While always having access to the coercive arms of the state, capitalists prefer to adopt less abrasive, more PR-savvy methods when possible. This is where Kelly and the Teneos of this world come in.
Political Economy
Why do we work? | Part 2
Work, like inequality, appears to be a permanent feature of human existence into the foreseeable future. Psychologically, humans do not feel well if they are not working. Or so the story goes. And work, as we said earlier, is continually reinforced by the language of power. “An honest day’s work […]
On the need for a focal point | Part 2
Continuing with the analogy established in the preceding article, we can think of the specific structure of capitalism as resting on three pillars: civil society, foreign capital, and domestic capital. If we think through this heuristic model we begin to realise the enormity of the task, but conversely we also […]
A house is not just a building
A house is not just a building made of bricks and concrete: it’s a nest made of dreams and memories. When such a place crumbles in front of one’s eyes it is heartbreaking. Approximately five thousand families have faced the heartbreak because of the mica issue, which caused cracks in […]
Why do we work?
“Why do we work?” seems like an odd question. Sure everyone works, do they not? Or the majority of people do, one way or another. And if you can’t, don’t or won’t work there is every chance you are seen as lazy, a sponger, or worse. But there has to […]
The centenary of Stormont: Its legacy, and how we move forward
■ This is the text of a paper given by the general secretary of the CPI that formed part of an exchange of views in June 2021, a conversation between left republican activists and Protestant religious leaders to discuss the future of the North of Ireland. First of all I […]
On the need for a “focal point”
In Ireland, just like elsewhere, our movement stands in front of a seemingly impenetrable wall: the great wall of capital. The unfortunate reality is that we are even further from tearing it down than we were a hundred years ago, when the last revolutionary high point of Irish history was […]
Capitalism sucking the life out of sport
The announcement on Sunday 18 April 2021 by a group of twelve “elite” football clubs in England, Spain and Italy—Manchester United, Manchester City, Chelsea, Liverpool, Arsenal, Tottenham Hotspur, Real Madrid, Barcelona, Atlético Madrid, Juventus, Inter Milan and AC Milan—that they intend to set up a European Super League brought widespread […]
Evictions: The brutal reality of government captured by landlords
The moratorium on evictions was lifted on 23 April, placing the fate of thousands of renters affected by this pandemic firmly back into the hands of landlords. The government has clearly shown that it cares more for the rights of the propertied classes during an economic and public health crisis […]
Who said that?
“That’s not the case. Most of the apples are fully rotten. And so is the mainstream reporting.”—Eva Bartlett, Canadian journalist and activist commenting on the description of terrorists in the “White Helmets” in Syria as “a few bad apples.” “The real underlying currency of our world is not gold, nor […]
The great housing robbery
The mantra “You need to own your own house” or to “get on the property ladder” has great appeal in the Irish psyche. Young couples will queue outside building sites for days to get their “dream home.” While they wait, and it makes the evening news, the original price of […]
Constitutional change on the way?
It’s becoming increasingly difficult to assess the behaviour of the Dublin government. Is it slavishly following a free-market agenda, indifferent to workers? Is it responding to pressure from abroad? Is it simply incompetent? Or is it the fact that there are elements of all three causes in the wretched performance […]
What separates the CPI from the rest?
In the November 2020 issue the article headed “From A to B, and everything in between” outlined the CPI’s transformative strategy. The present article is a short follow-up based on discussions that have come up since the article was published, which I hope will further illuminate the thinking and ideas […]
Marxism and the housing crisis
“Our cities can never be made really habitable or worthy of an enlightened people while the habitations of its citizens remain the property of private individuals. To permanently remedy the evils of city life the citizens must own their city.” (James Connolly, Workers’ Republic, 18 November 1899) “The so-called housing shortage, which […]
How long will they get away with it?
Two instructive headlines from the bourgeois financial news web site Business Insider give an indication of how the balance of global wealth has shifted since the covid-19 pandemic began in early 2020. The first: “Billionaires made $3.9 trillion during the pandemic,” informing us that the likes of the Victorian workhouse […]
Caomhnóir ina shabaitéir
An bhliain seo caite méadaíodh 74 faoin gcéad ar bhrabús an chomhlachta phríobháidigh otharcharr is mó sa tír, Lifeline Ambulance Service. Is le David Hall, a bhain cáil amach cheana mar fheachtasóir morgáiste, an comhlacht.