Love and magical thinking: from the Province of the Cat

The following article by George Gunn was first posted on bella caledonia,. LOVE AND MAGICAL THINKING FRIM THE PROVINCE OF THE CAT Next year in September will be the tenth anniversary of the 2014 referendum campaign. Although the result was gut-wrenchingly disappointing those who were 16 then and first-time voters will be 26 in 2024,…

James Connolly and Ukraine

The following article by Conor Costick was first posted by Ukraine Solidarity (Europe). It provides a critique of a section of the Irish  Left organised by the Socialist Workers Movement through their front organisation  People before Profit. They distort Connolly’s attitude towards winning wider support for Irish self-determination  in the lead-up to and during the…

The unbearable manicheanism of the “anti-imperialist” left

This article, written by Willam I. Robinson was first posted by anti*capitalist  resistance. It critically examines the contradictory logic and regressive politics of the contemporary “anti-imperialist” left that opposes capitalist exploitation by the West but turns a blind eye to repression by non-Western states opposed to Washington. Manicheanism is  an ancient philosophy that interprets the…

Climate change or system change

This article was written by Ali Fleming, an Extinction Rebellion activist. It argues that only system change can help us now. It was first posted by rs21. The Cerberus heatwave has lived up to its savage name with extreme temperatures that have been deadly for Southern Europe. While it was easy to ignore the catastrophes…

People who call for tactical voting are pissing into the wind

 We are reposting this article by Ricky from his Council Estate blog, which examines the real nature of the Labour Party. Although written from an English/British perspective, which ignores the likely impact of a Starmer-led Labour government in Scotland, Ireland and Wales, it clearly sees that such a  government would represent ‘Boris-Lite’ (or perhaps ‘not…

Challenging the constitution – a review of Pete Cannell’s ‘Scotland after Sturgeon’

Allan Armstrong writes a review of Pete Cannell’s Scotland after Sturgeon CHALLENGING THE CONSTITUTION   Anyone reading Pete Cannell’s Scotland after Sturgeon will acknowledge his fair-minded approach to Nicola Sturgeon.  In terms of mainstream politics, Sturgeon, whilst leader of the SNP and Scotland’s First Minister, was “easily the most popular politician in the UK”.  Pete…

Review: The Communist Road to Capitalism and The Left in China

Charlie Hore of rs21 has published  a review of two books by Ralf Ruckus, entitled The Communist Road to Capitalism and The Left in China. In his most recent book, Ruckus points to the need for the Left to break away from Campism in the light of Putin’s invasion of Ukraine. To help achieve this,…

Scotland’s travails from England   (or Scotland’s travails and England’s woes)   

The following article, written by Steve Freeman of the Republican Labour Education Forum in England, locates  the current travails of  the SNP and its impact on the wider Scottish independence movement in the wider crisis of the post-war UK state and British social monarchy. It points to the need for a republican approach in Scotland…