Partisan • Patriotic • Internationalist
“No ethical consumption under capitalism” is a phrase that is often bandied about with no real connection to its origin. It’s used to provide cover for superfluous hauls and conspicuous consumption (or overconsumption), the line of thinking being that “if no choices are ethical then I can and should be […]
In Ireland the rich are getting richer, the poor are getting poorer, and more people are falling into poverty every day. The Central Statistics Office is the statistical agency responsible for gathering information relating to economic, social and general activities and conditions. It collects and “analyses” this type of information […]
The new year begins with no let-up in the assault on the working class. The cost of food, clothes, heat, rent and mortgages continues to rise. Homelessness is increasing. The election of Leo Varadkar as taoiseach will probably result in an intensification of this assault, in the interests of native […]
“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 […]
■ From Manifest, monthly paper of the New Communist Party of the Netherlands,¹ translated and edited by Miranda Lynch. Anti-communism is an essential part of the prevailing ideology under capitalism. It is of great importance to the bourgeoisie that the oppressed class does not see communism as an alternative. This […]
Inflation is an increase in the price of goods and services. When the quantity of money in an economy exceeds the quantity of commodities it will cause “demand pull” inflation. When the cost of raw materials or an increase in wages causes price increases it is “cost push” inflation. The […]
In October the British prime minister, Liz Truss, resigned. The capitalist media informed us that her economic policies did not find favour with the financial markets, and as a result she had to go. Once Truss had been removed, the Tories selected a new prime minister, and the media moved […]
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 […]
For months the media have been full of stories about the cost-of-living crisis, the climate crisis, the housing crisis, and the crisis in the health service. The Government has laid the blame on the world economy, or on supply-line issues, either as a result of the pandemic or of 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 […]
In the official ideology of the Irish state, the Industrial Development Authority comes in for special praise as one of the main agencies that helped “modernise” the Irish economy—i.e. opened it up to penetration by foreign, mostly American, capital. It has been lauded as a latter-day David that outfought Goliath […]
Recently I had the good fortune to travel to the United States for a week. It was, to say the least, an eye-opener. Among the grandeur of the superwealth that I witnessed in New York I saw sights that for me were emotionally draining and shocking. I went […]
As the cost of living grows ever higher, and more families are choosing between eating and paying bills—with some parents skipping meals so their children can eat—we continue to produce an over-abundance. We produce such an over-abundance of food that no one should be without food. Roughly a third […]
Capitalism is a system that has an innate tendency to get into a cul-de-sac of crisis, and the only way it knows for coming out of crisis is by further exploitation of the working class. The cost-of-living crisis—caused by inflation, which eats up the earnings of the working class […]