The Tory Housing Secretary Michael Gove has said that Kingspan Insulation in Cavan is “giving capitalism a bad name.” (Irish News, Sat 20th January 2024). Really! He went on to say that Kingspan is trying to “minimise their involvement” in regards to their insulation materials being used in the cladding […]
Socialism
Lenin 100 years on: a revolutionary life fulfilled
A hundred years have passed since the death of Lenin, the name used by Vladimir Ilyich Ulyanov since 1901. A hundred years is not a long period in historical sense, but a lot of water has flowed under the bridge in the meantime. The Russian Revolution, anti-colonial struggles, the rise […]
Krupskaya: Her revolutionary ideas and actions
Nadezhda Krupskaya and her accomplishments are often forgotten about and overshadowed by her husband, Vladimir Lenin. Krupskaya was a feminist, teacher and revolutionary who participated in the October Revolution and the building of socialism in the USSR. This year is the centenary of Lenin’s death, but while we celebrate him […]
People Want It Now!
Thousands of activists have, over time, chanted these well known words. “What do we want, when do we want it”….”Now !!” This is a very well known chorous from all sorts of political demonstrations and calls for change, all over the world. However well intentioned and correct that call may […]
The EU Directive on Collective Bargaining, Class Consciousness and Transformative Strategy
Previous articles in Socialist Voice, as well as our Party Programme, have explained and outlined what is meant by a transformative strategy to build socialism and replace capitalism as the mode of production, means of exchange and political, cultural and social relations of the State in Ireland. In essence it […]
The Carpet Weavers of Kuyan-Bulak Honour Lenin
1 Often and copiously honour has been doneTo Comrade Lenin. There are busts and statues. Cities are called after him, and children. Speeches are made in many languagesThere are meetings and demonstrationsFrom Shanghai to Chicago in Lenin’s honour. But this is how he was honoured byThe carpet weavers of Kuyan-BulakA […]
On the Centenary of the Death of Vladimir Lenin
… Once a fortnight the train comes through the Kuyan-Bulak railway station. …Then the whole of Kuyan-Bulak, Hare Spring in the local language, gathers on the platform. The cobbler Vasily Solntse and the community leader’s wife in an antediluvian smock, Semen Nikitish Trobka and the Red Army soldiers … Two […]
On Human Nature
The anti-communists tell us that communism cannot work because of human nature or that Marx failed to consider human nature. This has been met with some of those on the left claiming that humans are too complex or simply don’t have an inherent nature. Dr John Edward Terrell, a professor […]
A Socialist Programme For Change
In notebook no. 4 from Tricontinental: Institute for Social Research, “The World in Economic Depression: A Marxist Analysis of Crisis”, Marxist economists, E. Ahmet Tonak and Sungur Savran state that the present state of capitalism can best be described as a Great Depression starting in 2008. They point out that […]
On Democracy
The word “democracy” comes from Greek and means “rule of the common people”. We are told that we in the Western world are democratic. But it is hard to see choices being given to the workers with their input as the rule of the common people, or the common people […]
Lenin on the emancipation of women
Lenin once said that socialism alone would bring the emancipation of women, which Nadezhda Krupskaya, in the preface to The Emancipation of Women by Lenin, said “we see coming true.” However, while socialism and the changes it brings generally to the economic aspects of society are good for oppressed groups, […]
Irish communists’ visit to China
Part 2 ■ Part 1 was published in the August issue here The Communist Party of Ireland recently accepted an invitation from the International Department of the Communist Party of China to attend the 3rd Communist Party Leaders’ Delegation of North American, Oceanian and Nordic Countries at three venues in […]
Working-class unity
Last month’s Socialist Voice had an article on “learning with the people.” The writer made the point about its content that “is anything being said that hasn’t been said a thousand times before? Almost certainly not.” While that may be true, it seems that it’s often forgotten. Socialist movements are […]
Innovative activism: Learning with the people
To my eternal embarrassment, it’s only in very recent times that I realised that, in the scale of human existence, capitalism was actually a very young system of living—or existing. For some reason, I never thought to see it in terms of age. It would seem obvious now, but it […]
Prometheus and the Fire
The film Oppenheimer begins with a mention of Prometheus, the Greek god who is cursed by Zeus for not abiding by the law, stealing fire and giving it to humans in the form of knowledge. Oppenheimer is portrayed as a present-day Prometheus who is applauded for using his knowledge of […]
Interview with Temur Pipia, 1st Secretary of the Unified Communist Party of Georgia
Q. What are the biggest ideological legacies that frame the current situation in Georgia. What role for instance, does the legacy of soviet Russia play in Georgian society today, and what has been the impact of the neoliberal turn that really took off in the mid-2000s? After the collapse of […]