Socialist Alternative

By Laura Madsen May 17, 2013

And as we celebrate, let's be clear - these rights were won not by electing Democratic majorities into the state house and senate, but by the immense pressure that LGBTQ communities and activists have built for equality.

By Judy Beishon, Socialist Party (CWI England and Wales) May 17, 2013

Judy Beishon of the Socialist Party executive committee addresses the crucial question: What programme should socialists adopt today on the route towards a Palestinian state and the ending of this protracted national conflict?

By Kate Frey May 12, 2013

Late in the evening of Wednesday, March 27th the Arizona House Appropriations Committee voted, 7 to 4, to move forward to the House a bill restricting the right of transgendered people to use public bathrooms appropriate to the gender with which they identify. The original version of this bill, SB 1432, called the “papers please, bathroom bill,” would have made it a crime for a transgendered person to use a bathroom other than that for his or her birth gender.

By Kshama Sawant May 8, 2013

"The hypocrisy of the mass media, owned by a handful of mega-corporations, is evident. While relentlessly blaming the protesters on Broadway, they maintain a polite silence regarding the gruesome violence of US wars or the devastating cuts to social services and education in Seattle and statewide."

By The Socialist, Socialist Party England and Wales May 7, 2013

It is said that where labour is cheap, life is cheap. This is never more so than in the recent horrific deaths of over 400 garment workers crushed in a collapsed building in Dhaka, the capital of Bangladesh.

By Jeff Booth May 6, 2013

The Democratic Socialist Movement (DSM, CWI in South Africa) is growing at a rapid pace due to leading a mineworkers’ strike and initiating a new political party: the Workers and Socialist Party.

By Socialist Alternative May 3, 2013

May Day, International Workers' Day, saw over four thousand workers and young people in Seattle rallying and marching energetically, calling for the legalization of undocumented immigrant workers, and for the right of workers everywhere to unionize and live a dignified life. Kshama Sawant, a Socialist Alternative candidate for City Council, supports immediate, unconditional legalization and equal rights for all undocumented individuals. Our campaign was proud to participate in the peaceful march along with our brothers and sisters.

By CWI May 1, 2013

Capitalism is in an historic crisis. Economic recession and depression grip Greece, Spain, Portugal and other European countries. The austerity packages of the ruling class are driving millions into deeper poverty and destitution. Countries that have boosted an economic boom like Brazil, China and India now face a slow down and the prospect of joining the rest of the crisis ridden capitalist countries.

By Anh Tran, Seattle May 1, 2013

It took an entire term for President Obama to catch up with the majority of Americans (7 out of 10) who support a pathway to citizenship for undocumented immigrants (Gallup, 2/5/13).

By David Beale Apr 30, 2013

Sensational new evidence has emerged that Richard Nixon, former U.S. president, committed treason in securing his election victory at the height of the Vietnam War in 1968.

By Sarah White and Shirley Henderson Apr 26, 2013

In June, the Supreme Court will likely deliver historic decisions on the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) and California’s Proposition 8, leaving many to wonder, “Is marriage the final frontier of gay rights?” The verdicts of these cases regarding same sex marriage will come following a season of huge steps forward for the LGBTQ movement.

By SocialistAlternative.org Apr 26, 2013

Recently, the U.S. government levied a $4.5 billion fine against BP, ordered to be paid over the course of four years. Despite being touted as the largest corporate negligence fine in US history, the settlement promised BP that no criminal charges would be pressed.

By Grace McGee, Mobile, Alabama Apr 23, 2013

On April 9th, the Alabama Governor Robert Bentley signed “TRAP” bill HB-57. TRAP stands for “Targeted Regulation of Abortion Providers”, but the acronym is quite apt given the implications of the bill. This latest assault on women’s rights has potentially catastrophic implications for women’s health, and most significantly impacts working and poor women in the state.

By Socialist Alternative Apr 23, 2013

As battles against school closures and other attacks on public education rage in a number of cities, notably Philadelphia and Chicago, an important election is taking place in the largest local teachers’ union in the country, the United Federation of Teachers in New York City.

By Bryan Koulouris, Quincy, Massachusetts Apr 22, 2013

This past week in Boston has been almost surreal —- a horrific attack occurred on Marathon Monday that shouldn't be seen in this city or anywhere in the world. Countless acts of solidarity occurred starting with people running towards the explosion to help the hundreds caught in the path of devastation.

By Hannah Sell Apr 20, 2013

A socialist perspective on fighting women’s oppression by Hannah Sell, on behalf of the Socialist Party (CWI England & Wales)

By Jess Spear Apr 20, 2013

On February 17, 2013 nearly 50,000 people turned out for the largest climate action rally in American History. The sheer size of the crowd shows the level of concern within the population. However, 50,000 is far less than what is necessary to force government to stop dragging its feet. In comparison, nearly 200,000 people showed up for Jon Stewart’s Rally for Sanity in 2010. If the aim is to grow the environmental movement to a comparable size and beyond, the movement must change strategy and widen the demands to include human well-being.

By Eleanor Rodgers, Kensington resident and member of Occupy Kensington Apr 20, 2013

Over the last three years, workers at Golden Farm Supermarket in Brooklyn, NY have worked successfully with New York Communities for Change and the local community in Kensington to force their employer, Sonny Kim, to pay minimum wage and to recognize their union, the Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union/United Food and Commercial Workers (RSDWU/UFCW).

By SocialistAlternative.org Apr 15, 2013

The bombings today at the Boston Marathon are an absolute tragedy and a horror that shouldn't happen in Boston or anywhere else in the world. We are all checking in with loved ones in the Boston area. Socialist Alternative would like to express our grief, sympathy and solidarity with all the victims of this attack.

By Jesse Lessinger Apr 19, 2013

On November 29, 2012, workers at dozens of fast food restaurants in New York City walked off the job, formed pickets outside, and raised demands for higher wages, better hours, and union rights as part of the Fast Food Forward campaign.

By Tony Wilsdon Apr 18, 2013

President Obama’s decision to attack Social Security and Medicare in his recent budget is a severe warning to workers and youth of the corporate nature of his administration’s political agenda. Obama is looking to slash essential public services that working people rely on in his drive to sign up Republicans as part of the big business agenda of making the 99% pay for the present crisis.

By Scott Meyer Apr 18, 2013

With the political system increasingly dysfunctional, it is becoming ever more obvious that working people need to organize independently around their own political demands and break away from the Democrats and Republicans. There is a huge anger at the political establishment and a desire for a political voice for the 99%.

By Clare Doyle, CWI Apr 12, 2013

Last week, fear and tension escalated on the Korean peninsula and far beyond, for very understandable reasons. North Korea is a quasi Stalinist regime of a peculiar kind and inherently unstable. The new ‘great leader’ - Kim Jon-un - appears to be even more unpredictable than his father when it comes to threats of sending nuclear weapons into the sky.

By Kshama Sawant Campaign for Seattle City Council Apr 11, 2013

The resignation of Seattle Police Chief John Diaz marks the end of an inglorious four-year term during which he oversaw the excessive use of force and racial profiling by the Seattle Police Department. Diaz’s early retirement, at only age 55, resulted from community outrage and protests against the abuses that the SPD has committed with impunity under his watch. Socialist Alternative City Council candidate Kshama Sawant is calling attention to an inconvenient truth that not only the Mayor but also the City Council (all Democrats) have completely failed to hold the Seattle police accountable.

By Danny Keating Apr 11, 2013

The recent explosion of environmental activism can be attributed to the concrete effects of climate change that people are seeing around them. It can be linked to the devastation wrought upon many in the U.S. and around the world by Hurricane Sandy, the persistent droughts affecting food crops, forest fires, flash flooding, or the desperate plea of the tiny Maldive Islands. More than anything else, the proposal to transport the Alberta tar sands oil by constructing the Keystone XL pipeline has recently propelled the struggle against global climate change into the consciousness of many, especially a new activist element created by the Occupy movement.