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Sharing, not selling: Marx against value
The originality of Marx’s Capital is often underestimated. Countless commentaries have appeared, but only a few have taken the full measure of Capital’s truly unique and counter-intuitive outlook. Critics generally assume that Marx was pursuing familiar questions of economics or philosophy in a fresh way–that his aim was to explain profits, history, or ontology.
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A decade since the 2008 crash
Ten years since financial markets crashed in the United States, the world economy is anything but near so-called “recovery.” Ever more urgent is the need for people’s sovereignty, which could be a key principle in orienting economic and development policy especially in the global South today.
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The history of the workers’ unemployment insurance bill
At a time when the American population is radicalizing, when popular movements are coalescing around “radical” demands—Medicare for All, the abolition of ICE, tuition-free college, etc.—it can be useful to draw collective inspiration from the Workers’ Bill proposed by the U.S. communist party in 1930.
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Socialism is about workers, not wealth funds
The Social Wealth Fund plan is insidious in the sense that it has the capacity to redirect vast amounts of energy and resources toward a goal presented as “socialist” when in reality it is fundamentally incompatible with socialism. We must bring the discussion out into the open to prevent such seductive ideas from compromising the basic vision and integrity of socialism.
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Exploitation and the social metabolism of class societies (part 2)
‘The essential difference between the various economic forms of society, between, for instance, a society based on slave-labour, and one based on wage-labour, lies only in the mode in which this surplus-labour is in each case extracted from the actual producer, the labourer.’ —Marx
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Labor and human social metabolism (part 1)
Our global ecological crisis has created an increasing interest in Marx’s theory of metabolic rift as a crucial aspect of capitalism (Foster 2013). To appreciate fully how capitalism creates this rift, it is important to examine the human metabolic relation with nature in general and theoretical terms.
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Dossier 8: The uprooting in Haiti
In 1980, the magazine Tricontinental, published by the Organization of Solidarity with the People of Asia, Africa and Latin America (OSPAAAL), dedicated its issue no. 119 to Haiti. The editors wrote, ‘Very little is known about the Haitian people’s struggle,’ as the imperialists have ‘erected a wall of silence around Haiti.’
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There is no refugee crisis. There is only a crisis of humanity
In Syria, the battle for the province of Idlib has begun. Over the course of the past few years, the remnants of the hardened fighters have retreated to this region on the Syria-Turkish border, where they have been under the overall command of an al-Qaeda inspired group.
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The New York Times Editorial opposing military intervention in Venezuela may do more harm than good
U.S. establishment liberals are using their opposition to Trump’s military threats as a cover to back economic sanctions currently wrecking the Venezuelan economy, argues Professor Steve Ellner.
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Hate and hope
The sight of thick-skulled, Nazi-tattooed thugs growling threats as they stormed through the city center, chasing and beating up presumed “foreigners,” unfriendly journalists or any other foes; invoked memories of Charlottesville a year ago—or Germany in the 1930’s.
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Nazis on the march
Ten eventful days in Germany set alarm signals clanging louder and louder—worst of all in the East German state of Saxony—but in Berlin as well!
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Learning from our elders: Kwame Somburu and Scientific Socialism
Longtime revolutionary activist Kwame Somburu made it a point throughout his life to stress the “scientific” in socialist. During a time of confusion regarding what socialism is, Kwame’s insistence has never been more crucial.
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Comrade Malik speaks out on nationwide program of political repression against prison organizers
Comrade Malik exposes nationwide political repression program.
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In memoriam: Samir Amin
Samir Amin, the renowned Marxist thinker and economist, passed away on August 13 in Paris. Born in Cairo on September 3, 1931, to an Egyptian father and a French mother, he had his initial education in Egypt before moving to Paris where he obtained his doctorate in Political Economy.
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Stand up with new hope?
If you regretted (or rejoiced) that the left-wing German scene, rarely mentioned by US media, was an unimportant sideshow, be prepared for a surprising new hope, called Aufstehen: Stand Up—or for its opposite, more fear.
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Why the attempt to assassinate Maduro?
While many countries claim to be protect civil rights and democracy, their ties to imperialism ensure silence in such moments. They predictably failed to denounce the assassination attempt, even after signing international agreements defining an attempt on the life of a head of state as a “terrorist act.”
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A reserve army of reporters
Capitalists profit from the misery of both those who are unemployed and those who are lucky enough to be working full-time but seeing their work hours increase, their benefits diced, their wages cut. This very much describes the state of modern journalism in 2018.
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Social Imperialism in the 21st century
A sober analysis of the positions of Owen Jones and Paul Mason on a wide range of issues shows that they are in fact distinctly un-radical, frequently opportunist in nature, and (particularly in Mason’s case) openly reactionary and imperialist.
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How to Reactivate Chavismo
Recovering the socialist character of Chavismo in Venezuela depends on activating its latent revolutionary component. This, in turn, hinges on re-encountering the aspiration toward substantive democracy and communal control of production that was once more present in the movement.
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Three globalizations, not two
The conventional wisdom is there have been two globalizations in the modern era. This paper challenges that view and argues there have been three globalizations, not two.