Karl Marx had something to say about capitalism and workers’ health in Capital, Volume 1. Chapter 15. (https://www.marxists.org/archive/marx/works/download/pdf/Capital-Volume-I.pdf – page 316). We are posting this below. CAPITALISM AND WORKERS’ HEALTH – PLUS CA CHANGE Nineteenth century factory Twenty first century factory What could possibly show better the character of the capitalist mode of production, than…
IDEOLOGY AND SCIENCE
In the political climate since the 2008 Financial Crisis and now with the Coronavirus pandemic, there has been a marked increase on anti-science thinking. Whilst particularly prevalent on the Far Right, such thinking has spread far wider. Thus article, first posted by Socialist Democracy (Ireland), examines this phenomenon in relation to the coronavirus pandemic. …
FROM ILLUSIONS IN A LEXIT BREXIT TO A DISILLUSIONED LEXIT FROM BREXIT POLITICS – THE DECEMBER 12th GENERAL ELECTION AND INDEPENDENT SOCIALISTS ACROSS THESE ISLANDS
Allan Armstrong has published an article entitled From Illusions in a Lexit Brexit to a Disillusioned Lexit from Brexit Politics (https://allanarmstrong831930095.files.wordpress.com/2020/06/socialists-and-december-12th-election.pdf) The contents of this book are shown below, followed by the last two chapters and conclusion. This article follows The Impact of the December 12th General Election across the Constituent Parts of the UK. (http://republicancommunist.org/blog/2020/01/24/the-impact-of-the-december-12th-general-election-across-the-constituent-parts-of-the-uk/)…
THE TRANS-PACIFIC PARTNERSHIP – THE TTIP OF THE PACIFIC
Cynthia Phinney of Labor Notes (USA) writes on the Trans-Pacific Partnership, which she dubs the “NAFTA of the Pacific”. However, we in Europe will also be able to recognise it as the ‘TTIP of the Pacific’. SHOWDOWN NEARS ON FAST TRACKING OF THE BIGGEST FREE TRADE DEAL YET This spring the battle is coming…
WATER CHARGES: INDEPENDENT MOBILISATION, NEW STATE REPRESSION
The following article from the Socialist Democracy (Ireland) website addresses the political situation in Ireland after the mass demonstrations against water charges held on January 31st. The mass demonstrations across Ireland on the 31st January show the emergence of a new force in Irish politics. The spontaneous movement on water charges has stood on…
THE RCN’S UPDATED ‘WHAT WE STAND FOR’
Over the RCN weekend away from November 7th-9th 2014 held near Dunfermline and our aggregates held on January 11th in Edinburgh and February 21st, 2015 in Glasgow, we updated our What We Stand For in the light of our recent engagement with the struggle for Scottish self-determination and our ongoing discussions on communism, secularism and…
MORE PROPOSED AMENDMENTS TO THE RCN’S ‘WHAT WE STAND FOR’
The RCN will be debating new amendments to our ‘What We Stand For’ on our annual weekend away being held on November 8th. The first set of amendments proposed by Allan Armstrong were posted at:- http://republicancommunist.org/blog/2014/08/09/proposed-amendments-to-the-rcns-what-we-stand-for/. Eric Chester has proposed another set of amendments, which are posted below. Add to point 5: We call for…
AFTER THE SEPTEMBER 18th REFERENDUM VOTE – A socialist republican response
In the aftermath of the September 18th Scottish independence referendum, Allan Armstrong (RCN) updates his earlier piece (http://republicancommunist.org/blog/2014/09/03/up-to-and-beyond-the-september-18th-independence-referendum-a-socialist-republican-perspective/). A Movement-in-the-making The campaign for Scottish independence has been the largest movement for popular democracy seen in these islands since the Irish War of Independence. In terms of electoral participation it was unprecedented. Voter registration was 97%…
Just Say Yes? – A Review Of ‘Yes – The radical case for Independence’ by James Foley & Pete Ramand
Murdo Ritche (RCN) reviews Yes- The Radical Case for Scottish Independence by James Foley & Pete Ramand (Pluto Press, 2014). This was first posted on Murdo’s blog (http://murdoritchie.blog.co.uk) and has been slightly changed. JUST SAY YES? The cover and the title of this book summarize the contradictory tensions that flow all through the text. The word…
Exploitation, Oppression and Alienation: Emancipation, Liberation and Self-Determination
The RCN has based much of its analysis of capitalism on the notions of exploitation and oppression, to which we counter the ideas of emancipation and liberation – hence the name of our main publication. However, we have been conducting discussions on capitalism’s third prop, alienation, and its antithesis, self-determination, understood in its widest sense. In the article below, by…