Partisan • Patriotic • Internationalist
Farmers always give the appearance that the last penny is in their pocket. Or better, hasn’t reached it yet. They might have 500 or 600 acres and they would still say, “It’s only a hobby.” No money in it, and talking about “giving it up” for fifty years. And yet […]
The big item of conversation within the farming and rural community is the “Nature Restoration Law,” which is the EU Commission’s plan to restore more than a fifth of the EU member-states’ land and sea area by 2030. This is the first biodiversity law since the “Habitats Directives” in 1992; […]
Members of the Communist Party of Ireland visited Cuba in May, joining the annual International Brigades with hundreds of trade unionists, socialists and communists from every corner of the world. This two week program is organised by the Cuban Institute of Friendship with the Peoples in conjunction with the Cuba […]
Western Europe has been the scene of climate activism for many years. Driven by the reality of our changing climate, activists take desperate action to demand their governments uphold their agreement to reduce their carbon footprint. In few places was this more evident than in Germany. In the months leading […]
“Avatar” in Hindu mythology means reincarnation. A sequel to the film of that name was released internationally on 15 December. The earlier part had mountains as the battlefield between “sky people” and the natives; this time it is the ocean. It is an interesting film at a time when Elon […]
■ This article is by a family farmer actively trying to bring people together in the Westmeath-Roscommon region. Socialist Voice welcomes contributions to this important and necessary debate. The true issue in farming today is the lack of awareness of the crisis they are now in. The Dutch farmers, alongside […]
In geology, the periods and smaller epochs of Earth’s past are named by the region in which they were first determined as such, or by their characteristics. Well-known periods are the Carboniferous, for its ample coal deposits, and the Jurassic, for the Jura Mountains, where it was first identified. The […]
Lithium is the lightest known metal, for which the heaviest competition for possession may occur in the future. In the capitalist mode of production, human wants and necessities are converted into commodities: that is, use values are made to go through an exchange value system, through markets, with profit as […]
Farm vehicles blockading motorways, burning haystacks on hard shoulders, and heaps of manure at the house of parliament—these images from the farmers’ protests in the Netherlands have been broadcast around the world. The recent reports of nitrogen excesses, and the magnitude by which it needs to be reduced, have struck […]
The severe drought affecting many regions of Europe since the beginning of the year has been further expanding and worsening. Dry conditions are related to a wide and persistent lack of precipitation—rain and snow—combined with a sequence of heat waves from May onwards. The severe precipitation deficit has affected river […]
Up to 2017, 8,300 million tonnes of virgin plastics have been produced, exceeding the quantity of almost all other human-made materials. The production of plastics, and petrochemicals in general, like the testing of nuclear weapons, represents a qualitative shift in human relations with the earth. It has resulted in the […]
The leaders of the world gathered their propaganda machine last month to discuss what lies to tell the working class about how they will combat climate change. Britain was among those at the 26th UN Climate Change Conference of the Parties (nicknamed COP26) in October and November. With a history […]
The constant growth of capitalism, fuelled by exploitation, has resulted in an energy crisis in the European Union. Oil prices have risen by 60 per cent this year, while natural gas has risen by 500 per cent, and coal prices in China are at a record. The increase in gas […]
Over the past few weeks farmers were given the opportunity to have their say in a full, nationwide consultation process concerning the recent CAP agreement. During this process a few issues cropped up. These were: During the on-line meetings farmers felt that their various questions concerning their future under the […]
In this article I will attempt to explain the new common agricultural policy (CAP) deal that will be implemented in 2023. First I will give a basic description of the CAP agreement: 1. There will be a linear cut of 25 per cent of direct payments. These cuts will be […]
Over the period 2010–19 the expansion in the dairy industry in the 26-Country state, thanks to the quota restrictions being lifted by the business organisation known as the EU, has resulted in an increase in the land area allocated to dairy farming. At the farm gate level the expansion has […]