So where was Biden’s “political armageddon”?

For months, legions of American political commentators were racing to declare the political death of Joe Biden and the Democratic Party. They claimed repeatedly that this year’s midterm elections would be Biden’s “political armageddon”, citing his litany of broken promises, difficulties with passing his agenda through an instransigent Senate, and declining poll ratings over the…

The UK is an authoritarian country

Britain is often portrayed as a champion of “freedom” and “democracy” both by our government and its faithful servants in the media, as well as anyone else who clearly does not know any better. Mostly we are told that we are a free and democratic country because we “stand up” to dictatorships, a point bolstered…

No, there is no reason to trash art

Part of the problem with trying to raise public awareness of climate change is that nothing the protestors do seems to be making much of an impact, and whatever you try to do to raise awareness will always be met with derision, mockey and concern trolling from all of the usual suspects in the right-wing…

On the triumph of Starmerism and the tragedy of the Labour left

Labour’s recent party conference has a noticeably different mood about it compared to last year. It was far more confident, and so was Starmer himself. While there is still a notable sense of caution, justified since this isn’t the first time it looked like Labour was about to win, the confidence exuded from the 2022…

Europe’s fascists aren’t even hiding it anymore

Italy’s snap election ended exactly the way most had expected it to. The Brothers of Italy, the heir to the neo-fascist Italian Social Movement (MSI), is now the largest party in both the Chamber of Deputies and the Italian Senate, with its leader Giorgia Meloni expected to become the new Italian prime minister with the…

When liberals choose reactionaries

Something terrible has happened in Sweden. In the general election on September 11th, the far-right Sweden Democrats became the second-largest party in the Riksdag, and the largest party in the Swedish right, which collectively won enough votes and seats to overtake the left bloc. This means that despite the ruling Social Democratic Party being the…

On the function and future of the British monarchy

Queen Elizabeth II, the longest reigning monarch in British history, has passed on, having died peacefully in her summer home in Balmoral and surrounded by loved ones. Her eldest son is now King Charles III, and his reign ushers in the end of what has been called the “Elizabethan era”, that is to say the…

Life after Boris and the prospect of a Labour government

The old cruelty of Boris Johnson has passed. Let a whole new wave of cruelty wash over the land, courtesy of the new Prime Minister Liz Truss and her cadre of reactionary ideologues. Having trounced leadership rival and reluctant realist Rishi Sunak by about 20,000 votes, Truss has begun the task of building a government…

Don’t blame Gorbachev, the USSR was doomed with or without him

On August 30th, the news broke that Mikhail Gorbachev, the last premier of the USSR, had passed away after a long illness. Up to this point he was the last living leader of the USSR, and the man who long held the dubious honour of being the last man in charge when the world’s largest…

What is a socialist to make of China? – Part Two

Introductory Remarks for Part Two In the previous post, I sketched out a Marxist analysis of China and how to look at it in the grand scheme of things. In Part One I concentrated on issues related to economics, class, climate change, imperialism and foreign policy. My aim for that post was to illustrate that…