Jewish Labour Movement event

By Paul Mitchell, 4 September 2018

Momentum leader Jon Lansman joined pro-Zionist and pro-Blairite figures to issue a blatant apologia for their campaign to blackguard the left as anti-Semitic.

Ha’aretz joins witch-hunt against UK Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn

By Jean Shaoul, 4 September 2018

Ha’aretz aims to silence and criminalise any signs of growing left-wing sentiment expressed in the support for Corbyn’s minimalist reforms.

Reject the anti-Semitism slurs against Jeremy Corbyn! Drive out the Labour Party right wing!

Why are French media obsessed with Ecology Minister Hulot’s resignation?

By Francis Dubois, 4 September 2018

While the media endlessly discuss the crisis of the government, their obsession with Hulot obscures the deep unpopularity of Macron’s policies of austerity and war.

New in French

Le front réactionnaire et militariste à la cérémonie commémorative de McCain

Patrick Martin, 4 septembre 2018

Réunis dans la Cathédrale nationale se trouvait « la fine fleur » des criminels de guerre impérialistes qui ont un bilan sanglant de plus d’un demi-siècle.

La fête du travail 2018 : la montée de la lutte des classes et le besoin de comités de la base

Jerry White, 4 septembre 2018

Cette année, la fête du Travail (aux États-Unis on la célèbre le premier lundi de septembre) se déroule dans un contexte de reprise de la lutte des classes aux États-Unis, entraînant un conflit direct entre les travailleurs et les syndicats corporatistes et anti-ouvriers.

« En Allemagne surtout, nous devrions être plus avisés »
Des dizaines de milliers de personnes protestent à travers l’Allemagne contre les violences néonazies à Chemnitz

nos reporters, 4 septembre 2018

Suite à un déchaînement nazi à Chemnitz dimanche et lundi dernier, des dizaines de milliers de personnes ont manifesté à travers l’Allemagne contre l’extrême droite.

Résolution du Cinquième Congrès national du SEP (É.-U.)
La résurgence de la lutte des classes et les tâches du Socialist Equality Party
Deuxième partie

4 septembre 2018

Cette résolution a été adoptée à l’unanimité par le Cinquième Congrès national du Socialist Equality Party (É.-U.), qui s’est tenu du 22 au 27 juillet 2018.

New in German

Chemnitz und der Ruf nach dem Staat

Peter Schwarz, 4. September 2018

Nach den rechtsextremen Aufmärschen in Chemnitz rufen Vertreter aller Bundestagsparteien nach dem Eingreifen des Verfassungsschutzes. Das bedeutet, den Bock zum Gärtner zu machen.

70.000 kommen zu „Rock gegen Rechts“ in Chemnitz

unseren Reportern, 4. September 2018

Das Konzert stand unter dem Motto „Wir sind mehr“ und zeigte die massive Opposition gegen Rechtsextremismus und Faschismus unter Arbeitern und Jugendlichen.

Trauerfeier für McCain: Eine Hommage an Reaktion und Militarismus

Patrick Martin, 4. September 2018

Das Publikum in Washingtons National Cathedral war ein „Who is Who“ der imperialistischen Kriegsverbrecher, deren gemeinsame blutige Vergangenheit mehr als ein halbes Jahrhundert zurückreicht.

USA, Labor Day 2018: Der Aufschwung des Klassenkampfs und die Frage von Arbeiterkomitees

Jerry White, 4. September 2018

Der amerikanische Labor Day findet dieses Jahr inmitten eines Aufschwungs des Klassenkampfs statt. Dabei geraten Arbeiter in den USA immer direkter in Konflikt mit dem Korporatismus der Gewerkschaftsfunktionäre.

Ein historischer Fund
Manuskripte der Linken Opposition in der Sowjetunion von Anfang der 1930er Jahre entdeckt

Wladimir Wolkow und Clara Weiss, 4. September 2018

Die Entdeckung bisher unbekannter Dokumente der Linken Opposition in der Sowjetunion ist ein Schlag gegen alle Versuche, den Kampf der trotzkistischen Bewegung gegen den Stalinismus zu verfälschen, kleinzureden und zu verleumden.

New in Spanish

El Día del Trabajo de 2018: la intensificación de la lucha de clases y la formación de comités de base

Por Jerry White, 4 septiembre 2018

Este año, el Día del Trabajo se celebra en medio de un resurgimiento de la lucha de clases en EUA que enfrenta a los trabajadores directamente en contra de los corporativistas y antiobreros sindicatos.

En el 80º aniversario de la fundación de la Cuarta Internacional

Por David North, 4 septiembre 2018

La fundación de la Cuarta Internacional el 3 de septiembre de 1938 fue un evento de gran importancia histórica y relevancia contemporánea.

Un desfile de reacción y militarismo en acto conmemorativo de McCain

Por Patrick Martin, 4 septiembre 2018

En la Catedral Nacional se reunieron algunos de los más notorios perpetradores de crímenes de guerra que se remontan a hace más de medio siglo.

“En Alemania, más que en cualquier otro lugar, deberíamos saberlo”
Decenas de miles de personas protestan en toda Alemania contra la violencia neonazi en Chemnitz

nuestros reporteros, 4 septiembre 2018

Tras los desmanes neonazis en Chemnitz del domingo y del lunes pasados, decenas de miles de personas se han manifestado en toda Alemania contra la extrema derecha.

El asalto contra inmigrantes se torna en asalto contra ciudadanos
Niegan pasaportes a ciudadanos estadounidenses cerca de frontera sur acusados de falsificar sus actas de nacimiento

Renae Cassimeda, 4 septiembre 2018

Los ciudadanos estadounidenses nacidos en regiones fronterizas en el sureste de Estados Unidos están siendo acusados de tener certificados de nacimiento falsos y les están denegando sus pasaportes.

El padre de Mollie Tibbetts le dice a la administración de Trump: deja de usar la muerte de mi hija en un ataque racista contra inmigrantes

Por Meenakshi Jagadeesan, 4 septiembre 2018

Se han realizado numerosos estudios por parte de académicos y grupos de expertos en los últimos años que han demostrado claramente que no existe una correlación entre inmigración y delincuencia.

Other Languages

Perspective

The fight against fascism in Germany requires a socialist perspective

4 September 2018

Moral outrage is not enough to stop the fascist mob: it is necessary to understand the political roots of its resurgence.

Earlier Perspectives »

Featured Commentary

Labor Day 2018: The growth of the class struggle and the case for rank-and-file committees

By Jerry White, 3 September 2018

This year, Labor Day takes place amid a resurgence of class struggle in the US, bringing workers into direct conflict with the corporatist and anti-working class trade unions.

History of the Fourth International

On the 80th anniversary of the founding of the Fourth International

By David North, 3 September 2018

The founding of the Fourth International on September 3, 1938, was an event of great historical significance and contemporary relevance.

Historic discovery of Left Opposition manuscripts from the early 1930s

Commentary

The US media declares war, once again, on comic Louis C.K.

By David Walsh, 4 September 2018

A significant portion of the American media castigated a villainous figure this past weekend, lamenting the fact he had essentially gone unpunished for his crimes. Was it the late Sen. John McCain?

Line-up of reaction and militarism at McCain memorial

By Patrick Martin, 3 September 2018

The canonization of John McCain: Media, political establishment turn warmonger into saint

“In Germany, of all places, we should know better”
Tens of thousands protest across Germany against neo-Nazi violence in Chemnitz

By our reporters, 3 September 2018

Who is to blame for the neo-Nazi rampage in Chemnitz, Germany?

Is the Mueller investigation preparing to indict WikiLeaks editor Julian Assange?

By James Cogan, 1 September 2018

German government places Socialist Equality Party on subversive watch list

By the Sozialistische Gleichheitspartei, 17 August 2018

Defend the Student Council! Stop the right-wing conspiracy at Berlin’s Humboldt University

How the secret service and the far-right AfD control German politics

More on the growth of the extreme right in Europe »

Book Review

Seymour Hersh’s Reporter: A life exposing government lies and crimes

By Andre Damon, 3 September 2018

Seymour Hersh, the investigative journalist who played a leading role in exposing the 1968 My Lai massacre in Vietnam and the Bush Administration’s torture of prisoners at Abu Ghraib, has published a long-awaited autobiography.

Workers Struggles

Argentine teachers, transport workers in strike action
Workers Struggles: The Americas

4 September 2018

Teachers in Buenos Aires province struck for three days last week for pay and infrastructure improvements, while Buenos Aires area bus drivers struck against arbitrary dismissals and the generally poor shape of transport facilities.

“Amazon thinks I’m a piece of trash on the ground and they’ll walk all over me”
Amazon Nightmare: Grandmother injured on the job goes homeless, suffers pneumonia

By Eric London and Zac Corrigan, 3 September 2018

Teamsters head to UPS workers: Don’t complain, creating new tiers is “what we’ve always done”

By Will Morrow, 1 September 2018

“The Teamsters is not a voice for us”
UPS workers respond to Teamsters campaign of blackmail

Break the UPS-Teamsters conspiracy! Mobilize opposition to the sellout contract!

More on the struggle at UPS »

This week in history: September 3-9

25 years ago: US helicopter gunships murder hundreds in Somalia

On September 9, 1993, two US Cobra helicopter gunships swooped down on a large crowd of Somali civilians protesting at a checkpoint in Mogadishu.

More »

50 years ago: US casualties escalate in Vietnam

The Pentagon announced on September 5, 1968 that US casualties in Vietnam totaled 408 for the last week in August, the highest weekly figure in three months.

More »

75 years ago: Allied forces invade Italy

On September 3, 1943, the Allied powers began a full-scale invasion and occupation of Italy with large detachments of British and Canadian troops.

More »

 

100 years ago: Red Army launches attack on Kazan

On September 7, 1918, the Red Army began shelling Kazan, the most important city held by the counterrevolutionary forces opposed to the Bolshevik regime.

More »

Arts Review

Young Euro Classic 2018—a display of boundless musical virtuosity and symphonic poetry

By Verena Nees, 3 September 2018

100 years since the birth of American filmmaker Robert Aldrich
Including an interview with film historian Tony Williams

By David Walsh, 31 August 2018

One of the greatest musical figures of the 20th century
The centenary of Leonard Bernstein—Part 2

By Fred Mazelis, 25 August 2018

One of the greatest musical figures of the 20th century
The centenary of Leonard Bernstein—Part 1

SEP 2018 Election Campaign

Elissa Slotkin: A CIA Democrat runs for Congress in Michigan

By Niles Niemuth, 1 September 2018

Slotkin puts herself forward not as a representative of a party, let alone an advocate for any specific program, but as a representative of the military-intelligence apparatus.

Abolish student debt! Public education is a social right!

By Niles Niemuth, 31 August 2018

Notes from the campaign trail
SEP candidate speaks with incoming students at Wayne State University in Detroit

By Niles Niemuth, 29 August 2018

Socialist Equality Party campaign for Michigan’s 12th congressional district launches website

16 August 2018

Visit our new website to find out how you can get involved in Niles Niemuth’s campaign against war, inequality and dictatorship, and for the socialist transformation of society.

Socialist Equality Party to run Niles Niemuth for Michigan’s 12th Congressional district

History

Fifty years since the Warsaw Pact invasion of Czechoslovakia: Part one
Establishment of a deformed workers’ state in Czechoslovakia

By Clara Weiss, 28 August 2018

On August 20-21, 1968, tens of thousands of troops of the Warsaw Pact states invaded Czechoslovakia to crush the “Prague Spring” and stifle a nascent movement of the working class. This is the first part of a four-part series.

Part two | Part three | Part four

Obituary

Arsène Tchakarian (1916-2018): the Manouchian Group’s resistance struggle
Part 2: Who betrayed the Manouchian Group?

By Francis Dubois and Alex Lantier, 31 August 2018

There is no doubt that the Stalinists’ decision to sacrifice the Manouchian Group was bound up with their genocidal onslaught against Trotskyism and the Left Opposition.

Arsène Tchakarian (1916–2018): The Manouchian Group’s resistance struggle
Part 1: The political origins and military record of the resistance fighters

IYSSE

Join the International Youth and Students for Social Equality and take up the fight for socialism!

By the International Youth and Students for Social Equality (US), 31 August 2018

Join the IYSSE, the only organization fighting against war, authoritarianism and dictatorship, and for the socialist transformation of society.

International Committee of the Fourth International

Resolution of the SEP (US) Fifth National Congress
The Resurgence of Class Struggle and the Tasks of the Socialist Equality Party

8 August 2018

This resolution was unanimously adopted by the Socialist Equality Party Congress, held from July 22–27, 2018.

Opening report to the Fifth National Congress of the Socialist Equality Party (US)

By David North, 4 August 2018

Security and the Fourth International

An “Exemplary Comrade”: The Socialist Workers Party’s 40-year-long cover-up of Stalinist spy Sylvia Callen: Part one

By Eric London, 14 August 2018

This is the first part in a four-part series examining the cover-up by the Socialist Workers Party beginning in 1947 of information exposing the role of Sylvia Callen, the personal secretary of long-time party leader James P. Cannon, as a Stalinist agent.

Part two | Part three | Part four

Seventy-eight years since the assassination of Leon Trotsky

By Eric London and David North, 21 August 2018

On August 21, 1940, Leon Trotsky, the founder of the Fourth International and the co-leader of the Russian Revolution, died from wounds inflicted the day before by an assassin, the Stalinist GPU agent Ramon Mercader.

International Amazon Workers Voice

Amazon unleashes army of Twitter trolls to improve its image

By Erik Schreiber, 27 August 2018

Amazon Prime Day produces 209 percent increase in UK health and safety complaints

By Steve James, 24 August 2018

“I had to sell my cell phone to pay for food”
Spanish Amazon worker, fired for injury, faces prospect of homelessness

“I would not wish working for Amazon on my worst enemy”
Southern California Amazon worker reports company forcing employees to work despite fire evacuation orders

Following IAWV exposure at Texas warehouse
More Amazon workers speak out against atrocious working conditions

More on Amazon »

New in Arabic

Arabic translation of preface to the thirtieth anniversary edition of The Heritage We Defend

We are publishing here the Arabic translation of the new preface written by David North for the thirtieth anniversary edition of The Heritage We Defend: A Contribution to the History of the Fourth International.

Autoworkers Issues

Late Fiat Chrysler CEO Sergio Marchionne lied to federal investigators about gift to UAW official

By Marcus Day, 17 August 2018

UAW bribery predated 2009, lawyer for former Fiat Chrysler executive tells court

More on autoworkers issues »

Mehring Books

Two new pamphlets from Mehring Books

15 August 2018

Mehring Books is pleased to announce that two new pamphlets—The World Socialist Web Site and the Defense of Julian Assange and WikiLeaks and The 2018 Teacher Rebellion—are available for online purchase.

Defend Julian Assange!

London: Ecuador embassy vigil marks six years since Julian Assange granted asylum

By Paul Mitchell, 18 August 2018

Christine Assange, mother of WikiLeaks editor: “I’ve not been able to speak to my son for four months”

By Richard Phillips, 24 July 2018

Mueller investigation seeks to implicate WikiLeaks and Julian Assange in “Russian interference”

Protest in London against Ecuadorian President Moreno’s persecution of Julian Assange

By our reporters, 25 July 2018

The Turnbull government must act to repatriate Australian citizen Julian Assange to Australia

By James Cogan, 19 June 2018

Bringing Julian Assange Home

By John Pilger, 19 June 2018

More on the campaign to free Julian Assange »

Featured Video

Coby Day: Hundreds memorialize fallen Detroit autoworker Jacoby Hennings

Friends and family of Jacoby Hennings (1995 - 2017) want answers about the circumstances surrounding the young autoworker's death at Ford's Woodhaven stamping plant.

International Committee of the Fourth International

Preface to the thirtieth anniversary edition of The Heritage We Defend

By David North, 21 June 2018

We are posting the new preface written by David North for the soon to be released thirtieth anniversary edition of The Heritage We Defend: A Contribution to the History of the Fourth International.

Support the Socialist Equality group in Turkey!
Statement of the SE group, in sympathy with the International Committee of the Fourth International (ICFI), on the snap elections in Turkey

WSWS 20th Anniversary

Twenty years of the World Socialist Web Site: 1998–2018

By David North and Joseph Kishore, 14 February 2018

As the WSWS marks its 20th anniversary of daily posting, it is taking the lead in exposing the conspiracy by governments and corporations to censor the Internet as the ruling class prepares for war and domestic repression.

Lenin, Trotsky and the Marxism of the October Revolution

By David North, 19 March 2018

David North, chairperson of the International Editorial Board of the World Socialist Web Site and of the Socialist Equality Party (US), delivered this lecture at the University of Leipzig on March 16.