Marxism and black liberation

10/08/20 • 37 min

In this online talk organised by the Marxist Student Federation as part of Black History Month, Fiona Lali (national organiser of the MSF) explains why the fight against racism must be a fight against capitalism. In the coming weeks, the MSF will be publishing a series of articles and videos on the origins of slavery; the roots of racism; the black power struggle; from Windrush to the refugee crisis; and how we must fight against capitalism, racism, and all forms of oppression. In the wake of the murder of George Floyd, the US has been set ablaze, with police precincts being burnt down in de facto acts of insurrection. The long and sordid history of repression and brutality has been brought into the limelight. And Malcolm X’s famous saying - "you cannot have capitalism without racism" - has been emblazoned on placards at protests all over the world. In order to gain real material change for the BAME community, we must first understand where this oppression and exploitation comes from, and how it must be overcome. Enough of tokenistic gestures and empty promises. It is clear that the struggle for black liberation is a struggle for a socialist future. Join us in the fight for socialism: Join - socialist.net/join Donate - socialist.net/donate Subscribe - socialist.net/subscribe Follow us on Facebook, YouTube, Twitter and our podcast, Marxist Voice: Facebook - facebook.com/SocialistAppeal YouTube - youtube.com/c/SocialistNet1917 Twitter - twitter.com/socialist_app Podcast - wavve.link/marxistvoice

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Alan Woods: Trump's COVID crisis

Alan Woods – editor of In Defence of Marxism – comments on the situation in the USA, where it was announced last week that President Donald Trump has contracted COVID-19, amidst a farcical presidential election and the greatest crisis in the history of US capitalism. Trump’s reckless response to the pandemic has led to the USA having 7.5m COVID-19 cases and 200,000 deaths: the highest in the world. This catastrophe has caused Trump’s polling figures to plummet, leading him to furiously point the finger from China, to Black Lives Matter, to the WHO – anywhere but his own chaotic administration. Now, despite constantly downplaying the dangers of the virus and demanding a return to economic normality, the President himself has become a statistic. Meanwhile, US workers and youth are preparing to choose between two evils at the impending November elections, in the form of four more years of Trump, or the Democratic establishment candidate, Joe Biden. Adding fuel to the fire, Trump has even hinted that he might try to cling onto power should the vote not go his way. Neither of the two main bourgeois parties have anything to offer workers and youth, who are faced with the horror of the coronavirus, alongside a tsunami of unemployment, poverty and homelessness. This rotten charade is the sign of a system on life support. Workers in the USA need a mass party of labour and a struggle for socialism.

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In defence Of Marxist economics

In this talk from the recent International Marxist University, Rob Sewell - editor of Socialist Appeal - outlines the fundamentals of Marxist economics, and explains why only these revolutionary ideas can offer a way out of the impasse of capitalist crisis. As Rob explains, many attempts have been made over the years to ‘update’ Marx’s economic theories. Inevitably, these ideas jettison the revolutionary core of Marxist economics. Instead of applying a dialectical and materialist method to the economy, the revisionists slip into a mechanical and idealist mode of analysis. They do not see the economy as a living, breathing system, composed of human beings and conflicting classes, but as a set of abstract equations. In this talk, Rob Sewell sets the record straight, showing how revisionist ideas fall short, and giving an overview of genuine Marxist economic theory. Join us in the fight for socialism: Join - socialist.net/join Donate - socialist.net/donate Subscribe - socialist.net/subscribe Follow us on Facebook, YouTube, Twitter and our podcast, Marxist Voice: Facebook - facebook.com/SocialistAppeal YouTube - youtube.com/c/SocialistNet1917 Twitter - twitter.com/socialist_app Podcast - wavve.link/marxistvoice