Low pensions condemn people to poverty and misery. Both are becoming all too prevalent because Britain, despite being a rich country, does not pay a decent state pension.
Whichever way one looks at it, current government policies cannot solve the pensions crisis. So millions more will be condemned to face retirement poverty and insecurity. The only way to tackle this is through progressive taxation and redistribution of wealth.
The legendary US radical Angela Davis spoke recently at a commemorative meeting for author and activist Ken Saro-Wiwa. He was executed in 1995 in Nigeria, after campaigning against the exploitation of Nigeria’s Ogoni areas by Shell Oil and other multinationals.
A basic feature of capitalism is that aspects of life that should be accessible to everyone become controlled and restricted to a privileged elite – the ruling class. Works of visual art, such as paintings or sculptures, are no exception to this general rule.
The creative flowering that followed the Russian Revolution of 1917 is an extraordinary example of how art can play a major part in the struggle for a better society.
Mexico was rocked by a revolution between 1910 and 1919. The post-revolutionary government attempted to harness art to its cause.
In 1968 France was brought to a standstill by a huge movement of students and workers. This movement paralysed the French state and also saw an explosion of experimental street art.
In recent years there has been a renewed interest in street art, coinciding with the rise of the anti-capitalist movement. One element of this is "culture jamming" or "adbusting", where activists use guerrilla art techniques to subvert the advertising that pervades our society.
What relevance does Chartism have for socialists today? Of course, it is important that we understand our own history. But are there political lessons, strategies and tactics from the Chartist period that are still useful to us today?
The Year 1848 represented a serious defeat for the Chartists. The main left wing Chartist grouping, the Fraternal Democrats, had to cease public operations for a period. One of the leaders of the left, Ernest Jones, was jailed, along with many other activists.
Why is the PCS union planning to ballot over 280,000 members for strikes in the new year?
Read our monthly supplement, featuring Michael Lebowitz, Steve Mather and Jess Hurd on the situation in Venezuela as Hugo Chavez wins the presidency again.
