Capitalism’s Latest Bright Idea: Privatise the Moon
Last week, free-marketeers in the Adam Smith Institute suggested that we privatise the moon. It’s a sign of just far capitalism intends to go in pursuit of profits for the super-rich.
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Rae Hart
Rae Deer is an economist and freelance writer.
The Left Must Stand Against Putin’s War
The first task for socialists in the appalling war being inflicted in Ukraine is to provide unconditional solidarity with its victims.
Fix the Damn Sick Pay
The government is ending self-isolation requirements and urging ‘personal responsibility’ instead – but as the pandemic proved, it’s hard to be ‘responsible’ when sick pay is so low that staying off work means not making rent.
Trojan Horse On Trial
Britain’s political and media establishment were given convenient cover for their rampant Islamophobia by the 2014 ‘Trojan Horse’ hoax. The fevered response to a new podcast about the affair shows their unwillingness to admit that reality.
The Pensions Amendment Is an Attack on International Solidarity
The Pensions Bill amendment passed yesterday would have outlawed councils from boycotting apartheid South Africa in the 1980s – and is an attack on our democratic rights to express international solidarity.
69. The Battle for Trade Union Rights: An Interview with Matt Wrack
This week, Grace talks to Matt Wrack, General Secretary of the Fire Brigades Union, about why the government is trying to take away firefighters’ right to strike – and how FBU members are organising to resist.
The Mental Health Trap
The NHS wants to increase the number of people accessing mental health support in the face of growing need – but when services are already under drastic strain, those good intentions can only go so far.
The Cost of Living Class War
Research shows that the poorest families are set to see their energy bills rise 7.5 times faster than the richest – proof that the cost of living crisis is entrenching the vast inequality that already scars modern Britain.
Charity Won’t Solve Privatisation’s Problems
Last week a bus company halted plans to cut a route, but only after a pensioner offered to fund it himself. It shouldn’t take charity to save services – communities deserve modern bus systems fit for the people.
The Life and Love of Edward Carpenter
For LGBT History Month, historian Sheila Rowbotham remembers Edward Carpenter – poet, philosopher, utopian socialist, and a pioneer of gay rights amid the repression of Victorian England.
The New Cold War in Latin America
With Cold War divisions once again rising to the fore, the US is doing exactly what you’d expect it to: trying to exert influence in its old ‘backyard’.
Yes, Now Is the Time to Demand Higher Wages
After a decade of stagnant wages, rising inflation is threatening to drive millions towards the breadline. Forget what the establishment says – it’s time to demand higher wages.
‘Social Landlords Simply Don’t Care’
Many of Britain’s housing association tenants are forced to live in homes that are infested, overrun with mould, and on the brink of collapse. We speak to campaigner Kwajo Tweneboa about the fight for change.
68. Capital’s Chaotic Kingdom: An Interview with Rupert Russell
This week, Grace talks to writer and filmmaker Rupert Russell about how apparently random movements in prices, often driven by speculation in the Global North, create tectonic shifts that multiply around the world.
Food Poverty Is a Political Choice
The cost of living crisis will swell the queues at food banks across the country, but allowing millions to go hungry while a handful get rich isn’t inevitable – it’s a political choice.
Sabre-Rattling Is Not the Solution to the Ukraine Crisis
Boris Johnson and Keir Starmer have seized on the latest crisis as an opportunity for macho posturing – but bellicose rhetoric won’t help Ukraine, and it could drag Europe into a devastating war.
Hike Taxes on the Wealthy, Not on Workers
Amid the cost of living crisis, April’s National Insurance hike will squeeze workers while the wealth of the rich continues to accumulate – it’s time to demand tax justice.
Treating Anti-War Activists as ‘Enemies’ Is Nothing New
Keir Starmer’s accusation that anti-war activists were siding with the West’s ‘enemies’ were nothing new – they are part of a campaign to question the loyalties of dissenters which stretches back at least as far as the First World War.
Bezos vs. the Bridge
Jeff Bezos’ new superyacht is so big that it may require a historic Rotterdam bridge to be dismantled to allow it to reach the sea – a perfect illustration of capitalism’s idiotic excesses.
The Battle for the Barbican
London’s Barbican and the adjacent Golden Lane estate are symbols of the two souls of post-war social democracy, and how it built for both the intelligentsia and the working class.