Walking on the Far Left

  Photo my comrade got of me after the festival. Che Rosenberg perhaps?! Whilst being an avid SWP member and a huge fan of the much awaited Marxism Festival and the many other smaller national events within the party, being on the Marxism team was not something I'd ever done before. In spite of the long hours (starting qt 9:30- long before festival goers arrived- and ending late into the evening) the making of sacrifices of not attending certain meetings, and the effort of stewarding and organising large groups, it was a really enjoyable experience for me and one I would like to have again. From the very beginning helping set up all the chairs in the venue to the final singing of the Internationale by all to close the festival, I immediately felt confident and proud to be representing a party I valued so much, and give something in return for all the many opportunities they had given me in developing my activist profile. I felt a huge sense of pride at being welcomed into such a fa...

TRIGGER WARNING: Some mention of disordered eating and mental health appears briefly in this article. If you are likely to be affected by this trigger, feel free to skip the section as appropriate or read no more. Whether it is in the form of cheap fuel to sustain oneself through a long workday, a nice meal to bond over socially as a family in the evening, or a means of showing off one's decadence and love of luxury through the buying of the finest and most exotic ingredients, food is something we all have the common need of and should act as a given basic right, and so the need for it, the ultimate universal leveller of all classes and groups in society. Its huge variety and the many different forms it takes and cultures it exists in act can help it act as the ultimate visual representation of the unity and diversity of people within society. Or at least, that's what it should be like and it should be enjoyable for all. Sadly, it has turned into a source of conflict and inequa...

Happy Workers Day, comrades! Today on Workers Day upon marching through London on the annual May Day march, exactly a century after the monumental nine day general strike that took place in 1926 in response to unjust working conditions and poor pay, the striking inequalities many workers have to face, along with the rise further major concerns of violence and the physical and emotional stress and vulnerability of workers (which would in turn influence their performance and ability to gain the most success and satisfaction from their work) still remains a pressing issue for today's society, even after its supposed social and economic advancement over the course of this period. In a world governed by image and pressure to function effectively in a material and consumerist led society in which capitalism takes centre stage, the current mental health crisis can prove to act as another means of developing new means of monetising wellbeing and self-fulfilment through creating marketing o...

  The Storming of the Bastille- French Revolution painting by Jean-Baptiste Lallemand (1789). Something that never ceases to amaze me is how a supposedly people centric and class conscious set of communitarian and socialist economic principles can somehow ironically be responsible for the development of some of the most inegalitarian societies that have existed globally. This can be reflected through observing the case of France at the time of the French Revolution during the mid to late 18th century (and even still, to some degree, in more recent times). This was, arguably, the point in time by which the greatest reconstruction and reformation of the social and political dimension of Europe took place, its ever present and significant imprint continuing to be felt throughout the centuries that followed.    While Mao presented the need for the “true” people, as in the workers and peasants, to rebuild society, this was achieved through undemocratic and authoritarian means ...

  Kautsky (top left), Bernstein (top right) and Lenin (bottom). The ultra-imperialist and culturally idealist views on social development and the transition of society to revolutionary socialism, which have been adopted by Kautsky, Bernstein, and Lenin, appear to have stemmed from the doctrines of idealism and dialectical materialism, specifically those of Hegelian, Kantian, and Baconian origins. This reflects the emphasis of Eurocentric principles and the ideas of economic sovereignty and the preservation of superpower influence, thus appearing to them as being of significant influence in assisting revolution. However, it can be argued that this merely allows already influential and capitalistic leaders of imperial superpowers to further increase their influence and achieve more success in preserving the existing capitalist society, rather than bringing about any significant socialist reform with the interests of the general people in mind. The idea of materialism being consi...

It's been a couple of weeks since my last post. Have been busy sorting out some life stuff, manic university business, and have started work with the Workers Party. Anyways, I'm back now with some more posts. Top: Me on my way to Marxism 2025. Bottom: the festival. Yesterday, I paid a visit to London to attend the Marxism 2025 festival. Set in a Shoreditch studio featuring a pop-up socialist bookshop and talks by a variety of prominent and well-renowned speakers including Jeremy Corbyn, Yanis Varoufakis, and Rima Hassan, the current and ever-changing influence of socialist ideas on society globally, as well as the vast array of forms they exist in in day to day life could be brought to life and celebrated. From technological feudalism and capitalism within AI, to the legacy of global imperial influence on the cultural and economic factors influencing revolutionary ideals within Iran and Palestine, the extent to which we live in a capitalist society, as well as the importance of...

  On a superficial level, it is widely assumed that centrists would maintain a comparatively diplomatic and neutral position in situations of debate and political decision making, generally supporting liberal and democratic values as opposed to encouraging the implementation of radical far-left proposals. They would be considered to likely have a selection of both socially orientated policies and those related to promoting economic growth and security of the markets. However, there appears to be a lot more to these centrists than can be observed here. As well as this, I would argue, it appears that a lot of the ideas of a true people-led communism, without the barriers of state and corruption of power, would appear to have a lot more in common with democratic centrist politics than one might assume. Whether this is as a tactical vote, a preference for more pragmatic and less ideologically orientated leadership, having a wide variety of values that span different areas of the politi...

Me enjoying a pint of beer (aka progress and liberation) in a pub. There is no doubt that the pub is widely regarded as a place of relaxation, socialising and entertainment that is appreciated by many globally in its various different forms and by people of many different ages from students to seniors, and anyone in between. What is less well known, however, is its major political importance and position as the site of revolution, debate and emancipation of the working classes in which it was influential in the German labour movement in the 19th century. At this time, the country was undergoing rapid industrialisation like much of Europe and more efficient work and production by the proletarians employed in the factories was needed. This was responded to through the capitalist factory owners attempting to improve this by dulling workers' senses and making them lose track of time and their feelings of exploitation by serving them alcohol in the form of schnapps during their workdays...

  In quotidian terms, the proletariat is considered by many to refer to those on the lowest wages and most limited influence in the workplace and that do not own, or, alternatively, often being used by some as a term to describe the working classes. With both uses of this term, the interests and positions of the proletariat are considered to clearly be exploited by and opposite to those of the bourgeois (which are widely considered to have greater wealth and influence in society). However, as we can observe when looking at the proletariat in its purest form and upon only observing it without comparison to the bourgeois, it is clear that wealth does not in any way factor into whether an individual can qualify as a proletarian, as well as the proof that it can be entirely possible to qualify as a proletarian yet still have adopted the income and lifestyle of those considered as bourgeois. As observed by Rosa Luxemburg on analysing the Marxist view on the position of the proletariat i...

While there has been limited attention paid to sexuality and the action against repression of the homosexual people in Marx and Engels' work (as well as the theory by some early leftists exploring this topic that homosexuality could be viewed as a threat to communism defining homosexuals by "the corruption and decadence of bourgeois society, while they themselves, the left, do their part to fix gays into a position of the qualunquismo" thus reducing productivity and hindering attempts at revolution), communism has, over the centuries, been instrumental in influencing perceptions on the queer community and activism amongst them, as well as in the politicisation of homosexual rights. This has been highlighted through the theories regarding gender by communist activist Mario Mieli in his work Towards a Gay Communism in which, while the promotion of sexuality had been considered as secondary to the revolutionary aims of the communist political groups as well as having homos...

The notion of communism being considered as a means of corruption of authoritarian power and acting as a theory of governance by which the supposed communitarian and anti-capitalist ethos supporting complete equality of opportunities and abolishing class, state and wealth overrides against this, as well as that communists are considered to be merely power hungry dictators, always surprises me especially considering that this completely opposes the original key principles of communism. According to Engels' 1847 work, The Principles of Communism, communism is defined as "the doctrine for the liberation of the conditions of the proletariat", this definition thus clearly proving to emphasise the communitarian aspects of communism and support collective liberty as well as promoting the individual rights and freedoms of the people, particularly the supposedly oppressed proletarians (those who live to support their needs through the selling of their labour to be benefited from (...