I WAS lucky enough recently to visit South Korea-a country that is changing extraordinarily fast. It belongs to the handful of dynamic East Asian economies that have been tilting the centre of gravity of global capitalism towards the Pacific Rim.
FELTHAM YOUNG offenders' institution is notorious for its racism, violence and general degradation of the human spirit. The appalling case of Zahid Mubarek was bad enough. He was killed by a psychopathic racist Robert Stewart, who he was forced to share a cell with.
THE HORROR of ethnic cleansing was shown on TV screens across the world last week. But there were no shrieks of outrage from George Bush and Tony Blair. That's because their ally, Israel's prime minister Ariel Sharon, was carrying out that policy in Palestine.
\"TONY BLAIR is swept away in October. George W Bush loses in November. President John Kerry and Prime Minister Gordon Brown rush to pull US and British troops out of an Iraq descending into civil war. The Saudi monarchy falls before the triumphant march of Islamist extremism. The oil price breaks through $60 a barrel and the world economy heads for stagflation. America's growing isolation in the world makes way for the return of American isolationism, globalisation for global protectionism.\"
The job we face shapes the form of socialist organisation. If all we had to do was make general propaganda in favour of socialism, then the loosest form of association would be enough. But that would mean sitting on the sidelines, only commentating on real struggles and actual movements.
BEWARE. FUNDAMENTALIST fanatics are on the streets of Britain and are coming to a town near you. No, this isn't a front page of the Sun or the Daily Express. These are Christian fanatics from the US and they come with Blair's blessing.
"TURN IRAQ over to the United Nations (UN)." That is now the cry of many who opposed the US war on Iraq last year, such as the Green Party. But the shrillest calls over the last two weeks for the UN to run Iraq have come from the very people who were more than happy to back the invasion.
Last week we argued that it is movements from below that can change the world. They draw their power from their capacity to mobilise large numbers of people. Movements provide most of the energy and creativity involved in great challenges to our rulers. The overthrow of capitalism will involve an immense movement from below. It will engage the self transforming activity of millions of working people, struggling for economic, political and cultural power.
I have to warn readers of a nervous disposition that I am about to use two words that will create fear and trembling among you. The words are Margaret Thatcher. I'm sorry if you're now hiding behind the sofa. The only reason for mentioning her dread name is that last week celebrations were held to mark the 25th anniversary of her general election victory in 1979.
THINGS ARE getting steadily worse for the US in Iraq. The fact that the Marines have been forced to step back from an all-out assault on Fallujah and accept the mediation of a former Republican Guard general is a real humiliation for the Pentagon. Last weekend the US was losing five soldiers a day to the insurgents in Iraq. Such a casualty rate, if it continues, is politically unsustainable in a presidential election year.
Man y people in the anti-war and anti-capitalist movements agree with us on general principles. They agree that socialists must oppose all forms of oppression. They agree that any movement against capitalism must involve the initiative, energy and imagination of millions of organised workers. They agree we must unite the widest forces against the fascist BNP. They utterly oppose the Tory party and don't trust the Liberal Democrats. Mostly, they know the Labour Party offers no way forward.
