Britain: The Hero of the Hour He is the hero of the hour, the man who, if we are to believe the media, single-handedly has saved the world financial system from meltdown. When all around were panicking and in despair, here was a man who kept his head and threw billions of pounds at the banks, a veritable 21st century miracle! That man is Gordon Brown, a man who dances to the tune of the bankers and capitalists, not the workers who voted Labour into power.
Come to the International Marxist Tendency’s Fifth Winter School in Berlin (10-11 January 2009) The January 2009 commemoration of the assassination of Rosa Luxemburg and Karl Liebknecht at the cemetery where they are buried is expected to be very large. The IMT Winter School is combining a large variety of seminars with participation in the commemoration.
Switzerland: Successful launch of the Manifesto of the IMT in Zurich Workers and youth are being radicalised in Switzerland and are seeking answers to the crisis of capitalism, but their leaders are not providing those answers. That explains the successful intervention of the Swiss Marxists in recent rallies organised by the trade unions, Young Socialists and Social Democratic Party.
Spain: November 13, another hugely successful student general strike Yesterday the Spanish Student Union, Sindicato de Estudiantes, called a student general strike involving school and university students. The turnout as massive, with hundreds of thousands coming out to protest against cuts in education and privatisation.
Germany: 100,000 on the streets in a massive student strike After Italy, Greece, Spain and other countries in Europe, now Germany is being hit by a wave of student protest. The same policies everywhere, cuts in spending and privatisation of the education system, are provoking the same reaction. The youth is mobilising massively, indicating that an even bigger movement of the working class is being prepared.
Sweden: Radical mood at VSF student congress On 31st October–1st November the left student union (VSF) in Sweden held its 7th congress in Rågsved, south of Stockholm. The VSF has a close relationship with the Left Party and its youth organisation, the Young Left. Among other issues discussed was the idea of declaring the VSF a revolutionary socialist organisation.
Britain: Now for the economic fall out Sooner or later the financial tsunami will run into the sand, but in its wake the real economy will be left in recession. The immediate crisis will have abated, but the sludge, mud, sewage and devastation lasts much longer. They're still mopping up the mud from the 2007 floods… how long will the recession last and how deep will it go?
France: Shift to the left and emergence of a Marxist wing in the PCF An examination of the results of the recent vote in the different federations of the French Communist Party indicates a sharp shift to the left in the thinking of the membership since the previous congress. And the vote for the Marxists confirms this process.
France: Huge success for Marxists in the PCF PCF members have voted on which of the three alternative documents should be the base of discussion at the coming party congress in December. The document written by the comrades of La Riposte, "Renforcer le PCF, renouer avec le marxisme", obtained a resounding success which went beyond any expectations: 5419 or 15.04% of the total valid votes.
Switzerland: Marxist journal in three different languages At the beginning of October the Swiss comrades of Der Funke took an important step forward in their work of spreading Marxist ideas in Switzerland by beginning the publication of their journal for the first time not only in German (Der Funke), but also in French (l`Étincelle) and in Italian (la Scintilla). These are the three main languages spoken in the overwhelming majority of the different regions of Switzerland, and this is therefore a very important step for the Swiss Marxists.
Iceland – what happened? We have seen companies go under, banks on the verge of collapse, but in Iceland what we have seen is a whole country going bankrupt. Up until very recently Iceland was presented as the ideal place to live as a model for others to follow, but it was all based on mountains of growing debt.
Greece: Another important general strike – right-wing government in deep crisis On Tuesday, October 21, Greece was once more rocked by a general strike, the ninth since the present ND government has been in office. There were also many students on the rallies, as a wave of school occupations spreads across Greece.
Spain: Thousands of students respond to strike call Thousands of students took to the streets in Spain on Wednesday 22nd to protest against plans to privatise university education and also opposing any plans to make workers pay for the capitalist crisis through cuts in education, health and other public services.
Britain: The tension rises Now a policy of wage restraint during a serious financial crisis is, sooner or later a finished recipe for an intensification of the class struggle in Britain. Already the strike figures for this year - before the recent financial meltdown - have outstripped last year's figures
Day of action confirms determined militancy of Belgian workers Working class militancy is growing in Belgium as world capitalism goes into meltdown. Workers are learning very fast in this situation. They see plenty of money for the banks but very little for genuine social reforms. They also see a trade union and Socialist Party leadership totally incapable of giving any answers. Monday's trade union day of action brought all this to the surface.
