The decline and fall of the American Empire On Monday July 15, the famous American writer Gore Vidal was interviewed on the BBC Four channel. Gore Vidal is a member of one of America's leading families - a patrician in background, upbringing and culture. His close personal acquaintance with America's ruling elite gives him a unique insight into the workings of the system, and he understands the hypocrisy that underlies this pretence, and the vicious, exploitative and aggressive character of US imperialism. He is one of those extremely rare animals - a bourgeois political commentator whose vision transcends the immediate and has a broad historical view of things.
Adventures on Crook Street It is now almost a year on from September 11, a turning point for the USA. Not only for its impact internationally, but its effect on the average American. World affairs, so distant from everyday experience in the US, will never be the same again. The belief that America was immune from outside events has been completely shattered. Now America is being swept with corporate corruption scandals - tarnishing the political elite, both Republicans and Democrats alike, who have long had their snouts in the trough of big business. America is in the grip of great economic and political volatility.
Bush's Appeal for Corporate "Accountability" - Will it Revive the Economy? Amid a renewed wave of stock collapses on Wall Street and the continuing accounting scandals involving a greater and greater number of big corporations, President Bush has appealed to the nation's capitalists to use "honest" accounting methods in order to calm investors. This is like trusting the fox to guard the henhouse!
USA: The Rising Dissent The anti-war mobilizations in Washington DC, San Francisco, and elsewhere were the first mass protests against government policy since September 11. Many groups were represented, but all of them had one thing in common - opposition to the so-called War on Terrorism. The anti-globalization, anti-war, and labor movements need to unite under a working-class leadership to fight for a socialist solution to the problems facing working people in the US and internationally.
US Labour Party: "We're here to stay" "Raise Hell! Raise Hell!" came the repeated shouts of the assembled delegates in response to speeches calling for class action.
In the aftermath of the attack on the Twin Towers: How the Other Half Grieves On September 11, 2001, our country - for just a moment - stopped functioning. In the wake of the attacks on lower Manhattan, amid the smoke, fires, stench, and rubble, those who were left breathing staggered to their feet, emerged from the subway, or sank to their knees, depending on their proximity to the World Trade Center. Across the river in New Jersey, everybody watched in disbelief as the city seemed to cave in on itself. The rest of the country was glued to their TV sets in shock and horror. It was in those few seconds after the second tower fell that New York City was silent for the first time.
Lessons of the Post-WW2 US Soldiers' Movement: the Strikes of 1945-1946 The five years after the end of the Second World War were some of the stormiest years ever seen in the United States. The entire nation had been mobilized for war - millions of workers were drafted into the military, and millions more were employed in the newly-created arms plants. The State set up hundreds of specialized committees to regulate everything from food rationing to enforcing the reactionary "No Strike Pledge," which was held in place partly by the influence of the Communist Party and the Stalinist-dominated unions as well as by the leadership of the AFL and CIO. This "No Strike Pledge" flew in the face of the newly created Congress of Industrial Organizations (CIO) but yet...
History in the Making Rob Sewell reports from the founding convention of the American LaborParty in Cleveland, Ohio..."This is war. We have dug in our heels and we will not surrender." With these words of defiance, Margaret Trimmer-Hartley speaking on behalf of the 2,000 striking newspaper workers in Detroit, brought the founding Labor Party Convention in Cleveland to its feet. An older trade unionist from Chicago approached the microphone and began playing on his harmonica the old union anthem, "SolidarityForever". The whole Convention spontaneously erupted to the sound. Every delegate linked arms in a show of strength and unity. It served to sum up the whole mood of jubilation and determination that...
Clinton, the Real American Scandal When Bill Clinton first came in to office back in 1992 he claimed to carry the hopes and aspirations of millions of working people - both black and white, and all those who had been marginalised by the successive right wing Republican regimes of Reagan and Bush. One by one any hopes have been dashed - on welfare, healthcare and education, Clinton has sided with the rich and the conservative every time, his phony ‘third way’ philosophy little more than warmed up Republicanism.
Clinton Election Victory The weeks following the Clinton election victory opened up discussions throughout the ranks of the new American Labor Party. In an election where less than 50% bothered to vote, the lowest percentage since 1924, it gave further proof of the disillusionment with the parties of big business. Even amongst those who voted, many did so reluctantly. Despite the fact that over the last four years Clinton had moved further towards the Republicans, the bulk of the US unions gave him support. In the next four years, the unions will be forced to look in a new direction. According to Republican Congressman, Frank Cremeans, "The President signed 60% of our legislation into law. I'm confident he will...
Racism and Capitalism in Cincinnati The murder by a white police officer of an unarmed 19-year-old black man was the spark which ignited the accumulated tinder of racism and poverty in Cincinnati last week. In the biggest "race riots" since the Rodney King trial in Los Angeles in 1992, hundreds took to the streets to protest police brutality and the pent-up frustrations of decades of marginalization and poverty. Timothy Thomas was the 15th black male killed by the Cincinnati police since 1995, and the fourth since November. During the same period of time, no whites were killed by police. Officer Stephen Roach shot him as he evaded arrest for outstanding warrants - mostly traffic violations. Roach claims he feared for his...
US: Calm Before the Storm "Times they are a-changing", the song made famous by Bob Dylan in the mid-1960s, certainly captured the changing mood in the United States, caught in the upheavals of the Vietnam war and the civil rights struggle.
The energy crisis in California - a US shop steward explains what is happening Interview with California utility power plant worker, conducted in April of 2001. The interview discusses the "energy crisis" in California and the US Left's attitude towards this "crisis". This power plant worker interviewed is a Shop Steward of his Union and Chairperson of his local Labor Party chapter, he goes by the name, Orson Card.
USA: Breaking with the Bourgeoisie. Students not Duped In the aftermath of the September 11 attacks, the American ruling class and its media microphone have been sounding the call of nationalism, expecting everyone else to fall in line. Unfortunately for them, a significant number of students have decided not to adhere to this most "democratic" ideal, rejecting the bellicose rhetoric of the bourgeoisie and fully understanding the hidden implications of the "us vs. them" mentality.
The End of the American Dream Next month millions of Americans are faced with the farce of choosing a President drawn from the two big business parties, the Democrats and the Republicans. Bill Clinton and Bob Dole in reality constitute the Tweedle-dee and Tweedle-dum of US politics. That is why the majority of those eligible to vote, as in 1992, will stay at home.
