Socialist Alternative

By Pete Ikeler, Grad Student and Adjunct Instructor at the City University of New York Jan 27, 2012

Youth have begun to rebel against these conditions on a grand scale through the Occupy movement. Now there is a call for March 1 to see a national day of action of mass protests throughout the country against tuition hikes, education cuts, and a future of joblessness, alienation, and corporate domination. Mobilize in your school and community to make March 1 the biggest protest possible!

By Aditi Kaushik Jan 27, 2012

One of the insights of the Occupy movement has been a growing skepticism toward the Democratic Party among a wide layer of its activists. That skepticism, however, will be challenged by the drumbeat to support the “lesser evil” in November, and to keep Republicans from being elected.

By Eljeer Hawkins, Harlem, New York Jan 27, 2012

African-Americans have historically played a trailblazing role in the quest for justice, equality, and freedom in the United States and internationally. Let’s examine the roots of Black History Month and our struggle today.

By Ann Waddell Jan 27, 2012

In October, the District Attorney of Shawnee County, which encompasses Topeka, Kansas, announced that he would cease to prosecute domestic violence cases within the city of Topeka. He argued that with recent budget cuts he no longer had sufficient resources and that the city should take on the burden of these prosecutions. The city council responded by repealing their ordinance against domestic violence!

By Brandon Madsen Jan 24, 2012

Growing support for system change has not yet been matched by a serious public dialogue about what an alternative might look like. A new Pew poll published 12/28/2011 indicated that people who are under 30 or black are more likely to favor socialism than capitalism, but this does not correspond to clear ideas of what socialism is or how a socialist economic and political system would work. We offer up this FAQ as a contribution to the discussion.

By Teddy Shibabaw Jan 24, 2012

In a manner so typical of his presidency, Obama ushered in the new year by passing a bill that is in stark contrast to what Candidate Obama promised. Attached as a rider to a defense funding bill, called the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), the new law gives the U.S. military vast authority for the indefinite detention of anyone it deems a terrorism suspect without charge or trial. This includes U.S. citizens on U.S. soil!

By Tom Crean Jan 24, 2012

2011 will be remembered as the year that young people and workers internationally really began fighting back against the devastating effects of the current crisis of capitalism. After the events in Cairo, Tunis, Athens, Madison and New York, the world will never be the same. Years of revolution and counter-revolution will follow.

By Margaret Collins Jan 24, 2012

Poverty is ugly. Really. All around us we are bombarded with images of trim, beautiful people with smiling mouths filled with white straight teeth. The reality amongst the working class and poor are mouths with gaps from missing teeth and amputations resulting from rampant diabetes.

By Patrick Ayers Jan 24, 2012

The Occupy movement has played a big role in building solidarity for the labor movement in recent months. From supporting the Sotheby workers in New York City, to the LA port drivers and longshore workers on the west coast, many in the Occupy movement are looking to link up with the unions to build a powerful movement of the working class.

By Patrick Ayers Jan 24, 2012

The small town of Longview on the southwestern coast of Washington, has become ground zero for both the labor and Occupy movements. The International Longshore and Warehouse Union (ILWU) is engaged in a crucial battle with EGT, an international conglomerate of grain exporters. EGT is trying to operate the first grain terminal in 70 years without ILWU labor, attempting to break the power of the ILWU.

By Andrea Perry Jan 21, 2012

Obama recently defended the decision of his Secretary of Health and Human Services, Kathleen Sebelius, to continue limiting the over-counter availability of Plan B, the morning after pill, to women under 17. The Federal Drug Administration approved the over-counter use of the drug for women of all ages last February and says this is the first time the Secretary of Health has overruled an approval of the FDA.

By Bryan Koulouris Jan 20, 2012

With tens of millions out of work, facing foreclosures or desperately trying to keep their head about water, and disgust at the two corporate parties is at record levels; how should progressive-thinking workers and the left approach this election?

By Alan Jones Jan 19, 2012

In the middle of the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression, with tens of millions suffering mass unemployment, wage cuts, rising poverty, and homelessness, the Republican candidates have shown their complete indifference to the suffering of huge sections of society.

By Ramy Khalil and Patrick Ayers Jan 13, 2012

Longview, Washington has become ground zero for one of the most important, intense battles in both the labor and Occupy movements. It's crucial that unions, Occupy activists, workers, and young people everywhere mobilize to Longview to help defend living wage union jobs when the EGT multinational corporation attempts to load grain on a ship without ILWU labor.

By Ty Moore Jan 11, 2012

It’s been five full years since the sub-prime housing market collapsed, triggering recession, skyrocketing unemployment, and a foreclosure crisis that continues to ravage working class neighborhoods. Yet still, while Wall Street got bailed out, no government relief is in sight for homeowners or our communities. But hope is on the way. Not from any politicians - both parties are completely bought off by Wall Street - but rather from ordinary people rising up to reclaim their homes and neighborhoods! The re-orientation of the Occupy movement to "Occupy Homes" offers the potential to build a serious national movement.

By Kenny Guenther, Minneapolis Jan 11, 2012

The foreclosure crisis is hitting the Twin Cities hard. According to a study by Neighborhoods Organizing for Change, Minneapolis alone has had over 13,000 foreclosures since 2006, with a majority of evicted families moving out of the city. In November, a campaign was launched by a coalition of activists, including Occupy Minneapolis and Socialist Alternative, to occupy foreclosed homes and stop the banks from destroying our communities.

By Joshua H. Koritz Jan 5, 2012

Two days before Christmas, 2011, President Obama signed a bill that forces a decision on the controversial Keystone XL pipeline within 60 days as part of a two month payroll tax cut extension. The Keystone XL pipeline would transport oil from the tar sands in Alberta, Canada to refineries in Texas.

By Ty Moore Jan 1, 2012

Despite near universal demonization of socialist ideas in the corporate media and political establishment, according to a new Pew Research Center Poll half of young people aged 18-29 view socialism positively while only 43 percent react negatively to the term. In the same age group, only 46 percent have positive views of capitalism, while 47 percent view capitalism negatively.

By Gerbrand Visser, Socialistisch Alternatief (CWI in Netherlands) Dec 20, 2011

The death of the long time Stalinist dictator of North Korea brings no relief to the workers of the country. After the collapse of the Soviet Union, the economy of North Korea suffered setbacks and it is estimated that more than two million people lost their lives during famines at the end of the 1990s. North Korea is now one of the poorer countries in the world, but until well into the 1970s, the income per head of the population was higher than in South Korea.

By CWI Reporters Russia & Kazakhstan Dec 20, 2011

President Nazarbayev has imposed a State of Emergency in the city until 5th January. The city of Zhanaozen s completely blockaded. But on the outskirts and in the outlying villages as dark settles you can hear the sound of gun fights and grenade explosions. The young workers are not prepared to give up their resistance. Witnesses are trying to film these "Special operations" on their mobile cameras. In the city, as before, the lights are off, mobile communications are constantly interrupted, the internet is blocked. Despite the fact that the centre is in control of the troops, all the oil pumping stations of "OzenMunaiGaz" are not working.

By Pete Mason, from the Socialist, paper of the Socialist Party (CWI in England & Wales) Dec 20, 2011

When is an agreement not an agreement? When it’s an agreement to reach an agreement in the future. Far from being a "huge step forward" as Energy and Climate Change Secretary Chris Huhne insists, claims of success at the climate conference in Durban, South Africa are fraudulent.

By CWI Reporters Russia & Kazakhstan Dec 18, 2011

According to reports from the Public commission for investigating the bloody events of 16-17th December in Aktau, young workers from the “OzenMunaiGaz” company who have been arrested in Zhenaozen are being thrown into the open yard at the remand prison and are having water thrown over them. The temperature is currently MINUS 17 CELSIUS. The torturers are attempting to get the workers to admit to rioting and to give evidence against their friends.

By Bilbo Göransson, Rattvisepartiet Socialisterna (CWI in Sweden), in Peru. Dec 18, 2011

The province of Cajamarca has become a political epicenter where the masses have organized a general strike against the abuses of the mining industry. President Ollanta Humala has betrayed his election promises and besieged the town for two months, "for the sake of piece and quiet." This has meant democratic rights being denied to the population, and continued increased profits for the mining industry at the expense of the environment.

By Rob Jones, CWI, Russia Dec 18, 2011

If, even a month ago, someone had suggested that nearly 100,000 people would flood a Moscow square chanting "Putin is a thief! Putin is a thief! ", there would have been, to say the least, certain skepticism amongst most people. And yet the anger of an increasingly large part of the population at the fact that the ruling regime had to falsify recent parliamentary elections is now starting to threaten the very existence of the Putin regime itself.

By Committee for a Workers International Dec 18, 2011

This statement on world and European perspectives is being proposed by the CWI's International Secretariat to a meeting of the International Executive Committee of the CWI in January. Following discussion and amendments at the meeting, the final version of the document will be published on socialistworld.net at the end of January