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Fighting the far right, fighting for socialism

A Tubeworker and Off The Rails public (Zoom) meeting

Thursday 1 August

15:00-17:00

Log in via Zoom here.

The French far-right party National Rally (Rassemblement National, RN) was pushed into third place in recent elections by the New Popular Front (Nouveau Front Populaire, NFP) and the electoral alliance of President Macron. But RN remains a significant threat, and one which cannot be confronted solely on the electoral terrain. How much of an alternative does the NFP offer?

We'll hear from French transport worker trade unionists active in the revolutionary socialist New Anticapitalist Party (Nouveau Parti Anticapitaliste, NPA) about the fight against the far right, and for working-class politics.

Thursday 1 August 15:00-17:00 Log in via Zoom here

Following the discussion, well hold an editorial meeting to agree the contents for the next edition of Tubeworker bulletin. All Tube workers, directly employed and outsourced, are welcome.

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Tubeworker/Off The Rails online meeting, 1 August, 3pm: Fighting the far right, fighting for socialism: a discussion with French transport worker...

Fascists on the rise in France - Le Pen, the RN, and the Popular Front

Frances New Popular Front (NPF) is showing that it is fully immersed in an old and failed set of politics.

The left wing coalition has withdrawn candidates running against vile and reactionary government figures in the second round of Frances elections.

The excuse is that this is worthwhile and necessary to block candidates of the fascist RN party. But the result will be to rehabilitate proven enemies of the working class from president Emmanuel Macrons neoliberal and repressive regime. This will lay the basis for a further surge of fascist support.

The NPF is supporting precisely those who smoothed the path for fascist leaders Marine Le Pen and Jordan Bardella.

Nobody should trivialise the threat from the RN, or the importance of defeating it. Everyone has to fight for Not a single vote to the RN,

But the left should by now have realised that Macrons onslaught against migrants and Muslims, the relentless removal of rights, and support for the cops savagery legitimised Le Pens views.

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Party and Class the politics of revolutionary socialism - Socialist Worker

Sir Keir Starmer takes his place at the head of a Labour government on a collision course with the British working class. He owes his landslide victory entirely to the hatred with which the Conservative government of the last 14 years was viewed, the thoroughly undemocratic first-past-the-post system, and the fact that widespread left-wing sentiment has found no organised socialist expression.

These factors have placed a new reactionary monster in power, far to the right of any previous Labour leader, with little more than a third of the popular vote on a near record-low turnout. Tony Blair took several years to earn his reputation as a criminal for his participation in the Afghanistan and Iraq Wars, and as a Thatcherite social arsonist for his encouragement of inequality and privatisation.

Starmer begins his premiership with blood on his hands from his endorsement of the Gaza genocide and the Ukraine war, already voicing fierce opposition to the social demands of the working class, and committed to police repression of anti-genocide protesters. He speaks, in the language of the political right, of uniting the country and placing country before party. But the country is rent in two, and former chief prosecutor Starmer and his government stand on the side of the banks, the corporations and the military-security apparatus.

The question many workers and young people around the country will be asking themselves, just a couple of days after handing Rishi Sunaks Tories an unprecedented electoral defeat, is: How do we get rid of their replacements? Starmers own personal majority in his local seat, and those of many of his ministers, were slashed by half or more even on election night.

Significant votes for independents, and to some extent the Green Party, show the desire for a political alternative. But the candidates receiving these ballots are representatives of the totally bankrupt protest, pacifist, pseudo-reformist politics which has defined opposition to the political establishment for decades and created the present sense of impasse and frustration.

As in Europe and the United States, there is a danger that this drives workers to the far-right in their search for a way out. Although the Reform Party largely gained its support by hiving off the extreme right of the Tory base, its 14 percent vote total is a warning that the rise of Trump and Le Pen is rooted in a global process of betrayals of working-class interests.

The only way forward is through a struggle against pseudo-left politics. Workers who are serious about a fight for socialism in the UK must above all draw the lessons of the Corbyn experience.

Winning two commanding victories in the Labour leadership elections of 2015 and 2016, Corbyn had an overwhelming mandate to destroy the Tory Party mark two run by the Blairites. Instead he gave every Labour MP protection inside his broad church party, where they plotted to slander and expel his supporters, sabotage his chances of election and remove him from politics. Starmer began his march to power from Corbyns own shadow cabinet.

Had Corbyn taken up a fight against his sworn opponents, the whole constellation of British politics would have been transformed. The former Labour leader won close to 13 million votes in the 2017 election, versus Starmers slightly more than 9 million. But he has maintained his prostration before the Labour Party to this day, even after being expelled from its ranks for standing as an independenta step he had to be forced into taking, and only at the eleventh hour.

Interviewed by the Evening Standard ahead of the election, Corbyn explained that he would of course be glad to see Labour win and that he would back the party in parliament on the good stuff it does. His campaign in Islington North was carefully limited so as not to conflict directly with Starmer.

Once again, Corbyn sat on the potential for a mass movement against the Labour Party. Trouncing Labours Praful Nargund, winning 50 percent more votes, he could have spearheaded a national movement against its candidates among workers and young people who instead voted anti-Tory and reluctantly for Starmer, looked to a disparate array of independents and Greens, or refused to vote.

It was, is and always will be Corbyns choice not to do so because the alpha and omega of his politics is to prevent any clash between the working class and his beloved Labour Partyan organisation with more than a centurys history of betrayal of workers struggles and aspirations. He maintains a personal following for this position by relying on the pragmatism of electoral politics and cynicism towards the possibility of overthrowing capitalism.

Such debilitating conceptions must be broken with. They play far more of a role in keeping the Starmers of the world in power than any of their own non-existent strengths.

As if to prove the point, in just a few days time, Starmer will be flying to Washington DC to take part in a NATO summit of the political walking dead. He will join French President Emmanuel Macron, whose Ensemble party will likely have been barely kept in government by the grace of the New Popular Front. The senile US President Joe Biden teetering on the edge of forced removal as the Democratic candidate and the discredited German Chancellor Olaf Scholz complete the house of cards at the heart of the imperialist alliance.

But these invalids are nonetheless planning for a war and wartime austerity of staggering dimensions. The topic of discussion will be how to fight the next stage of the war between the imperialist powers and Russia in Ukraine and how to fund it through the ramped-up exploitation of the working class and the destruction of public services. Plans for conscription and state repression will also be high on the agenda.

For its part, Labour has already committed to an increase in defence spending costing tens of billions and a modernisation of its nuclear weapons, including building four nuclear submarines, costing billions more.

This is the fundamental contradiction at the heart of todays world political situation, which comes down to the crisis of leadership in the working class. The ruling elite is taking enormous risks out of the desperation of its weak and crisis-ridden social position, but if a revolutionary movement does not wrench power from them, they will plunge society deeper and deeper into barbarism.

Workers and young people are tasked with building that revolutionary movement. In Britain, broad opposition to the Gaza genocide must be made the starting point for a struggle against the Labour government and its programme of imperialist war.

The Socialist Equality Party will be taking up that challenge. Our election campaign is aimed at breaking the conspiracy of silence maintained by the capitalist media, the major parties, the trade unions and what passes for the left over the acute dangers facing the working class, and at building a socialist alternative to Starmers party of genocide and war. It was based on a rejection of, and 9-year record of struggle against Corbynism.

That perspective has been totally vindicated. It must now be taken up by all socialist workers and young people throughout the UK.

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Build the socialist opposition to Starmer's right-wing government! - WSWS

Happy Fourth of July, I guess.

Not feeling so patriotic after the one-two punch of the disastrous Trump-Biden debate on June 27 and the Supreme Court turning our presidents into unimpeachable monarchs on July 1? Same, buddy.

On the (very small, dim, fleeting) bright side, its a great time to talk about socialism. And its always a great time to talk about games, which is why Im revisiting Molleindustrias Democratic Socialism Simulator. The turn-based decision-making sim, which was released in February 2020, lets you play out presidential actions as if you were a democratic socialist elected to the office. (Yes, Democratic National Committee, I know youll never let that happen. Youve made that very clear.)

The scenarios are presented by political actors illustrated as animals, like the lobbyist who looks like a shark or the activist who looks like a panther, which helps keep this game from becoming more depressing than it is informative. As you make decisions like whether to forgive student debt and whether to openly support unionization efforts, a slew of metrics and graphs at the bottom of the screen display the impact of your choices.

Your decisions dont just impact the tangible things like budget, though; you also have to keep eyes on the amount of power youre providing the populace, how your choices are impacting the environment, and which voters you might alienate with your rhetoric. You have to keep enough seats in Congress to be able to pass decisions, too. In short, if you go full commie, youll lose the next election or be overthrown. If you go hard on the free market, the same will happen.

But the aim of the game to get reelected and complete two full terms of presidency isnt necessarily the point of playing. At least not now, four years after the game was released and after months of rolling disappointments from literally every branch of the U.S. government.

Im thrilled to report that the only parts of Democratic Socialism Simulator that are no longer relevant are things that have actually come to pass. The games developers couldnt have known about the insurrection on Jan. 6, 2021, when the game was released in February 2020, despite the in-game quip Who knew America can topple its own government?

The devs also couldnt have known that President Biden would actually pull out of Afghanistan unceremoniously, or that expanding the Supreme Court would be something liberals are seriously talking about, or that wed be flirting with recession for most of the last four years, or that wed really expand our operations in Yemen.

Its ultimately a shame to watch the game walk you through all the infinite options that would better the United States and its people, and lay out why and how theyd be effective, and then click out and go back to a reality where neither political party adequately represents the people.

But I still think this game is a great way to teach people in your life about the merits of democratic socialism. Even as someone whos relatively well versed in socialist political philosophies, there are scenarios in Democratic Socialism Simulator that Id never thought of myself, like providing workers the first buying rights on companies that are being dissolved.

On my most recent replay (each playthrough takes anywhere from 15 to 45 minutes, depending on how long you take to make choices and how quickly you lose), I proudly made it into a successful second term with plenty of cash and seats in Congress. But I lost focus halfway into my second term not because I turned 84, but because I had to flip the laundry and I ended up being overthrown for spending too much money trying to make America as socialized as possible before my presidency ended.

The best part of the game is its replayability. Even after running the sim tens of times, I still occasionally see a scenario or character I havent before. So if youre sitting around being depressed about the state of our great nation this Independence Day, maybe consider escaping to a version of it where you can actually effect change and have your voice heard.

The game is free on the App Store and $2.99 on Steam, Itch.io, and Google Play.

Correction: A previous version of this article misstated that Biden removed troops from Iraq in 2021. The president withdrew troops from Afghanistan at that time.

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Democratic Socialism Simulator is a reminder of the DNCs weaknesses - Polygon

Over recent weeks, members of the International Youth and Students for Social Equality (IYSSE) and Socialist Equality Party (SEP) in Sri Lanka have been campaigning for the upcoming public meeting, Free Ukrainian socialist Bogdan Syrotiuk. We urge our readers to attend this event, which will be held at the National Library Auditorium, Independent Square Avenue in Colombo 07, on Sunday July 7 at 3 p.m.

Bogdan, a leading member of the Young Guard of Bolshevik-Leninists (YGBL), has been imprisoned by Ukraines fascistic Zelensky regime since April 25 on fraudulent charges of high treason, and aiding the Russian government.

These outrageous and crude lies have been hurled against the 25-year-old Ukrainian socialist because he, and the YGBL, oppose the US-NATO war against Russia and are fighting to unite Russian and Ukrainian workers on a socialist program against the capitalist oligarchs in both countries. The YGBL is affiliated with the International Committee of the Fourth International (ICFI).

On June 13, the ICFI held internationally coordinated pickets at Ukrainian embassies and consulates in the US, UK, Turkey, Germany, France, Canada and Australia to protest the arbitrary arrest and detention of Bogdan and present An Open Letter to the Ukrainian government: Release Bogdan Syrotiuk! Ukrainian embassies in the US, UK, Germany and France, however, refused to accept the letter.

There is no Ukrainian embassy in Sri Lanka and so the SEP is holding a public meeting in Colombo to intensify international action to demand Bogdans release.

Campaigners have received important support in northern Jaffna where the SEP and its predecessor, the Revolutionary Communist League, has a powerful base of support among minority Tamil people for its consistent and principled opposition to the three-decade communalist wars waged by successive Sri Lankan governments against the separatist Liberation Tigers of Tamil Tigers.

We publish below statements made by workers and students from across the islandColombo, Jaffna and Hambantotaand the Healthcare Workers Action Committee demanding Bogdans immediate release and the dropping of the bogus charges. Healthcare Workers Action Committee in Sri Lanka

The Healthcare Workers Action Committee in Sri Lanka convened a special meeting last week to discuss the escalating assault on democratic rights by the Zelensky government and to pass a resolution demanding Bogdans release. The resolution condemned his arrest and noted the thoroughly repressive situation in the country [Ukraine] which prevented Bogdan from obtaining adequate legal representation to fight the false charges against him.

The Health Workers Action Committee, which includes doctors, nurses and health assistants, noted that the struggle to stop the war must be based on the working class, youth and students with a socialist program. It explained that the political fight being waged by Bogdan and his YGBL was based on this program and stated, The freedom of Bogdan is a significant step in the fight against war and for socialism.

K. Ruban, a software engineering student at BCAS (British College of Applied Studies) in Jaffna

Innocent individuals are being made to sacrifice their lives for the imperialist interests of the US and NATO in Ukraine and elsewhere in the world. I doubt whether the people who are dying from wars today, including the genocide in Gaza, know exactly why they are dying.

In his opposition to war, Bogan exposed the predatory motives of the imperialist countries. He has fought not only for the future of Ukrainian youth but for all of us. He should be freed.

An IT sector worker in Kokuvil, Jaffna

I didnt know about this comrade before. Wars are the worst thing for humanity and his fight against such a war is genuine. It is not acceptable that he was arrested by the Ukrainian government, and I strongly condemn it.

The Ukrainian government has stripped his democratic rights and I agree that these vicious attacks are worldwide phenomena.

S. Nivashan, a Jaffna University science faculty student

Bogdan has exposed the real interests behind the war. If they [the Zelensky government] let him exercise his freedom of speech, then their war effort will be exposed, and they would be unable to gather support.

Anyone who listens to him will agree with him and this is the very reason they are framing him as a Russian agent. This is false. Bogdan has exposed the Putins regime, as well as the Ukrainian government which is supported by NATO. The international unity of the working class must be forged to win his freedom and for the termination of the war.

Sanduni, third-year zoology student from the Jaffna University science faculty

I dont like any war and we should never forget the experience of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. I know that a nuclear war would cause the worst consequences, yet all these imperialist powers seem to ignore this.

We have faced a war and went through a lot of hard things. But after coming to Jaffna, I now realise that the Tamil people underwent much more hardships than us in other areas.

We lost a lot of livesTamil and Sinhala youth. They fought and died, not for their own interests but because they were pitted against each other by the capitalist politicians. I think the same goes with Ukraine. The Ukrainian government has imprisoned Bogdan Syrotiuk because his activism. He tells workers and young people that this is not your war. I demand he be released forthwith.

Nelum Chinthaka, a young farmer from Hambantota in southern Sri Lanka

I understand that there is no solution in groveling to the capitalists. We need to build a workers and peasant movement. Bogdan fought for socialism and against war. This brave Ukrainian socialist fought to build an anti-war movement. People of the world must raise their voice against this injustice and demand his release from prison unconditionally.

As far as I know, America intervenes and makes war all over the world. Thousands of lives have been lost through it. Its intervention in the Middle East has been disastrous. The US and European countries are behind the war in Ukraine. Even in the war in Sri Lanka, countries like the US, helped the Sri Lankan government. That is why a hundred thousand Tamils were killed in Mullivaikkal [in the Northern Province].

Aslam, a young mechanic from Meethotamulla, a Colombo suburb

Bogdan fought to defend democratic rights and just because of that the Zelensky government has arrested him to shut his mouth and thus to destroy him

The [Ukrainian embassies who refused to accept the ICFIs Open Letter] may have been influenced by the US and Zelensky government. This is not democracy when they dont even accept such a protest letter. They do not allow us to express our opinions. There must be a fight to get Bogdan out.

Kandambi, a worker from Ragama, north of Colombo

Everyone should vehemently condemn the Zelensky government in Ukraine for its arrest and detention of Bogdan Syrotiuk, a leading political activist of Young Guard of Bolshevik-Leninists, a Trotskyist organisation active in the former Soviet Union. The obvious factor in this situation is that the life of this young socialist is in danger.

Young political activists like Bogdan should be commended. We here in Sri Lanka also should join to this international campaign for the freedom of Bogdan. We should denounce the Ukrainian government for keeping him under arrest and blocking his right to free expression. Meanwhile, we should ask foreign embassies in this country to raise this issue with the Ukrainian government.

Immediate freedom for Bogdan and the dropping of all the allegations against him! Let us fight and protest the blocking of his right to free speech! Stand up with this protest throughout South Asia, including Sri Lanka! Value and fight for political freedom!

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Sri Lankan workers and youth support public meeting to demand release of Ukrainian socialist Bogdan Syrotiuk - WSWS