The undoing of social democracy
“Pasokisation” is a term for the collapse in support for social democratic parties. It is associated with the rise in support for the far right and fascists. In 2009, the Pan-Hellenic Socialist Party, whose acronym in Greek is Pasok, won 44 percent of the vote and a majority of seats in pa...CONTINUE READING
Political correctness and the rise of the right: an interview with Jeff Sparrow
Trump, Brexit, One Nation: can you comment on the context of the book and why you decided something like this needed to be written? The honest answer is that I was asked to write something reflecting on Trump by my then editor at Scribe. In the immediate wake of the 2016 presidential elect...CONTINUE READING
Capitalism creates the problems, socialism could solve them
You don’t need a degree in political science to know that our current leaders are a useless bunch of numpties. There’s no shortage of problems in society, yet the political and business elites who run the show seem to have no clue what to do about them. Whether it’s the lack of affordable...CONTINUE READING
The first Communist in parliament
In his maiden speech to the Queensland parliament in 1944, Australia’s only Communist MP left no room for doubt about what distinguished him from the self-serving cretins who usually inhabit the halls of power: “So far as I am concerned, in this house I represent and stand clearly for one...CONTINUE READING
Remembering the battle of Cable Street
Cable Street in Stepney looks like any other street in London’s East End. But in October 1936 it was the scene of events that marked a generation. In the 1930s, the East End contained nearly half the total Jewish population in Britain. A large proportion were immigrants or the offspring of...CONTINUE READING
How corporate power hijacked democracy
You don’t have to be a radical to think that what passes for democracy in capitalist society is a fraud. Politicians are so obviously influenced by extra-parliamentary networks of power that only the most blinkered ideologue would argue that the average Australian has as much influence on...CONTINUE READING
Mateship of mongrels: seven decades of the US-Australia alliance
In a rare moment of clarity, Donald Trump tweeted after Scott Morrison became prime minister, “There are no greater friends than the United States and Australia”. Coming from the bigot-in-chief, such endearment would turn the stomach of any decent human being. But it was a sweet serenade t...CONTINUE READING
Losing Santhia, part three: exodus from Jaffna, war in the Vanni
The early monsoon came heavy, leaving parts of Jaffna peninsula waterlogged. The place is a sultry, taxing fog. West of the Point Pedro-Maruthankerny Road, an inland sea overwhelms the flatlands and paddies from which islands of palmyra reach for the clouds. To the east it’s sand dunes and...CONTINUE READING
Never powerless. Norm Wallace, 1926-2018
Norm Wallace, treasurer and assistant secretary of the Builders Labourers Federation until 1988, was no stranger to struggle. Described by the construction union as “a hard man with an amazing passion for social justice”, Norm’s life spanned from undercover work in Z Special Unit, formed d...CONTINUE READING