Originally posted on Michael Roberts Blog:
In the light of the current pandemic, here is a rough excerpt from my upcoming short book on Engels’ contribution to Marxian political economy on the…
Engels on nature and humanity
Coronavirus, a new world historical era and the socialist movement
Two years ago, a scientific paper on bats and wild habitat loss stated that “an ecological threshold has been crossed.” Such a topic might seem pretty esoteric, pretty minor in the bigger […]
Coronavirus and the factory: One worker’s journal
A factory worker in Southern California explains the importance of this section of the working class and then writes a journal of how the Covid-19 crisis is affecting the workers in that […]
Coronavirus & grocery workers: “working in a petri dish”
Life for grocery workers has dramatically changed during this Covid – 19 Coronavirus out break. Prior to the out break when we as grocery workers showed up for work we’d hit the […]
Coronavirus bailout, inflation and Karl Marx
I’ve been trying to think through the issue of inflation in light of the $2 trillion Coronavirus bailout and its affects on inflation. A large chunk of the bailout will be going […]
Coronavirus and the $2 trillion plus bailout
The $2 trillion bailout bill rushed through congress won’t be the last one. In fact, it wasn’t the first when we take into account the 2008 bailouts. It is different in that […]
Coronavirus and the battle for hearts and minds
A struggle is under way. It is the struggle for the hearts and minds of the US working class. Actually, that struggle has been here all along, but the Covid-19 crisis is […]
Coronavirus, Trump and the “adults in the room”
Three days ago, I wrote on Facebook: “Folks, place your bets here: How long will Fauci remain in his position? Trump has quarreled with and ultimately ousted every ‘adult in the room’ […]
Coronavirus and social distancing in the construction industry
Carpenters and building trade workers across the country are in ferment. Here’s what one trades worker reports: “Currently I’m working on a hospital addition (which I admit feels necessary), with hand washing […]
Coronavirus: A grocery worker speaks
Oaklandsocialist has received the following letter from a grocery clerk in far Northern California. We reprint it here along with a message from Oaklandsocialist. I distributed it in my local Lucky’s. Workers […]
Will the dollar collapse?
I’ve been saying that inflation was coming here for many years. That was because the dollar supply (M1 or M2) had vastly increased vs. the US GDP – in other words, more […]
Coronavirus, capitalism and the forces of nature
The Covid-19 pandemic which is wreaking such havoc is first and foremost an environmental disease. Or, more exactly, it is caused by how our society – capitalist society – interacts with the […]
Sanders-Biden Debate: First and Last?
Bernie Sanders and Joe Biden debated each other one-on-one for the first, and possibly last, time last night. Despite the claims of the Sanders campaign, Biden more or less came out on […]
A socialist building manager talks
A fascinating – and hopeful – report from a friend in East Germany: Dear readers, As a left-winger you have probably already thought about what you would do differently if you could […]
Statement of Alliance of Middle Eastern and North African Socialists on Coronavirus
Coronavirus Pandemic Exposes Inhumanity of Capitalism. What Can Socialists Do? Statement by Alliance of MENA Socialists Mar 14, 2020 We need to change the dominant discourse from one focused on fear of […]
Coronavirus, “M4A” and socialized medicine
I remember back in the 1980s sometime when a campaign for health care reform was first getting underway. At that time, the slogan was for “socialized medicine”. I remember we were meeting […]
The real threat of”Coronavirus”, world hunger and world politics
Note: This post seriously underestimated the threat of coronavirus. It was influenced by the warnings in the past about Swine Flu, Aviary Flu, and others – none of which really became […]
leaflet: What next for Sanders campaign?
I handed out this leaflet at the East Bay DSA meeting. There was some interest.
What next after “Super Tuesday”?
Bernie Sanders strategy has been based on an appeal to younger voters and the belief that he could get increased turnout of that age group. While there has been some reason all […]
Tribute to Lal Khan
The untimely death of Lal Khan (Tanvir Gondal, as I knew him) has struck a bitter blow, not only to the ongoing struggle and future hopes of the working class in Pakistan […]
HHS whistleblower, denialism and the crisis of US capitalism
In mid February, a worker at the federal Health and Human Services (HHS) agency filed a whistleblower complaint that HHS had bungled the response to the Covid 19 (AKA coronavirus). That complaint […]
The brilliant geniuses who lead the Carpenters Union
More from the brilliant geniuses who are leading the Carpenters Union. The February issue of The Carpenter magazine just arrived from the Northern California Regional Council of Carpenters. I know. It just […]
“Coronavirus”, covid 19 and expecting the unexpected
“I’ll lay my cards on the table: To me, Sanders is looking increasingly electable, the virus looks like it could reshape much of daily life at least in the short term, and […]
“The Ghetto Fights”
In 2016, in recognition of the heroic Warsaw Ghetto Uprising, Oaklandsocialist published a review of the book The Ghetto Fights. Written by one of the very few surviving fighters of that uprising, […]
After Nevada: Perspectives for the Sanders campaign
The Wall St. Journal editors are worried. Following the Nevada caucus vote they wrote: “The other candidates… all offer some version of Bernie Lite, and none speak up for the private economy.… […]
Democratic Party Debate in Nevada was enjoyable but skimmed the surface
Like the gunfight at the OK Corral, the confrontation with Michael (“Mike can get it done”) Bloomberg was a much anticipated event. It did not disappoint as far as seeing an autocratic […]
“Productivity. LOL…”: A carpenter speaks
“Productivity lol. Guys are throwing up 60 10′ boards [of sheetrock – about 65 lbs. each] on their own, with no partner. Guys are running through footage of framing that is robot […]
Trump, Barr and Julius Caesar
The present melodrama surrounding the sentencing guidelines of Trump partner-in-crime Roger Stone shows the same process as has Trump’s drive to take one person control over the State Department and the National Security […]
New Hampshire primary: Some tentative thoughts and questions
It is still far, far to early to draw any conclusions, but the results of yesterday’s New Hampshire (NH) primary leave open the question of where Bernie Sanders really stands in the […]
Trump, the State Department and the NSC: Slip sliding further towards one-man rule
A major obstacle for Trump’s drive towards one-man rule is the bureaucracy in the key agencies of the US government, two of which are the State Department and, even more important, the […]
Shock in provincial German elections
From a reporter in eastern Germany: Dear readers, yesterday there was a big bang in the German state of Thuringia, which dominates all the news today. To tell the whole story, I […]
Disgust and horror in Washington
As the end of the impeachment trial limped to a close, Donald Trump rode triumphantly into congress and disgust turned to horror and real fear. Especially when looking at the polls. Impeachment […]
Does impeachment matter?
The impeachment trial of Donald Trump is the focus of media attention. But does it really matter? Should workers and socialists more or less ignore the whole impeachment proceedings? That is the […]
Impeachment matters: Lies, hypocrisy and the mustache in the room
The lies and hypocrisy were so thick it felt like Sydney, Australia blanketed by smoke from the wildfires there. You had Ken Starr stand up there with his kindly and pompous smile […]
Impeachment matters: Trump’s lawyers sink to the occasion
Trump’s White House lawyers opened up their defense of Trump on Saturday. It was a classic example of how a skilled lawyer can combine a series of isolated events, statements and […]
Impeachment matters: The Democrats wrap up their case
The debate around Trump’s impeachment can be confusing. It can seem that both sides are simply distorting things equally. But that’s also true about human-caused (actually, capitalist-caused) global warming. A skilled lawyer […]
Impeachment matters: First 2 days of Senate impeachment trial
“Ukraine” means “borderland”, and that it is. It’s a border – or a gateway – from Russia to Western Europe as well as to Asia. As such, it has major strategic importance […]
Worker rights in the USA: The law and the reality
I was sent a message from a Mohamed Abdi, General Secretary of the Somali Public Trade Union, asking what is the situation with labor rights in the United States. Here is my […]
Jesse Jackson, Bernie Sanders and DSA
By Mike Howells In 1988 “independent” socialist Bernie Sanders and the DSA both endorsed 1988 presidential candidate Jesse Jackson and his presidential Rainbow Coalition campaign. That an African American and well known […]
Video: Oakland youth strike against climate disaster
Martin Luther King jr. and “the fierce urgency of now”
“Go back with the Fierce Urgency of NOW to talk with your Locals and International unions about all workers joining together – To End this Shutdown with a General Strike.” Sara Nelson, […]
Iran Popular Protests Against Regime Intensify in Response to Iran Downing of Passenger Plane
From Alliance of Middle East and North African Socialists January 12, 2020 The eloquent statements and slogans voiced by the latest wave of mass protests in Iran seem to indicate that the […]
US and Iran: Open war now seems unlikely
On the evening of the Iranian missile attack on military installations in Iraq that housed US troops, this writer wrote on Facebook: “…. I don’t think that either Trump nor Khameini/Rouhani want […]
Anti-war protest in San Francisco
Well over 1500 people swarmed the streets of San Francisco to protest the latest terrorist drone attack of the Trump administration. About a quarter or more of the protesters were young. But […]
Statement from Alliance of Middle East and North African Socialists on US war with Iran
The Alliance of Middle East and North African Socialists (AMENAS) has issued the following statement on the US attack on Qassem Soleimani and Abu Mahdi al-Mauhandis: Oppose U.S. and Iran War by […]
For a workers movement to stop US war on Iran
The best – the only – way to build a successful movement against a US war on Iran is to build a workers movement that includes direct links between workers in this […]
Chile: Carabineros set theater on fire
Traduccion al espanol abajo In these videos, you see the Chilean carabineros having set a theater on fire by shooting tear gas canisters onto its roof. The carabineros (“paco”) are universally hated, […]
UAW corruption starts with the pro-company strategy of the leaders
The scandal of corruption and union leaders living like capitalists that is sweeping the UAW has its roots in the pro-company strategy of the UAW leadership. Today, former UAW president Bob King […]
Boris Johnson and the “demise of the nation state”
And so, another reactionary demagogue joins the ranks as Boris Johnson becomes head of state in Britain. He joins Donald Trump, Narendra Modi (India), Scott Morrison (Australia), Viktor Orban (Hungary), Jair Bolsonaro […]
Root for the home team? Not!
I read the sports section of the Chronicle and occasionally watch a professional sports game on TV, but basically I hate professional sports and root against the home team – Oakland, in […]
