THE WORKING CLASS is under attack in a class war that we are losing. There was a time when one average worker could earn enough to provide a family with the basic necessities of food and shelter and a few luxuries. This, of course, did not
Month: January 2020
Forward to a decade of rebuilding
AS WE ENTER a new decade, the real living conditions of working people continue to decline; profits are up, which means exploitation is intensifying; large numbers of working families rely on family income supplement—the state’s subsidy on behalf of low-pay employers—to survive.
What type of united Ireland do they want?
We are rarely forced to agree with Leo Varadkar, but it is difficult to find fault with his observation that the political tectonic plates in Northern Ireland are shifting. In the light of recent general election results, it is safe to say that not only is unionism’s majority eroding but […]
The blood of thousands is on their hands
Statement by the Communist Party of Ireland4 January 2020 The Communist Party of Ireland expresses its solidarity with the working people of both Iraq and Iran at this extremely critical moment in the life of their nations. The actions of US imperialism in the Middle East and most recently in […]
The unavoidable question of the EU
Socialist Voice has arguably been the most unwavering of English-language socialist periodicals in its analysis and exposition of the European Union as an inter-state structure of monopoly capital, under German…
No limit to servility
There appears to be simply no depth to which the establishment will not sink to show what faithful servants they are to imperialism and in particular to British imperialism. The Irish people endured centuries of colonial and imperialist domination. They endured mass starvation, violent oppression, the destruction of our language […]
Rehearsing a possible war against Russia
Last month the US government announced that its military budget for 2020 will be a colossal $738 billion. The US military is one of the largest polluters in history, consuming more liquid fuels and emitting more climate-changing gases than most medium-sized countries. But only a minority of environmental campaigns or […]
Nationalism: Progressive or reactionary?
The first requirement in a debate is that everyone agree on the meaning of the words they use; otherwise the exercise is pointless and can only generate more heat than light. Nowhere is this more evident than in the debates about nationalism. Is nationalism a progressive or a reactionary ideology? […]
Cuba: A living, developing revolution
On 1 January 2020 we celebrated the sixty-first anniversary of the triumph of the first socialist revolution in the Western Hemisphere. Sixty-one years after that historic event Cubans, and the friends of Cuba in the world, recognise the greatness of that event, which made the peoples of the world fix […]
Some aspects of mental health under capitalism
It is not in the interests of capitalists to resolve crises: it is in their interests to make money from them. Too often we find that the interests of profit and the interests of the people are irreconcilable. With mental health it is no different. The capitalist media are happy […]
Only socialism can save the planet
The Soviet Union put a massive emphasis on forest preservation and set up zapovedniki (nature reserves), set aside for scientific research. By the 1930s enough new forests had been created to cover an area the size of Mexico. The country was also home, by the 1980s, to one of the […]
Solidarity with Latin America
A chara, As the content of last month’s Socialist Voice will show, there is an urgent need for solidarity with Latin America. The existence of mass struggles by a risen people in Chile, Ecuador, Colombia, Haiti, Puerto Rico and so on, as well as the existence of socialist Cuba, are […]
The most important German sculptor of the twentieth century
Ernst Barlach was born near Hamburg 150 years ago, on 2 January 1870. He was the most important German sculptor of the twentieth century. Bertolt Brecht said about his work: “His genius, meaning, ingenious craftsmanship, beauty without embellishment, stature without overstretching, harmony without smoothness, vitality without brutality make Barlach’s sculptures […]
A valuable source for young activists
■ Mick O’Reilly, From Lucifer to Lazarus: A Life on the Left (Dublin: Lilliput Press, 2019) Mick O’Reilly’s recently launched book is a must-read for all young activists, as it records how many of the gains achieved and then taken for granted were won through hard struggle and tough battles, […]