Partisan • Patriotic • Internationalist
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 […]
In the preface of his book SuperIntelligence, Nick Bostrom writes: “The human brain has capabilities that the brains of other animals lack. It is to these distinctive capabilities (language, technology and complex social organization) that we owe our dominant position on the planet.” The question is whether these capabilities will […]
If you don’t work in tech, most probably you have heard of ChatGPT, and thought that it’s amazing. Actually many who do work in tech would share your amazement—a system that can mimic humans to the extent that, many argue, it can pass the Turing test, the gold standard for […]
A recent article in Socialist Voice – entitled “Multipolarity and US Hegemony” – suggests that U.S. imperialism drives dollar dominance and that the dollar can only weaken by the political actions of countries like China. However, the risk to dollar dominance is unlikely to be determined in the last instance […]
Simon Coveney, the Dublin TD, and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment, was interviewed on RTÉ Radio 1 in late May about the loss of jobs at Meta, Facebook’s parent company, over the last few months. True to form, tongue in cheek, he regretted the job losses and vowed to […]
Capitalism has survived despite a roller-coaster of crises for over two centuries. It uses many means to survive, but one of its greatest weapons is controlling the narrative and dividing the working class, to divert attention from the cause of all the crises faced by and paid for by the […]
Capitalism evolved from the development of trade: mercantile capitalism gave way to manufacturing capitalism which transformed into industrial capitalism after the industrial revolution, which was fueled by scientific inventions. The history of capitalism as a dominant mode of production begins in the 17th century, with Holland and England being the […]
“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 […]