This period is rich in lessons for working class people today. The struggle waged in 1913 is a beacon that can shine a bright light on the way forward, if its lessons are fully absorbed.
Related Posts
Anglo write off €110 million in Denis O’Brien deal!
In April, billionaire tax exile Denis O’Brien did a deal with the former Anglo Irish Bank to purchase a company called Siteserv for €45 million. This sale saw €110 million of taxpayers’ money being simply written off by the bank in a manner which raises further serious questions about the links between this controversial businessman and politicians.
US – A graphic picture of decline
New book charts economic, social and political decay of America
“No one can say when the unwinding began – when the coil that held Americans together in its secure and sometimes stifling grip first gave way. Like any great change, the unwinding began at countless times, in countless ways – and at some moment the country, always the same country, crossed a line of history and became irretrievably different”.
So begins George Packer in this tremendous book, The Unwinding, which paints a devastating picture of US capitalism in decline. Similar to Packer, Karl Marx described the collapse of the Spanish Empire as a “slow and inglorious decay”. The difference is that Spain’s decline took place over centuries, whereas the astonishing collapse of the US – still, nevertheless, the strongest capitalist power on the planet – has been compressed into 50 or 60 years!
The limits of austerity?
In the past weeks, European Commission President, Barroso has spoken about how austerity has “reached its limit”. At home, Joan Burton, Minister for Social Protection, opportunistically declared that “we have reached the limits of austerity now”.
United Left Alliance TDs prepare to fight government’s new wave of austerity
Plans announced for a campaign against cuts and budget 2012
