Socialism: the future of humanity
James Connolly correctly stated: ‘If you remove the English army tomorrow and hoist the green flag over Dublin Castle, unless you set about the organisation of the socialist republic your efforts would be in vain. England would still rule you.’ Despite the passing of time and reformism attempting to erase Connolly’s message, those words ring true today.
For anti-imperialism to succeed it must be revolutionary in both ideology and deeds; it is paramount that it represents the historical interests of the working class. Society must be transformed in a positive manner and to do this anti-imperialists must set about the hard business of propagandising and building, based on sound ideology and collective leadership.
There is nothing more practical than good theory. It is a powerful instrument of perception and transformation. Revolutionary socialism calls for effort, patience and perseverance and your paper is a vital tool in this process as it aids anti-imperialists to understand the complex problems of the modern world and consciously joins in the progressive forces’ struggles against social injustice and oppression. It is essential to concretely understand the material conditions and social practices which the great teachers of the proletariat discovered and formulated.
The earnest success of progress is in the unity of the revolutionary forces under the banner of revolutionary socialism. Revolutionary socialism is not a dogma, but a guide to action. Socialism is the future of mankind.
DAVY JORDAN
Davy Jordan is an Irish political prisoner. Write letters of support and solidarity to him at:
Roe 4 Landing
Lisburn, Maghaberry Gaol
BT28 2PT
Lasso clings to power
On 17 May Ecuadorian president Guillermo Lasso dissolved the National Assembly to avoid being impeached on embezzlement charges. By undemocratically dissolving the National Assembly, the impeachment process – which he was expected to lose – was automatically cancelled and new elections called for August, allowing Lasso to remain in power and until then rule by decree. He will also be eligible to stand in the election.
Lasso was backed by the police and armed forces, who circled the National Assembly where the impeachment trial was taking place and prohibited anyone from entering. The military put fences around the National Assembly headquarters and riot police blocked the main entrance.
On 17 May the Confederation of Indigenous Nationalities of Ecuador stated, ‘the strength of the people lies in collective mobilisation and legitimate protest, the fight is with the constitution and also in the streets.’
DESTINIE SANCHEZ
Manchester
Police cells as prisons
High incarceration in the West Midlands and North of England is resulting in people being imprisoned long-term in police station cells. From my experience this is cruel and inhumane. I found three days in a police cell was worse than three months in prison. The food and facilities you have access to in prison are already bad, but they’re worse in police cells. The officers detaining people in cells aren’t properly trained to handle looking after inmates. This will, no question, lead to unfair treatment of prisoners. Those cells are not meant for long term imprisonment.
JONATHON WEST
Birmingham
Poor made to pay student loans
From 1 September 2023 the operation of student loans is changing. The earnings threshold for student loan repayment will drop from £27,295 to £25,000; graduates will now need to repay loans for 40 years instead of 30 (excluding Wales) and per £1 the state will now pay 19p rather than 44p.
What this means is that more of the burden of education fees are placed on the student rather than the state, and disproportionately on working class graduates and lower earners who will now effectively pay a life-long graduate tax. Those with higher earnings, or who can pay the fees outright, will hardly feel a difference. As someone who will experience these changes it has caused me to have to seriously question if university is a good choice for me despite it always being a plan of mine to go.
MAYA VOT SOBAKA
West London
US debt ceiling: scorn for the working class
As we go to press, the Republicans and Democrats are debating raising the US debt ceiling as it reached its limit in January at $31.4 trillion, with the Treasury Secretary warning the money will run out by 1 June. The US will have to default on interest payments and furlough federal workers.
Both parties agree on supporting US imperialist interests and the capitalist class. So there will be no cuts to the $1 trillion US military budget, no retreat from the recent promise of $374 million to arm Ukraine to keep the war going, and no reversal of Donald Trump’s tax cuts to the rich (the Republicans opposed hiring more IRS tax agents to chase tax avoiders).
The debate is on how severe the attacks on the working class will be. This comes just after all Covid-19 mitigation measures have been removed, and inflation (especially for food, rent, transport, and energy) is still high, after more than a decade of austerity.
DAVID HETFIELD
Doncaster
Boric sells out
In Chile on 9 May, 23 seats of the 50-member sham Constitutional Council were won by the far-right Republican party, sinking ambitions for a progressive new Constitution. At the helm of the sell-out is President Gabriel Boric.
Boric abandoned the demands of the working class and indigenous people of Chile and paved the way for the far-right to gain veto power in the Constitutional Council (see FRFI 290). This Council bears no resemblance to the diverse, democratic and popular vision that millions protested for, or even the failed Constitutional Assembly elected in 2021.
It is a betrayal of the millions of people who took to the streets from 2019 through to 2022, the 36 who died at the hands of the brutal carabineros, the tens of thousands detained and thousands injured, the hundreds blinded. Chile over recent years has been a lesson for socialists: do not demobilise. ¡La lucha sigue!
SHEILA RUBIX
Harrow
Transphobic trends
Brianna Ghey, a 16-year-old trans girl, was murdered on 11 February 2023. Two 15-year-olds were charged with her murder four days later. This brutal act came in the context of rising transphobic media coverage, government rhetoric and policy making.
In 2020/2021, 2,630 hate crimes against transgender people were recorded by the police, an increase of 16% from the previous year (Stop Hate UK). The real number of attacks is likely to be higher.
Negative media coverage provides ideological justification to our transphobic government which has limited the gains of the Gender Recognition Act (see FRFI 278). It is also planning changes to the 2010 Equalities Act to ‘clarify’ sex as purely biological and determined at birth. Such definitions have been critiqued by UN experts. The Labour Party welcomed the government review as ‘a good thing.’ These are all reflections of a political trend as the parties compete for the votes of the most reactionary sections of the electorate.
ASHLEY GREEN
Birmingham
Fight Racism! Fight Imperialism! No 294, June/July 2023
