This September marks the 50th anniversary of the US backed coup by Pinochet in Chile. It was one of the heaviest and bloodiest defeats ever suffered by the left and progressive movement in Latin America…
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Imperialism, racism and the atomic bomb
As Hollywood celebrates the release of Oppenheimer, protests have focused on the devastating impact of the Trinity atomic test in New Mexico on local Hispanic and indigenous communities. The protests have brought attention to the ongoing struggle of the communities for recognition and compensation, and the film’s whitewashing of racism during the development and testing of the bomb.
1.2% of adults have 47.8% of the world’s wealth while 53.2% have just 1.1%
The wealth pyramid shows that 62 million people out of a total of 4.4 billion adults in the world, or just 1.2%, had 47.8% of the world’s wealth while 2.8 billion adults (or 53.2%) had just 1.1% – a staggering level of inequality. While the top 1.2% had average wealth after debt of well over $1 million each, the bottom 53% had well below $10,000 each, at least 100 times less.
A seed grows in Guatemala?
Here, the ISP translates and republishes a report on the recent landslide election in Guatemala of the reformist candidate Bernardo Arévalo. This article appeared first on the independent Guatemalan news site Divergentes. Correspondencia de Prensa republished it.
Jason Aldean, purveyor of hate in a violently racist world
Aldean has been known to sport the Confederate flag on t-shirts as recently as 2019. He also established himself as anti-vax and anti-mask during the pandemic. He has given voice to Trump’s stolen election conspiracy theory.
US public overwhelmingly support striking actors’ and writers’ demands: poll
“Even a plurality of voters who have an unfavorable opinion of labor unions (48%) support the strikes.”
The Barbie movie—how we were told to stop worrying and love the doll
The film’s plot was frequently directionless and overly saccharine. I developed a grim respect for Margot Robbie and Ryan Gosling (Barbie and Ken) who work hard to carry off the script. But outside of a few satisfying gags, I found much of the humor over-reliant on a stale self-reflexivity and nostalgia factor for the little plastic doll.
Capital putting its own house in order
There can be a relative autonomy of base from superstructure. Importantly, the superstructure can in turn reflect back and impact upon the base. There are many factors other than the economy that need to be taken into account when examining a particular conjuncture.
The left’s self-fulfilling prophecy: condemning Cornel West’s third-party challenge before it gets off the ground
An array of liberal and left-wing pundits is already blaming West in advance for the unpopular Biden’s (potential) loss to the (as yet unnamed) Republican candidate next year. Apparently, the conventional wisdom even among most self-described socialists is that it is our job to ensure Biden’s victory, even though he has done nothing to earn it.
How to prepare to lose an election: Abraham Lincoln vs. Donald Trump
Trump is the odds-on favorite to be the Republican nominee for the 2024 presidential election. For him, winning the presidency is his existential goal. Lose, and any conviction he receives will subject him to financial ruin and prison time.
Support the Loretto Hospital strike!
Wages and adequate staffing are the central issues in the strike. These issues go hand in hand. Wages have to be high enough so that workers will want to stay at Loretto and not move to higher paying hospitals. With the recent state funding, management could certainly pay for the union demands.
What happened to the big UPS strike?
On July 29th, our website posted an article by Adam Shills arguing that the contract is an important victory. Here we post a different point of view by Joe Allen, in an article that first appeared in CounterPunch.
Important union victory at UPS
Both trade union activists and the business press have been closely following the negotiations between UPS and the International Brotherhood of Teamsters (IBT) for some time. Then, on July 25, the big news came. The IBT had signed a tentative agreement with UPS. The purpose of this article is to explain what is in the new agreement and the attitude that socialists should take.
The US economy: Hesitant and modest growth
Economic headlines present a confusing jumble of news. Commentators speak of avoiding a recession, while interest rates and food prices remain high. There are plenty of Help Wanted signs yet many people are not feeling particularly flush. What’s really going on? The purpose of this article is to examine the current US economic situation.
Supreme Court exposes U.S. democracy’s inner rot
It is no exaggeration to say that the Supreme Court’s legitimacy is teetering toward the edge of a cliff. But the right-wing fanatics currently enjoying a 6-3 supermajority in the Court do not allow such minor considerations (like accountability) to deter them from achieving their main goal: turning back the clock in U.S. society to the 1950s era, when LGBTQ people were forced to stay in the closet; college students were wealthy, Christian, and white; racial segregation still flourished; and, of course, abortion was illegal.
