Obama's Foreign Policy Speech: Imperialism as Usual On Friday, February 27th, after a round of congratulations for the imperialist war leaders, Barack Obama explained the course that the Iraq War would take under his administration. Far from an honest depiction of the war, Obama's speech glorified the war, painting it in the language of poetic nationalism and with heroic lingo.
[Leaflet] From Venezuela to Chicago: "A Factory Closed is a Factory Occupied!" The labor leadership needs to mobilize the workers to demand an economic recovery plan to re-open and capitalize closed factories, to nationalize them under public control, to be run under democratic workers’ control. And as they say in the occupied factory movement in Latin America: “A Factory Closed is a Factory Occupied!” A new leaflet from the WIL. Also available in Spanish.
USA: January 2009 - More Soldiers Commit Suicide than are Killed in Combat In 2008, the number of suicides in the U.S. armed forces increased yet again, to 128 confirmed and 15 pending further investigation, having risen every year since 2004. All indications are that things will only continue to get worse in 2009. What is perhaps most disturbing is that Lt. Col. Mike Moose, who is a spokesperson for Army personnel issues, claims that, “we have not identified any particular problem.”
Can Obama Save Capitalism? At the moment, among the US workers there is a feeling of shock, disbelief, anxiety, fear and depression. But that will not last forever. There is a profound questioning of the very system taking place, and eventually, fear and frustration will be transformed into anger and a desire to take action. Many have sincere illusions in Obama but for the US ruling class his real task is to preserve a rotting system whose historic task has been exhausted.
"Bloody Monday" and the Changing Consciousness in America Jobs in the USA continue to hemorrhage with no end in sight. Companies keep announcing layoffs as the official unemployment rate reaches a 16-year high of 7.2 percent and is expected to reach 10 percent or higher over the next 12 months. The number of Americans continuing to claim unemployment is now at 4.78 million, the highest level since records began in 1967. Workers are beginning to think.
Obama's Inaugural Call for "National Unity" American workers are faced with an economic and social crisis on a scale not seen in decades. One after another, the pillars of American capitalism are crumbling around them: all the major banks and financial services companies; all the major auto makers; the dream of home ownership and a secure retirement; the aura of invincibility of U.S. military might; the promise of a tomorrow better than today. In short, the bedrock upon which U.S. capitalism has justified its continued exploitative existence has turned to quicksand. This is the backdrop for Obama's inaugural speech.
Firing The Boss: An Interview with Chicago Factory Occupation Organizer We republish here an interview from Upside Down World with Mark Meinster of the United Electrical Workers union in Chicago which was directly involved in the occupation of the Republic Windows and Doors factory in December. It is significant that the union president in the factory has been politicised and inspired by a visit to Inveval in Venezuela, the factory that was occupied by its workers, later nationalised and is being run under workers' control, and where the Revolutionary Marxist Current plays a leading role.
Obama and the Economic Crisis Barack Obama has been sworn in as America's 44th president. Now that the electoral dust has settled, many are already disappointed with Obama and his cabinet picks. Nonetheless, he enjoys astonishing approval ratings of over 80 percent. But this only means that the reaction to the inevitable disappointment will be that much more explosive.
Obama and the “Chicago School” of Economics Less than a week after Obama’s electoral win, and when “change” was still the battle cry of many of his supporters, the Wall Street Journal ran a piece entitled “Obama builds ties to Chicago School.” As many are no doubt aware, the “Chicago School” refers to the notorious Chicago School of Economics, known for touting free markets, so-called “free trade,” and for being fiercely opposed to any democratic oversight of market activities.
Obama’s Ag Policy: Corporate Business as Usual Barack Obama was elected on the promise of “change.” Socialist Appeal has explained that this is nothing more than an empty vessel that honest supporters have used to fill with their own content, with what they want to see in him. Now a concrete picture of what can be expected is emerging. So do any of his cabinet selections actually represent anything that could seriously be called “change”?
Martin Luther King Jr., Obama and the Struggle Against Racism Racism is interwoven into the very fabric of capitalism. Malcolm X once said: “You can’t have capitalism without racism.” We would add: “You can’t have racism without capitalism.” In other words, we cannot end the scourge of racism, while leaving capitalism intact, and ending capitalism is something that Barack Obama will not, and cannot do.
Republic Occupation in the US: "Window of Opportunity" On Thursday morning, December 11th, the 250 workers occupying the Republic Windows and Doors factory in Chicago had something to be proud of: they had fought back against one of the biggest banks in the U.S. and had won all of the severance pay owed to them. The workers unanimously agreed Wednesday evening to approve a deal reached between negotiators from their union and Republic's creditor, Bank of America, prompting an end to the six day occupation. While the struggle did not result in keeping the factory open and jobs in place, the UE workers were able to win an important partial victory by winning the money owed to them.
USA: Students Occupy the New School! Yesterday a communique reached the Campus Antiwar Network national discussion e-mail list announcing the occupation of the New School University's cafeteria by students both from the New School, as well as from other universities in the surrounding area from New York and New Jersey. The students have occupied the cafeteria, claiming it as an autonomous students center.
USA: Messages of Solidarity for the Republic Workers Workers from the Revolutionary Front of Occupied Factories (FRETECO) in Venezuela and Members of the Executive Committee of CC.OO. branch in Navantia-Ferrol (Spain) send messages of solidarity and support to the courageous workers of Republic Windows and Doors in Chicago, USA. In English and Spanish/En español y inglés.
USA: Workers Occupy Chicago Factory Beginning Friday, around 300 workers at the Republic Window & Door factory in Chicago have occupied the plant demanding severance and back-pay owed by the company. For the first time since the birth of the CIO union federation in the 1930s, US workers are occupying their workplace. As the bosses push to place the burden of the failing economy on workers' shoulders, the class struggle is back on the agenda in the US.
