United States

Venezuela was the first country to offer help to the United States in dealing with the effects of Hurricane Katrina. Chavez has offered money and personnel to help in the relief operations. The answer of an unnamed "senior State official" was that “unsolicited offers can be counterproductive." They would rather some of their own people died than have the people of the USA see Venezuela for what it is, a country where its people are challenging the very capitalist system upon which so much poverty and devastation is based.

Hurricane Katrina will be remembered for years to come as an important turning point in the USA. Thousands, tens of thousands of poor people have been left to fend for themselves, many dying dehydrated, in what is the richest country in the world. People are noting that the Bush administration, very quick to mobilize a huge army to invade Iraq, has been painfully slow in helping the people of New Orleans. The class question is emerging clearly and this will have profound effects on the whole of US society.

The recent terrorist attacks in London only confirm the volatile position the world finds itself in at the beginning of the 21st century. Bush and Blair’s war on terror and the invasions of Iraq and Afghanistan have done nothing but further destabilize the situation. In the United States, the mood is finally turning against the war. This is the editorial of the latest issue of the American Socialist Appeal.

Titanic sums of money - the taxes paid in mostly by the working class - have been spent by the Bush Administration primarily on two things: the continuing slaughter in Iraq and the further enrichment of the top 10 percent of Americans. Millions of working people in the United States continue to worry about whether or not they will have a job two months from now or even next week. And how does the ‘compassionate conservative’ in the White House soothe the nation’s anxiety? By handing out billions of dollars to the modern-day robber barons of Capital.

U.S. Senator Dick Durbin's atypically frank condemnation of the treatment of U.S. prisoners around the world cause a storm of criticism. The bulk of the critics purposely skewed Durbin’s apt comparison, ignoring the widespread tactics used in the war on terror which without question include torture. The ugly truth is that prisons in Iraq are merely a reflection of the prison system here in the U.S.

Every victory by working people in the struggle to improve their lives is a step forward that must be applauded. Working people have power when they organize. But it is not enough to petition the bosses and their cronies in government to throw a few crumbs to those at the bottom. From the latest issue of the American Socialist Appeal.

After Bush’s reelection, many around the world thought the end of the world had come. According to them, the American “sheeple” had been duped once and for all, and Bush would effortlessly ram through his ultra-reactionary policies at home and abroad. However, Bush’s honeymoon period disappeared in a flash. Now, seemingly overnight, the mood of the American people has finally turned against the war in Iraq.


In his new book, Alan Woods examines the broad sweep of American history from a Marxist perspective. Many Americans view the ideas of socialism and Marxism with suspicion and distrust. In Marxism and the U.S.A., the author shows that these ideas are not at all foreign to the history and traditions of the American people. The book can be ordered from Wellred USA for $15 within the U.S. and for $20 for International orders.

Marxism and the USA is an updated and greatly expanded version of an essay on this question originally written in 2002. We produce here Alan Woods’ introduction to give our readers an idea of what the book is about.

Over the past couple of years the U.S. economy has gained some momentum and avoided slipping back into recession, but this was based on the increased squeezing of the U.S. and world working class, not job growth or significant investment in productive capacity. Even if the U.S. economy miraculously takes off in the second half of 2005, the damage has already been done for millions of working Americans.

Once upon a time, during the dark ages in the Middle East when tyrants and one party rule were the norm in countries like Egypt, Iraq and Israel/Palestine, there lived a great and wise man who believed that one day “freedom” and “democracy” would rule the earth. This man’s name was George W. Bush.

Amnesty International published a report last Wednesday, condemning the US and UK betrayal of the cause of human rights in the so-called “war on terror” and urged the US to shut down its Guantanamo Bay camp. The report is a condemnation of the hypocritical policies and actions of the two imperialist powers.

Bush has outlined an aggressive foreign and domestic agenda for his second term. Internationally, he will continue to focus on the Middle East, but Latin America will increasingly be targeted by his administration. His overall international approach will remain aggressive and arrogant, but due to the quagmire in Iraq and the growing global resistance to U.S. imperialism, he will be forced to seek broader alliances.

In presenting his Administration’s proposed budget, President Bush has shown the real face of his “compassionate conservatism” – guns before butter.