On November 11, 2013 ESSF launched an initiative of solidarity with the victims of the super typhoon Haiyan (Yolanda) in the Philippines. We present here an initial report on the very first steps of our campaign.
After Haiyan: The ineptness of those who govern and the urgency of solidarity
12 November 2013, byThe super-typhoon Haiyan has just devastated the Visayas, at the centre of the Philippine archipelago as the 19th international climate conference opens in Warsaw. Last year, another deadly cyclone struck the Philippines as the said conference was held in Doha. The governmental delegates saluted the memory of the victims, before concluding that it was urgent to no nothing. This year we can bet on it doing the same. It’s rush hour for shale gas. The energy lobbies dictate their law. Thus for the European Roundtable of Industrialists, “competitiveness” should be considered as being “as important” as “the objectives of CO2 reduction”. Nothing should challenge their profits and their power.
Bankocracy: from the Venetian Republic to Mario Draghi and Goldman Sachs
12 November 2013, byFrom the 12th century to the beginning of the 14th, the Knights Templar, present in much of Europe, had become the bankers for the powerful and had taken part in the financing of several crusades. At the beginning of the 14th century, they were the main creditors of the King of France, Philip the Fair. Faced with a debt burden that was straining his resources, Philip the Fair eliminated both his creditors and his debt by demonising the Knights Templar, accusing them of many crimes
The rise of the neo-Nazi movement and its results
11 November 2013, bySince the assassination by the neo-Nazis of Chrissi Avghi (“Golden Dawn”) on the night of September 17-18 of Pavlos Fyssas, a rapper known by the pseudonym Killah P who was an organizer of antifascist concerts and an antifascist activist, antifascist mobilizations have multiplied in Greece. Starting on September 18, tens of thousands of protesters took to the streets of several Greek cities to say "never again!" The police repression of the protests has been widely criticized in the media. The antifascist protests continued the following day, culminating on September 25 with demonstrations by all the trade unions and the political organizations of the left.
As National Front support grows, strategy struggle erupts in Left Front
11 November 2013, byNovember 6, 2013 – Links International Journal of Socialist Renewal — October was a month of sharp shifts in French politics. On October 4, a poll in the French weekly Nouvel Observateur showed the xenophobic and racist National Front (FN) of Marine Le Pen leading voting intentions for the 2014 European elections with the support of 24% of those interviewed—up 3% in six months.
No Easy Victories
6 November 2013, byShortly before the Tea Party Republicans shut down the U.S. government over president Obama’s Affordable Care Act, the president’s unaffordable war act was shut down by the combined opposition of Vladimir Putin, the British parliament and the U.S. population. So no bombing of Syria, after all. Sometimes the world catches a break — and nobody got a bigger break than president Obama himself, rescued from risking what’s left of his presidency on an unpopular military intervention that was almost certain to fail.
Cancelling debt or taxing capital: why should we choose?
5 November 2013, by , ,On the occasion of the publication of two major works, Le Capital au XXIe siècle and the French translation of Debt The First 5000 Years, Mediapart organized a meeting between the authors, namely Thomas Piketty and David Graeber.
New Brunswick, Canada: Elsipogtog First Nation Resists the Royal Canadian Mounted Police and Southwestern Energy
5 November 2013, byBy now, many of you have heard about the October 17 attack by Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) on the Mi’kmaq Warrior encampment near Rexton, New Brunswick, Canada. About 200 Mounties descended on an anti-shale gas encampment with assault rifles and dogs to issue an injunction against their protest, arresting around 40 people, including Elsipogtog First Nation Arren James Sock, in the process.
The power of the working class - national strike in Indonesia
4 November 2013, byThe Indonesian working class is fighting to end the age of cheap labor. A little over a year after the national strike on 3 October 2012, Indonesian workers launched another national strike. The demand: a fifty per cent increase of the minimum wage.
Luxembourg elections open new political chapter
2 November 2013, byLegislative elections were held in Luxembourg on October 20. The immediate outcome was that the ruling (practically non-stop since 1945) party, the Christian Social People’s P arty (CSV) looks headed for the opposition benches. A new three-party government is in the making, under the aegis of the Democratic Party, the most thoroughgoing liberal party in Luxembourg and the big winner in these elections, obviously taking votes from the CSV. The anti-capitalist party déi Lénk made less spectacular but solid progress.