This is a modified version of a presentation delivered at the ISO’s 2015 national convention by Paul D’Amato, and appeared that year in an internal bulletin. Though there were a number of members who disagreed with its main arguments, no responses were written, and the debate came to an abrupt […]
Month: September 2019
The myth of rust-belt reactionaries
The argument that Trump’s base consists largely of rust-belt industrial is a flimsy argument based on false assumption, stereotypes, and false data.
Unity with whom and to what end?
“Unity” is a tricky slogan. Every trade unionist knows that the foundation for a successful strike is unity in the ranks—if a majority supports the strike, all workers, no matter how they voted, must honor the picket line and not cross. That’s a pretty clear-cut case where unity advances the […]
How to fight the far right
After the big mobilizations against Nazi hate in Boston and the Bay Area last month, there has been a flurry of attacks against violence. Not against far right violence—instead, the attacks have been against those committed to stopping the Nazis. Hard as it is to believe after the string of […]
Bourgeois revolution and workers’ revolution
In all past revolutions, the universal goals expressed by its participants masked underlying differences. General appeals to the interests of humanity, “the people” or the nation covered over the fact that in these struggles there were different class forces with differing ideas about what the revolution meant. In the […]