United States

This year's mid-term elections mark yet another change in the consciousness of the U.S. working class. Workers' consciousness is not fixed in stone. We can't have a one-sided approach to what is an infinitely complex process, especially in a country as rife with contradictions as the U.S. This brief, initial analysis will be followed by a series of articles in the coming days and weeks, which will examine various aspects of the elections and their aftermath.

Although they may differ with the Republicans on this or that secondary issue, on all fundamental questions, the Democrats consistently defend the interests of big business against the interests of working people. How could it be any other way? They are directly funded by the employing class and most of them are extraordinarily wealthy themselves.

With its 1.4 million members, the International Brotherhood of Teamsters could well be America’s strongest union. This fall, Teamster members will be able to vote for either Jimmy Hoffa Jr., current president of the Teamsters, or Tom Leedham. A victory for Leedham could potentially be a starting point to build a more militant union, run from the bottom up.

The wars in Iraq and Afghanistan take a toll out on workers both in the US and overseas. How much more can the world working class take?

This November, millions of American workers will go to the polls to exercise their democratic right to vote. But since in most cases this means selecting which of the two bosses' candidates will rule their district, millions of others will stay home, unable to stomach such "choices."

The Latin American Revolution is spreading like wildfire, posing a mortal threat to U.S. control over the region.  The masses in Venezuela and Bolivia continue to push the process forward, and now Mexico has joined the conflagration, threatening U.S. imperialism right in its own backyard.

El Militante Sin Fronteras es el nuevo periódico marx­ista de la Liga Internacional de los Trabajadores ("Workers International League" en inglés) . En esta epoca de crisis, guerras, revoluciónes y contra-revoluciónes, la necesidad de una perspectiva y un análisis marxista y de independencia de clase es más importante que nunca. En colaboración con nuestros compañeros del periódico Militante en México, la Liga Internacional de los Trabajadores en los EEUU y el periodico Socialist...

Five years on from the attack on the Twin Towers we can see how it was used to justify a war for oil and a general clampdown on civil liberties all around the world. We have also seen revolutionary movements, particularly in Latin America which will inevitably cut through the fog of confusion the capitalist have attempted to throw up.

Exactly one year ago, the winds and waters of yet another hurricane crashed into the Gulf Coast of the United States. But this was no "routine" tropical storm. This was Hurricane Katrina - a Category 5 killer which swept away levees, homes, communities, memories, and 1,577 lives. Katrina and its aftermath also swept away the illusions of millions in the US and around the world: it was a savage reminder that all is not well in the proverbial "land of milk and honey".

Yesterday 25 years ago, 12,000 members of the Professional Air Traffic Controllers Organization walked off the job, demanding higher pay and a reduction of the working week. 48 hours later, President Ronald Reagan fired 11,000 of them, using military personnel as scabs. This date marks a bitter defeat in the history of the American trade unions and for working people in general.

Although the US economy is ostensibly growing at the present time, it is growth based on the super-exploitation of working people and the relentless extraction of both relative and absolute surplus value. This is a “boom” that feels a lot more like a slump. When a “technical” slump comes at a certain stage, the effect will be even harsher. A recession is inevitable in the coming period so long as the capitalist system with its inherent cycle of booms and slumps continues to exist.