4 January 2019

US House Democrats reaffirm right-wing program of austerity, bipartisanship

By Niles Niemuth, 4 January 2019

Nancy Pelosi’s re-election as Speaker was welcomed by President Donald Trump, who expressed his hope that they would work together on infrastructure and “so much more.”

Democrat Elizabeth Warren enters US presidential race

By Patrick Martin, 4 January 2019

The Massachusetts senator, a former longtime Republican, is seeking to capture the “left” lane in the nomination contest with populist demagogy directed against big business.

Trump to deploy more troops to US-Mexico border on semi-permanent basis

By Eric London, 4 January 2019

The announcement came as Trump made an impromptu press briefing alongside leaders of the fascist trade union that represents border patrol officers.

Trump administration opens 2019 with tear gas attack on migrants at US-Mexico border

Amid global crackdown on refugees
One sixth of world’s people want to flee their home countries

French police arrest “yellow vest” spokesman Eric Drouet

By Anthony Torres, 4 January 2019

The ruling elite is sending a signal that it aims to criminalize and persecute all expressions of genuine political opposition.

Yellow vest protesters rally across France on New Year’s Eve

French “yellow vest” protests expose anti-worker role of New Anticapitalist Party

More on the 2018 'yellow vest' protests in France »

Trump says there is no set date for Syria troop withdrawal

By Bill Van Auken, 4 January 2019

While Trump bemoaned Washington’s “never-ending war,” his acting Defense Secretary told the Pentagon to focus on “China, China, China.”

In deleted tweet, US nuclear command declares itself “ready” to “drop something”

US shutdown, payless paydays could continue for “weeks”

Trump administration in question as political warfare in Washington intensifies

A closer look at American “democracy”

More on the Trump Presidency »

US-China tensions to rise over Taiwan

By Peter Symonds, 4 January 2019

New US legislation calls for regular arms sales to Taiwan and urges top US officials to engage in exchanges with their Taiwanese counterparts.

Silence follows Trump attorney’s statement that Julian Assange did nothing “wrong”

By James Cogan, 4 January 2019

Not a word about Rudy Giuliani’s Fox News interview has been said by the political and media establishment in the US, Europe or Australia.

British government dispatches Royal Navy to stop cross-Channel refugee boats

By Paul Mitchell, 4 January 2019

A right-wing anti-immigration campaign is being manufactured around the minuscule number of desperate souls—539 in total—who tried to cross the Channel in 2018.

Los Angeles school officials hire strikebreakers as teachers prepare for walkout

By Dan Conway and Jerry White, 4 January 2019

Teachers in Los Angeles should reach out to educators in Oakland and across California to prepare a statewide walkout to defend the right to high quality public education.

Strike looms in Los Angeles as struggles by educators set to continue in 2019

Virginia teachers plan statewide protest to demand school funding

Teacher unions in Washington state back Democrats’ regressive school taxes

As one-year anniversary of lockout approaches
Alcoa intensifies attack on Quebec ABI workers

By Laurent Lafrance, 4 January 2019

The United Steelworkers’ systematic isolation of the ABI workers’ anti-concessions struggle has encouraged management to escalate its takeaway demands.

Federal government threatens takeover of NYC Housing Authority

By Philip Guelpa, 4 January 2019

There is no “excess capacity” in the available housing inventory that could absorb tens of thousands of additional low-income people looking for a place to live due to the loss of NYCHA housing.

As transit crisis continues
Fare evasion increases on New York City subways and buses

By Josh Varlin, 4 January 2019

Metropolitan Transportation Authority officials and New York politicians are using the increase in fare evasion to blame commuters for the transit crisis.

Sri Lankan JVP postures as a saviour of “democracy”

By Sakuna Jayawardana and K. Ratnayake, 4 January 2019

The Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna’s response to the country’s political crisis is to promote illusions in parliamentary democracy.

New in Spanish

En un tuit borrado, el comando nuclear de Estados Unidos se declara "listo" para "dejar caer algo"

Por Andre Damon, 4 de enero 2019

En la víspera de Año Nuevo, el Comando Estratégico de los Estados Unidos, que supervisa el arsenal nuclear de los Estados Unidos, publicó un tuit declarando que está dispuesto a "soltar algo mucho, mucho más grande" que la "gran bola" en Times Square en Nueva York.

Bolsonaro inaugurado como el jefe de estado más derechista desde la dictadura

Por Bill Van Auken y Gabriel Lemos, 4 de enero 2019

Para marcar su inauguración como presidente, el ex capitán del ejército dio una diatriba fascistoide en el que afirmó que su ascenso señala la “liberación” de Brasil del socialismo y la “corrección política”.

Cuba profundiza la austeridad en respuesta al continuo estancamiento económico

Por Alexander Fangmann, 4 de enero 2019

El gobierno cubano está reduciendo el consumo de energía y otros bienes como resultado del estancamiento del crecimiento, la caída de las exportaciones y la disminución de los subsidios petroleros procedentes de Venezuela.

New in Norwegian

Til minne om Halil Celik (1961 - 2018)

Den internasjonale komitéen av den fjerde internasjonale, 2. januar 2019

Halil Celik, grunnlegger og leder av gruppa Sosyalist Eşitlik, som støtter Den internasjonale komitéen av den fjerde internasjonale i Tyrkia, døde den 31. desember 2018 etter alvorlig sykdom.

Strategien for internasjonal klassekamp og Den politiske kampen mot kapitalistisk reaksjon i 2019

James Cogan og Joseph Kishore og David North, 3. januar 2019

Året 2019 begynner med det eksplosive samspillet av geopolitiske, økonomiske og sosiale kriser. Over hele verden dreier styringsklassen mot det ekstreme høyre og nyfascistiske politikere og organisasjoner, til forsvar for det kapitalistiske systemet. Trusselen om diktatur og krig kan bare beseires gjennom den politiske mobiliseringen av arbeiderklassen på grunnlag av en internasjonal sosialistisk strategi.

Samtidig med globalt tilslag mot flyktningerEn sjettedel av verdens befolkning ønsker å flykte fra sine hjemland

Eric London, 31. desember 2018

Anslagsvis 750 millioner mennesker, ikke medregnet barn, ønsker å unnslippe krig, fattigdom, konflikt og sykdom forårsaket av kapitalismen.

New in German

Vor dem Hintergrund weltweiter Unterdrückung von Flüchtlingen:
Ein Sechstel der Weltbevölkerung will aus Heimatländern fliehen

Eric London, 4. Januar 2019

Rund 750 Millionen Menschen – Kinder nicht mitgezählt – wollen Krieg, Armut, Konflikten und Krankheiten entkommen. Sämtliche dieser Bedrohungen sind auf das kapitalistische System zurückzuführen.

Der Fall Amberg wird gezielt aufgebauscht

Marianne Arens und Peter Schwarz, 4. Januar 2019

Die angeblichen Übergriffe von vier alkoholisierten jugendlichen Asylbewerbern im bayrischen Amberg werden gezielt aufgebauscht, um die extreme Rechte zu stärken.

Brasilien: Bolsonaro als Führer der rechtesten Regierung seit der Diktatur vereidigt

Bill Van Auken und Gabriel Lemos, 4. Januar 2019

Der ehemalige Offizier begann seine Präsidentschaft mit einer faschistischen Hetzrede, in der er seinen Aufstieg als „Befreiung“ Brasiliens von Sozialismus und „politischer Korrektheit“ darstellte.

US-Atomstreitkräfte „bereit, etwas Großes abzuwerfen“

Andre Damon, 4. Januar 2019

In einem gelöschten Tweet hatte das US Strategic Command, das für das Atomarsenal der USA zuständig ist, an Silvester seine Bereitschaft erklärt, etwas abzuwerfen, das „viel, viel größer“ sei als der „große Ball“ auf dem New Yorker Times Square.

New in French

Les gilets jaunes se mobilisent contre Macron pour marquer le Nouvel an

nos reporters, 3 janvier 2019

Pour le réveillon du Nouvel an, des «gilets jaunes» à travers la France ont manifesté leur opposition à Macron et leur détermination à continuer leur mouvement.

Royaume-Uni: efforts intensifiés dans tous les partis pour empêcher un Brexit grâce à un nouveau référendum

Robert Stevens, 3 janvier 2019

Dans une crise de régime sans précédent au Royaume-Uni, le principal souci de Corbyn est de préserver l’unité du Parti travailliste au motif que seul un gouvernement travailliste peut sauver l’impérialisme britannique

Le faux journalisme du Spiegel et la campagne contre les «fausses nouvelles»

Peter Schwarz, 3 janvier 2019

La révélation de l‘existence d‘un journaliste faussaire dans la rédaction du magazine allemand Der Spiegel montre comment l’opinion publique est manipulée par des médias faisant soi-disant autorité.

L’arbitre nommé par le gouvernement dictera la convention collective des travailleurs de Postes Canada

Louis Girard, 3 janvier 2019

La criminalisation de la campagne de grève des travailleurs des postes et l’imposition imminente de contrats de concessions constituent une attaque sur l’ensemble de la classe ouvrière.

Les décès par surdose d'opioïdes triplent chez les adolescents et les jeunes enfants américains

Kate Randall, 3 janvier 2019

L'ampleur de la crise des opioïdes à laquelle les jeunes sont confrontés met en lumière la réaction lamentablement inadéquate du gouvernement à cette catastrophe sociale qui échappe à tout contrôle.

Dix ans depuis le coup d'État constitutionnel au Canada

Keith Jones, 3 janvier 2019

Quelques semaines à peine après le krach financier de 2008, le gouvernement conservateur du Canada a utilisé les pouvoirs arbitraires du gouverneur général non élu pour dissoudre le Parlement et empêcher sa défaite par un vote de censure.

New in Turkish

2019 Avrupa seçimleri
AB’ye, toplumsal eşitsizliğe, faşizme ve savaşa hayır! Sosyalizm ve Avrupa işçi sınıfının birliği için!

Sosyalist Eşitlik Partisi (Almanya), 24 Aralık 2018

Sosyalist Eşitlik Partisi (SGP), Mayıs 2019’da, Avrupa seçimlerine, aşırı sağın yükselişine, artan militarizme, bir polis devletinin inşa edilmesine ve büyüyen toplumsal eşitsizliğe karşı çıkmak için, ülke çapında bir seçim listesiyle katılacak.

New in Russian

Протесты «желтых жилетов» во Франции: Куда дальше?

Алекс Лантье, 14 декабря 2018 г.

Ключевым вопросом является создание независимых организаций рабочего класса во Франции и в международном масштабе в качестве подготовки к европейской всеобщей забастовке.

Other Languages

Perspective

The global slowdown: US trade war comes home

4 January 2019

The economic warfare pursued by the Trump administration with the support of broad sections of the US political establishment is coming home to roost in the form of a global slowdown spreading to the United States.

Earlier Perspectives »

Featured Commentary

The Strategy of International Class Struggle and the Political Fight Against Capitalist Reaction in 2019

By James Cogan, Joseph Kishore and David North, 3 January 2019

The year 2019 begins amidst the explosive interaction of geopolitical, economic and social crises. All over the world the ruling class is turning to ultra-right and neo-fascist politicians and organizations to defend the capitalist system. The threat of dictatorship and war can be defeated only through the political mobilization of the working class on the basis of an international socialist strategy.

Obituary

In memory of Halil Celik (1961–2018)

By the International Committee of the Fourth International, 2 January 2019

Halil Celik, founder and leader of the Sosyalist Eşitlik group, which supports the International Committee of the Fourth International in Turkey, died on December 31, 2018 following a serious illness.

Arts Review

“Life is forbidden to us … do you want to comply with that?”: The rediscovery of Ulrich Alexander Boschwitz’s The Traveler in Germany

By Clara Weiss, 4 January 2019

Though written 80 years ago, The Traveler is not just a remarkable literary document of the Nazi period, but speaks immediately to the major political and historical questions of our time.

Best film and television of 2018

By David Walsh and Joanne Laurier, 31 December 2018

The film world in 2018 can be viewed and judged in different ways and by distinct standards.

Musical highlights of 2018

By Matthew Brennan and Hiram Lee, 31 December 2018

Many of the year’s best musicians refused to limit themselves to one “lane,” “border,” genre or supposedly separate culture.

Clint Eastwood’s The Mule: The world’s oldest drug courier

By Kevin Martinez, 3 January 2019

Vice: A portrait of an American corporate-military gangster

By David Walsh and Joanne Laurier, 29 December 2018

Science

New Horizons completes flyby of Ultima Thule

By Bryan Dyne, 4 January 2019

Ultima Thule is 6.4 billion kilometers from Earth, the most distant astronomical body ever explored by a spacecraft.

Moon targeted for further exploration, orbiting space stations and militarization

By Henry Allan and Bryan Dyne, 27 December 2018

Workers Struggles

Ryanair cabin crew to strike in Spain, rail strikes in UK, Nigeria rocked by strikes
Workers Struggles: Europe, Middle East & Africa

4 January 2019

Workers at Ryanair in Spain are preparing for strike action January 8,9 and 11 while Nigeria continues to be hit by a wave of strikes including doctors and academics.

Amazon worker describes brutal conditions at Tracy, California warehouse during Camp Fire

By Evan Blake, 3 January 2019

“Amazon ruined my life”
Amazon hired private detectives to spy on injured worker

More on Amazon »

“That place is a death trap”
Faurecia workers respond to exposure of conditions at US auto parts plant

By our reporters, 31 December 2018

India: Stalinist unions suppress Tamil Nadu auto strikes, promise “industrial peace”

By Arun Kumar and Yuan Darwin, 31 December 2018

Editorial Cartoon

General James “Mad Dog” Mattis’ resignation “stuns” leading Democrats

Mattis, who led the bloody US campaign to retake the Iraqi city of Fallujah in 2004 and boasted to his troops in Afghanistan that “it's a hell of a lot of fun to shoot” Afghans, is now being hailed as an American hero, a rock of stability and sanity whose departure has set the ship of state adrift.

Commentary

Der Spiegel’s counterfeit journalism and the campaign against “fake news”

By Peter Schwarz, 31 December 2018

Germany’s Der Spiegel spreads fake news

Facebook: The global censor

Academics and students oppose Cambridge University appointment of eugenicist Noah Carl—Part 2

By Thomas Scripps, 31 December 2018

This is the second and concluding part of a series on the political significance of the appointment by Cambridge University of eugenicist Noah Carl as a research fellow.

Academics and students oppose Cambridge University appointment of eugenicist Noah Carl—Part 1

Ten years since Canada’s constitutional coup

By Keith Jones, 31 December 2018

Just weeks after the 2008 financial crash, Canada’s Conservative government used the arbitrary powers of the unelected governor-general to shut down parliament and prevent its defeat in a no-confidence vote.

Behind the epidemic of police killings in America: Class, poverty and race

By Benjamin Mateus, 20 December 2018

Part one | Part two | Part three

More in police violence in America »

This week in history: December 31-January 6

25 years ago: Zapatista rebellion erupts in Chiapas, Mexico

The peasant-based Zapatista Army of National Liberation staged an open revolt in Chiapas, the southernmost state of Mexico, on January 1, 1994, the day that the North American Free Trade Agreement came into effect.

More »

50 years ago: Irish civil rights demonstrators attacked while police watch

On January 4, 1969, Irish civil rights protesters engaged in a four-day march from Belfast to Derry to protest the treatment of Northern Ireland’s Catholic minority, were attacked by a mob of Unionists while police stood by and did nothing.

More »

75 years ago: Hitler speech highlights crisis of fascist regimes

On January 1, 1944, Nazi dictator Adolf Hitler delivered a New Year’s message which pointed to the increasing crisis of the fascist regimes in Europe, amid major military defeats and mounting opposition from the working class.

More »

 

100 years ago: 700,000 workers march in Berlin in anti-government protest

In an enormous demonstration on January 5, 1919, hundreds of thousands of workers massed in the streets of Berlin to protest the actions of the German government, which was dominated by the right-wing Social Democrats.

More »

International Committee of the Fourth International

The 50th anniversary of the founding of the SEP (Sri Lanka)
Victory of the Trotskyists in the 1985–1986 split in the ICFI

By Saman Gunadasa and K. Ratnayake, 29 December 2018

David North addresses New Zealand meeting celebrating 80 years of the Fourth International

By our reporters, 11 December 2018

80th anniversary of the Fourth International celebrated in Melbourne with public lecture

Eighty Years of the Fourth International: The Lessons of History and the Struggle for Socialism Today

By David North, 9 October 2018

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

History

Remembering the Kindertransport: 80 years since 10,000 mainly Jewish children were allowed in to Britain
Until February 10, 2019 at the Jewish Museum London

By Paul Mitchell, 28 December 2018

The bicentenary of Frederick Douglass
A leading figure of the anti-slavery struggle

By Fred Mazelis, 20 December 2018

New in Urdu

New postings in Urdu on capitalist breakdown and war, France’s Yellow Vest protests

27 December 2018

Four recent WSWS Perspectives are now available in Urdu, Pakistan’s national language.

Book Review

Rohini Hensman’s Indefensible: The ISO discovers its muse—the CIA

By Alex Lantier, 14 December 2018

Rohini Hensman’s book, issued by the International Socialist Organization’s (ISO) Haymarket Books publishing house, is an endorsement of imperialist war.

Part one | Part two | Part three | Part four

The fight against mass layoffs at GM

Watch: Shannon Allen's remarks at Detroit autoworkers meeting

A significant step forward: Detroit meeting of autoworkers resolves to form rank-and-file committees

By Joseph Kishore, 13 December 2018

Socialist Equality Party

Resolution of the SEP (UK) Fourth National Congress
The resurgence of the class struggle and the tasks of the Socialist Equality Party (UK)

By the Socialist Equality Party (UK), 6 December 2018

This resolution was unanimously adopted by the Fourth National Congress of the Socialist Equality Party in Britain, which was held October 27-30, 2018.

IYSSE

Student parliament condemns right-wing attack on IYSSE meeting at Humboldt University in Berlin

By our reporters, 17 December 2018

Security and the Fourth International

The origins and findings of the Security and the Fourth International investigation

By Eric London, 14 November 2018

This is the text and audio of a lecture delivered by Eric London in Detroit, Michigan reviewing the monumental investigation conducted by the International Committee of the Fourth International titled Security and the Fourth International, which exposed the infiltration of the movement by agents of the FBI and Stalinist GPU.

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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.