The first revolution

The first known revolution took place 9,200 years ago in a Neolithic settlement in eastern Anatolia – present-day Turkey. There are no written records, but we know about it from archeological remains at a site called Çayönü. Çayönü began about 8800 BC as a settlement of hunters and gatherers. Seeds indicate the start of farming about […]

The US–China confrontation

With the closure of China’s consulate in Houston and the American consulate in Chengdu, the confrontation between China and the United States moves up another notch.  Not such a big deal, you say? But other recent developments are more worrying. Following her re-election in May, Taiwan President Tsai Ingwen made it clear that Taiwan is […]

Why we can’t breathe

What is the significance of the mass movement of social protest? A powerful and moving commentary from the group Internationalist Perspective.

“When the looting starts, the shooting starts”

Who and what do the police protect? Three articles on the Black Lives Matter movement from the July 2020 issue of The Socialist Standard

Against police violence and racism

The United States is in the midst of a massive social movement against police violence and racism. As socialists we support this movement wholeheartedly and without reservation.

After shipwreck

When a group of people are stranded on an uninhabited island after a shipwreck, what sort of society do they form among themselves? And how does this affect their chances of survival? The historical record shows that groups based on cooperation and equality fare best.

Why the premature reopening of the US economy?

Why is Trump reopening the US economy — and forcing Mexico to reopen its economy too — when the pandemic is still on the rise?

Nurses refuse to work unprotected

Ten nurses have been suspended at Providence St. John’s Health Center in Santa Monica, California for refusing to work without the protection of N95 respirator masks. Are they really in short supply?

Markets are trash

The Covid-19 pandemic exposes the cruel and absurd results of relying on markets for the satisfaction of human needs. In Las Vegas homeless men sleep on a parking lot on a street full of empty hotels.

A cure for Covid-19: a profit-making strategy

Interim results of trials of the drug Remdesivir on Covid-19 patients are very encouraging. But could the drug be reaching those who desperately need it more quickly?

Why the shortage of medical supplies?

Why are medical supplies in such short supply? This study explains the main reasons and presents three case studies: respiratory face masks, ventilators, and vaccines.

The virus and the money-tree

A Marxian analysis of the pandemic, its origin, and its economic impact. Reposted from the magazine Internationalist Perspective.

William Morris and the treasures of early socialism

What is the point of studying the history of early socialism?

Maybe the question itself is rather pointless. After all, nothing really needs to have a point…

But I do think that there is a special value in studying the early period of socialist history, prior to the Russian Revolution. I say this because the “common sense” among many socialists in that era is quite different from the way of thinking that has prevailed since then. Above all, the understanding of what socialism itself means changed radically in the subsequent years.

The coronavirus, bats, and deforestation

What is a coronavirus? Where does the latest one come from? Why do we now face, about once every decade, an epidemic of some ‘new’ disease? In this article I answer these questions and demonstrate the link between COVID-19 and what might appear an unrelated issue — deforestation.

Including a response from Comrade Paddy Shannon and a counter-response from the author.

How I became a socialist

In this feature, members of the World Socialist Party of the US share personal stories of how they became socialists. More stories will be added as they become available.

Green capitalism?

What if there was a way to make capitalism environmentally friendly and more economically robust, in a way that benefited workers in particular? Liberals like Bernie Sanders and congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez are claiming that a ‘Green New Deal’ would do just that. Can it? Or is it the very nature of capitalism that makes it so destructive to the environment?

Sleeping pods

As rents soar and swallow up more and more of the earnings of working people, landlords face a problem — how to pack an increasing number of tenants into a given space. A San Francisco developer has the answer.

Enough is enough! Joe the Dolphin speaks out

Joe the Dolphin pleads for more dolphin-friendly fishing methods and against the construction of a hydroelectric dam on the Mekong.

War with Iran? Teetering on the brink

Strictly speaking, the United States is already at war with Iran. By the rules of international law, the drone attack that killed General Soleimani and other high-ranking figures was an act of war. Iran will now retaliate against an American asset. How long can this crazy game of tit for tat go on without triggering […]

Fire On 9th St

Whenever out-of-towners imagine Las Vegas, they’ll usually think of the extravagance of downtown and the strip. Glistening lights, risqué showgirls, exquisite food – It’s like a never-ending party that grossed over $19.5 Billion in the fiscal year 2018 alone.[1] Settled in 1905, Vegas became the most populated American city founded within the 20th century. Like […]

When was slavery abolished?

The 13th Amendment to the US Constitution abolished slavery in 1865. Or did it? Has slavery ever been abolished?

Hope or hoax: reflections on the Green New Deal

Can a Green New Deal within capitalism resolve the climate crisis? The author of this article, reproduced from the journal Internationalist Perspective, argues that any such program would be either inadequate or incompatible with the capitalist drive for growth.

11 — 11 — 11 — 11: 100 years since the end of World War I

Exactly 100 years ago today the Armistice that ended World War I was signed and came into force. It was signed between 5 and 6 am but did not come into force until 11 am. Fighting continued in many places right up to the last minute: nearly 11,000 men were killed or wounded on that last morning of the war.

The Black Death stalks the USA

Are police killings of unarmed citizens a matter of race, class, or both?

Climate: up against the ‘growth machine’ of capital

In fighting to survive as a species in a bearable climate, we are up against a broad range of capitalist interests. Ultimately we shall need to halt the endlessly expanding ‘growth machine’ of capitalism.

‘Revolution, Not Reform’ by Jordan Levi (Swami Netero)

In a new pamphlet published by the World Socialist Party of the United States, our comrade Jordan Levi (known to some as Swami Netero) explains the meaning of basic terms like ‘capitalism’ and ‘socialism.’ He shows why reforms within the existing capitalist structure of society cannot solve the main problems facing humanity and the working class and why it is necessary to replace capitalism by a fundamentally new society — world socialism.

The strange existence of Las Vegas

What sense does it make for a big city to exist in the middle of a scorching desert? What contribution does Las Vegas make to human wellbeing?

Contrasts: on yachts and tropical diseases

The resources spent by a billionaire on a single residence or yacht would suffice to eradicate trachoma — a painful tropical eye disease that leads to blindness.

Plane crashes: profit before people

John Ayers of the Socialist Party of Canada examines how capitalist firms put profit before people, taking plane crashes as examples of the tragic consequences. But, he explains, capitalist firms HAVE to operate that way.

Anton Pannekoek. The destruction of nature

A recently rediscovered essay by an early 20th century socialist theorist demonstrates that ecological thinking has always been part of the socialist worldview.

Reflections on July 4

‘Patriotic’ appeals to ‘support our troops’ are based on lies and emotional blackmail. We support US troops by seeking to free them from military slavery.

The Electoral College: how it works

The Electoral College is an archaic contraption designed to thwart the will of the people. It’s high time to abolish it.

Bernie Sanders and Workers Control

The idea of “workers’ control” or “industrial democracy” is now being  discussed in American political circles. Even some of the more far-sighted employers now support the idea of “workers’ participation” or “worker directors”. Bernie Sanders, the progressive presidential hopeful, is set to introduces plan that encourage employee-owner businesses and would require corporations to reserve a […]

Impressions on returning to a strange native land

I have lived more years in Japan than in my native country, the United States. My impressions of American life come from visiting Chicago for a couple of weeks every year. One thing that strikes me immediately, from the moment I arrive at O’Hare Airport, is just how little the basic infrastructure has changed over […]

Iran: again in the crosshairs

An American war against Iran has appeared imminent on previous occasions. Eleven years ago we saw similar military and political preparations for a US attack on that country. Fortunately, it never came. Now Iran is again in the crosshairs. War may again be avoided. However, even establishment analysts acknowledge that the confrontation in and around […]

A Hundred Years Ago: The Winnipeg General Strike

From the May 2019 issue of the Socialist Standard ‘The Winnipeg Strike will go down in history as a magnificent example of working-class solidarity and courage’ (Bill Pritchard). In February 1919, Seattle workers engaged in the general strike tactic, with 30,000 workers in 130 unions walking out for 5 days in sympathy with 38,000 shipyard workers. The city’s […]

How much are you worth?

From the May 2019 issue of the Socialist Standard Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, the Democrat member of the US House of Representatives who calls herself a socialist, tweeted in February:  ‘Workers are often paid for less than the value they create.’ The American financial magazine, Business Insider, picked this up, commenting ‘this is essentially a restatement of Karl Marx’s “Labour Theory of […]

What is ‘millennial socialism’?

Opinion polls suggest that the younger age groups in the United States – colloquially referred to as ‘millennials’1– are much more open to socialist ideas than their elders. At least the taboo that used to surround the word ‘socialism’ is rapidly disappearing. The figures are quite striking. A poll conducted in April 2009 found that […]

I Wannabe a Plutocrat! (2013)

The Material World Column from the August 2013 issue of the Socialist Standard Dear Material World,  My life’s dream is to become a fully paid-up member of the capitalist class. Do you have any advice? How much money do I need to join? I am willing to work hard, but I need some guidance.  Greed is good!  […]

Lead poisoning in Flint, Michigan

By Alan Johnstone The wheels of justice turn slowly. Lead poisoning also acts slowly, but is no less pernicious for that. The city of Flint’s water crisis began in April 2014. In a cost-saving measure to save around $5m the state-appointed city manager changed the city’s water source from treated Detroit Water and Sewerage Department […]

May Day: the endless fight for the eight-hour day

Dancing round the Maypole on the First of May is an ancient custom. Only in 1891, however, did May Day become an occasion for workers’ demonstrations. The date was chosen to commemorate a police massacre during a rally at Haymarket Square in Chicago on May 4, 1886. The rally was in support of a strike […]

Arguing with President Trump

On February 5 our great flag-hugging president Donald Trump stood before Congress and delivered his State of the Union Address. Among other things he said: Here, in the United States, we are alarmed by new calls to adopt socialism in our country. America was founded on liberty and independence — not government coercion, domination, and […]

Trump’s Economist Advisors Seeing Red Everywhere (2018)

From the December 2018 issue of the Socialist Standard The word ‘socialism’ is more attractive than scary these days—and that has the White House worried. Two hundred years after the birth of Karl Marx, socialism is making a comeback in the United States. That is not our optimistic claim, but rather the view expressed by the Trump […]

Human Nature and how it can save us

Talk given by Karla Rab at the Community Church of Boston on May 3rd, 2015 “Socialism — A nice Idea, but it’ll never work because it’s against
 HUMAN NATURE!” That assertion has been encountered many times by socialists explaining the case for socialism to someone new to the idea. Here’s why it’s wrong: Probably the […]

Clash of the Nincompoops — The 2016 Presidential Election (It Matters, But not the Way You Think)

  Talk given by Ron Elbert at the Community Church of Boston, November 13, 2016 You might have seen clips of House Speaker Paul Ryan warning a crowd in Wisconsin (Joe McCarthy’s home state!) that if Republicans were to lose control of the Senate, guess who would become chairman of the Senate Budget Committee? A guy […]

Who or what is ALEC?

No, ALEC is not a new kid on the block. ALEC is the American Legislative Exchange Council. ALEC was born in 1973 – the brainchild of Paul Weyrich and a group of Republican Party state legislators. This was not Weyrich’s first brainchild: he also fathered the Heritage Foundation and somewhere along the way coined the […]

Manufacturing the news

Mark Fishman, associate professor of sociology at Brooklyn College, City University of New York, investigated routine news production by examining the work practices of reporters and other news workers. His research findings were published by the University of Texas Press in 1980 in a book entitled Manufacturing the News. At the beginning of his book, […]

USA: illusions of democracy

The United States of America has been under one-party rule since its birth at the drafting of the Constitution. This document was drawn up by a small group of men (the founding “fathers”) representing four major economic interests – money, public securities, manufactures, and trade and shipping. In the conclusion to his classic work An […]

The World Socialist Party of the United States Turns 100

From the July 2016 issue of the Socialist Standard It is now just a century since the World Socialist Party established itself in the USA. Other such organizations arose at about the same time in Australia, New Zealand, and elsewhere, from similar circumstances: SPGB comrades became world travelers to escape conscription in The Great War, […]

The cause of and cure for climate disruption

There is a political dispute going on about climate change, global heating, or global climate disruption. The dispute, unfortunately, is not simply about what to call it but about whether ‘it’ is happening at all, and if it is whether ‘it’ is being caused by human activity. 

Bernie Sanders Bows Out

Having acquired less delegates than Hillary Clinton in the primaries, Bernie Sanders has endorsed her as the Democratic candidate for the US presidency in the elections in November. Even if had won the nomination and actually become President of the United States of America, his freedom of action would be very restricted by economic and […]

The insanity of coal mining

National Public Radio (NPR) and the Centre for Public Integrity (CPI) teamed up to produce a special investigative report on the increased incidence of black lung disease in coal miners. The results of their combined investigations were released on the NPR’s radio stations on July 9–10, 2012 and broadcast on Public Broadcasting Systems (PBS) television […]

The ‘democratic socialism’ of Bernie Sanders

To a socialist Senator Bernie Sanders is far and away the least distasteful of the current contenders for the American presidency. He seems decent and sincere. Although he is running in the Democratic Party primaries, he has a long history as an independent politician, starting with his election in 1981 as mayor of Burlington, Vermont. […]

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