Introduction to Socialism II

[For a PDF of slideshow see here.]

Social inequality & social classes

 

[This slideshow served as an introduction or discussion aid to a class on the topic. A PDF of the slideshow can be seen here.]

The Marxist theory of the state

[This slideshow served as an introduction or discussion aid to a class on the topic. A PDF of the slideshow can be seen here.]

The capitalist mode of production

 

 [This slideshow served as an introduction or discussion aid to a class on the topic. A PDF of the slideshow can be seen here.]

Turkish attacks on PKK meet fierce resistance

In mid-June Turkey launched yet another large-scale air and ground operation in northern Iraq aimed at crippling the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK).

Turkish planes bombed the Makhmur refugee camp, home to 12,000 Kurds from Turkey. The camp near Erbil, the capital of Iraq's Kurdistan Regional Government, is a stronghold of support for the PKK. Also bombed was Shengal (Sinjar), home of the much-persecuted Yazedi Kurds. Following the devastating Islamic State attack on Shengal in August 2014, the PKK played a key role in helping to establish the Yazedi self-defence forces.

Capitalism & the pandemic

[Talk given to Melbourne Socialist Alliance branch, 21.04.20]

Pandemic brings big & sudden changes

The scale and scope of government measures to deal with the COVID-19 crisis have surprised many people. Long-held neoliberal dogmas have been pushed aside. Government action is clearly decisive: The bourgeois fetish of the budget surplus has been junked and huge deficits run up; after being frozen for 20 years, the dole rate has been doubled; economic sectors and firms are everywhere putting their hands out for government support; firms are being encouraged and even directed to produce vital medical supplies.

Rojava: ‘the most progressive and democratic system in the history of the Middle East’

[Talk to Melbourne Socialist Alliance branch, November 7, 2019.]

1. What Rojava has achieved

In an interview with SBS, celebrated Iranian Kurdish refugee Behrouz Boochani, detained in Australian offshore detention camps for six years, said that: "[Rojava] is the most progressive and democratic system in the history of the Middle East [so] this attack is not only an attack on Kurds, it is an attack on democracy and democratic values." [1]

Rojava's democracy is based on communes and is profound. Its feminism, in a region saturated with patriarchal practices, is remarkable. Its formation of a 25,000 strong women's army is without precedent — anywhere, anytime. Its ethnic and religious pluralism, in a region where elites play on these differences to maintain their power, is also without precedent.

Slovenian Marxist philosopher Slavoj Zizek recently very accurately described Rojava as "an actually-existing and well-functioning utopia".[2]