SAN FRANCISCO-The Aug. 2-4 Tenth National Convention of Socialist Action attracted revolutionary fighters, antiwar activists, trade unionists, and youth from across the country. After four months of pre-convention discussion, Socialist Action members debated and approved three major resolutions that set the political and organizational framework for the party's activities in the coming year. The adopted … Continue reading Socialist Action National Convention: Build the Party!
Category: Marxist Theory & History
What do Socialists Propose? ‘Be Practical – Demand the Impossible’
By PAUL SIEGEL Below we are reprinting the fifth and last chapter of Paul Siegel's new pamphlet, "Socialism versus Capitalism." The pamphlet may be ordered from Socialist Action Books Socialism has been pronounced dead many times before-and it has always revived to continue the struggle. One instance was the time of demoralization that followed the … Continue reading What do Socialists Propose? ‘Be Practical – Demand the Impossible’
What do Socialists Propose? Part Four. Capitalism Feeds on War, Environmental Destruction
By PAUL SIEGEL Following is the fourth chapter of a new pamphlet by Paul Siegel, "Socialism versus Capitalism." It is available from Socialist Action Books for $3. In 1987 the World Commission on Environment and Development, established by the United Nations General Assembly, issued a report, "Our Common Future," after a three-year study. It concluded … Continue reading What do Socialists Propose? Part Four. Capitalism Feeds on War, Environmental Destruction
Revolutions Brought Gains in Education and Health Care
By PAUL SIEGEL Following is the third chapter of a new pamphlet by Paul Siegel on the theory and practice of socialism. It is available from Socialist Action Books for $3. It is noteworthy that the Soviet Union, China, and Vietnam all made great strides forward after their revolutions in the vital fields of health … Continue reading Revolutions Brought Gains in Education and Health Care
The Communist Manifesto & the World Struggle Today
By PAUL SIEGEL Following is the first chapter of a new pamphlet by Paul Siegel on the theory and practice of socialism. It is scheduled to be published by Socialist Action Books (formerly Walnut Publishing Co.) in March 2002. After the collapse and dissolution of the Soviet Union, the "death of socialism" and the definitive … Continue reading The Communist Manifesto & the World Struggle Today
British Trotskyist Charlie van Gelderen dies; Covered S. Africa news for Socialist Action
By TERRY CONWAY Charlie van Gelderen, who for almost two decades wrote many articles for Socialist Action (mainly on political developments in South Africa), was the last survivor of those who attended the 1938 founding conference of the Fourth International in Paris. Following is a shortened version of an article in the November 2001 … Continue reading British Trotskyist Charlie van Gelderen dies; Covered S. Africa news for Socialist Action
Picket Line & Barricades
Picket Line & Barricades The right kind of unity I had planned to write this month's column on unemployment. The administration in Washington and their presumed opposition, the Democratic Party, are only glancingly concerned with the disastrous condition of the workers receiving layoff notices. I wanted to make some comments about this, but then … Continue reading Picket Line & Barricades
A Valuable Study of Socialists’ Role in Early South African Freedom Struggle
By CHARLIE VAN GELDEREN "Discordant Comrades: Identities and Loyalties on the South African Left." by Allison Drew (Ashgate, London, £45). It is a pity that this book is only available as an expensive hardback, because it is a valuable contribution towards an understanding of the role played by socialists in the struggle against … Continue reading A Valuable Study of Socialists’ Role in Early South African Freedom Struggle
The Greatest Generation? Reflections of a World War II Veteran
By PAUL SIEGEL We are being deluged by a flood of tributes to the heroism of what the TV commentator Tom Brokaw has dubbed "the greatest generation," the veterans of World War II. The immediate reason for this torrent of tributes is the desire of the book and movie industries to make money by marketing … Continue reading The Greatest Generation? Reflections of a World War II Veteran
Document by Greek Trotskyists: National Liberation Struggles in the Former Yugoslavia
BY ANDRES KLOKE Following is a resolution submitted by the OKDE (Greek section of the Fourth International). It appeared as an article in the May edition of Spartakos. The armed conflicts that broke out in March between the UCPMB (Liberation Army of Presevo, Medvedja, and Bujanovac) in southern Serbia and the UCK (NLA, … Continue reading Document by Greek Trotskyists: National Liberation Struggles in the Former Yugoslavia
Prospects of Resistance by Workers to Capitalist Restoration in Russia
By DAVE HUDSON Following is the conclusion of a document that is being submitted to the World Congress of the Fourth International, which will take place next year. Socialist Action is in general agreement with the views expressed in this document. The author, Dave Hudson, is a British member of the International Executive Committee of … Continue reading Prospects of Resistance by Workers to Capitalist Restoration in Russia
FIGHTBACK: Shipwrecked
by Sylvia Weinstein What would we do if we were shipwrecked on an island that had no population but ourselves? And if we wanted to survive until rescued? Understand that among those shipwrecked with us are older people and children, as well as healthy adults, male and female. What do we do to survive? First, … Continue reading FIGHTBACK: Shipwrecked
’50 Years of Fun on the Road to Socialism’
By HAYDEN PERRY The following is a talk by Hayden Perry at a 1986 celebration of 50 years of service to the socialist movement by Perry and 12 other socialist workers. As I round out 50 years of activity in the socialist movement and find the goal of a socialist America still some way down … Continue reading ’50 Years of Fun on the Road to Socialism’
Hayden Perry: Long-Time Socialist Action Journalist
By MICHAEL SCHREIBER Hayden Perry, a founder of the Socialist Workers Party and of Socialist Action-and a long-time contributor to Socialist Action newspaper-died on Aug. 2. He was 86. Hayden died in the hospital shortly after he had collapsed on the lawn of the Oakland, Calif., apartment facility where he lived. Until his last moment, … Continue reading Hayden Perry: Long-Time Socialist Action Journalist
The Rebel Girl – Elizabeth Gurley Flynn
By JAN BIRCH There are many heroes in the U.S. revolutionary working-class movement but sadly most workers today have never heard their names or their stories. One such hero that everyone should know about is Elizabeth Gurley Flynn. Her life spanned huge upsurges in the working class. She was born in 1890 and lived until … Continue reading The Rebel Girl – Elizabeth Gurley Flynn
Hundreds Honor Joe Flexer
By BARRY WEISLEDER TORONTO-Over 400 people, some traveling hundreds of kilometers on a hot summer-holiday long weekend, gathered to celebrate the life of our departed comrade Joseph Flexer. The meeting to celebrate his life was held on Saturday, Aug. 5, nearly filling the main auditorium of the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education, in Toronto. … Continue reading Hundreds Honor Joe Flexer
The World War II Pope and Nazi Genocide
By PAUL SIEGEL John Cornwell, "Hitler's Pope: The Secret History of Pius XII." Viking, 1999. 430 pp. $29.95. John Cornwell's "Hitler's Pope" rises out of a controversy that has been going on for more than 35 years concerning the reasons for Pius XII's failure to condemn Nazi genocide during World War II. The Pope's defenders … Continue reading The World War II Pope and Nazi Genocide
Socialist Action’s Ninth Annual Convention
Delegates and members across the country assembled at Socialist Action's Ninth National Convention to discuss and debate the major national and world political issues confronting revolutionary socialists today. The March 23-26 convention was preceded by a four-month written pre-convention discussion that included 23 bulletins with some 70 separate contributions from party members. The major convention … Continue reading Socialist Action’s Ninth Annual Convention
Joe Walsh
One of the most faithful supporters of the Irish republican cause in San Francisco died on March 2 at the age of 82. Joe Walsh was a leading activist in the fight to free Bernadette Devlin McAliskey's daughter Roisin. His political roots went back to the Irish civil war of 1922-23. As a young child, … Continue reading Joe Walsh
Paris Commune
By JAN BIRCH Today many workers feel discouraged looking at the way society is run. The economy and the governmental structure seem so complicated. The seats of power seem omnipotent. It can make us feel that social change is impossible. And our rich history of heroic struggles by the working class is often hidden from … Continue reading Paris Commune
Book Review: “Weaving the Web”
By ROD HOLT The business of foretelling revolutions has largely been taken away from the oracles, prophets, and madmen that Western civilization depended on in the past. Even as capitalism was barely started, prognostication was just too profitable an activity to be left to amateurs. This became abundantly clear when some entrepreneur discovered how easy … Continue reading Book Review: “Weaving the Web”
Our Readers Speak Out
Dear editor, While discussing the concept of the falling rate of profit with a friend, he asked me if I had evidence or proof that the rule of profit is indeed falling. I replied that I did not but would seek to obtain it.... A reader, Brooklyn, N.Y. NAT WEINSTEIN REPLIES: Dear reader, … Continue reading Our Readers Speak Out
Why I Left the SWP and Joined Socialist Action
Below is a letter from a new member of the Twin Cities branch of Socialist Action. I hope to describe some of the experiences that eventually led me to resign from the Socialist Workers Party/Young Socialists and to join Socialist Action. My intent is that it will be useful for others who may have … Continue reading Why I Left the SWP and Joined Socialist Action
In Defense of Marxism: In Defense of the Fourth International
The politics and economy of world capitalism-its crises, its wars, and its unrelenting destruction of the environment-all have a global character. Never before has this been so plain as today. The revolutionary party that seeks to overturn capitalism must therefore also be organized on a global scale. Just as socialism cannot be realized in one … Continue reading In Defense of Marxism: In Defense of the Fourth International
River Rouge: 1941
By JAN BIRCH In 1941, tens of thousands of auto workers at the Ford River Rouge complex in Dearborn, Mich., overcame many obstacles to build a union from the bottom up and to win a strike that had a strong potential to turn into a "race riot." This is a history filled with drama, … Continue reading River Rouge: 1941