In recent days, the media has reported on the significant presence of women of all ages in the yellow jackets’ mobilization. On the ground, they are indeed present at roundabouts and appear regularly in the media. Several figures have emerged, such as Priscilla Ludoski, who initiated a petition that gathered nearly a million signatures, or Jacline Mouraud, who posted a video on facebook at the end of October. They denounce the decline in their purchasing power, tax injustices, low salaries, but also the condescension of the government and its contempt for the working class, summed up by the slogan calling for Emmanuel Macron to resign.
In the wake of the yellow jackets, a major youth movement could develop in France
22 December 2018, bySince the beginning of December, French high schools and universities have seen the development of a mobilization that gives us hope that a major youth movement can be created.
Brinksmanship and blinksmanship
21 December 2018, byAshley Smith provides the background for understanding the latest twists and turns in the developing superpower conflict between the U.S. and China.
The yellow vests mean revolt
20 December 2018, by ,“The yellow vests struggle is a class struggle, a conflict based on social hatred...and all the repressive forces at the service of his holiness have been mobilized against it...The king stands naked.”
Gérard Mordillat, Telerama, December 10, 2018
COP24: During the disaster, the comedy continues
19 December 2018, byThe Twenty-Fourth United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP24) has just concluded in Ka-towice, Poland. Instead of responding to the clear message of the recent Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) Special Report to take urgent measures to keep warming below 1.5° C above pre-industrial levels, the Conference struggled to set the rules that each state will have to fol-low to account for its greenhouse gas emissions after 2020. The IPCC report was essentially ig-nored, the “raising of ambitions” was postponed to a later date and the “developing countries” must be content with vague promises about a Green Climate Fund.
Gilets jaunes (yellow jackets): learning from history and acting now
18 December 2018, bySome consider that if you are involved in a movement against a tax (supposed, in theory at least, to redistribute wealth) rather than for higher wages, say (in the broad sense, including social security), you are part of a right-wing movement. This is not so: many revolutionary movements started because the burden of unfair taxes had become unbearable for a majority of the people.
Time to Rebuild, Time to Rethink
17 December 2018, byIn the aftermath of the Marikana massacre and the mass strike of mineworkers, a great opportunity emerged for regenerating progressive and left politics. Thousands of rank and file mineworkers transformed the Association of Mineworkers and Construction Union (AMCU) into a militant, independent, mass mineworkers union. The National Union of Metalworkers of South Africa, (Numsa) called a special Congress to regroup the labour movement, independent of the ANC Alliance, and set in motion a broad socialist movement. After being expelled from the ANC, Julius Malema and Floyd Shivambu formed the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF), as a militant movement to lead the charge for the radical redistribution of wealth. And just on the heels of these developments emerged the Fees Must Fall movement, acting as a further catalyst and detonator of radical change.
The Yellow Vests Struggle and the French Crisis
15 December 2018, by ,This interview is to be published in Chinese on Borderless website, in Hong Kong.
Julia Salazar, DSA Member, Wins Democratic Primary Election for NY Senate What Does the Election Mean for DSA and the Left?
14 December 2018, byJulia Salazar, a member of the Democratic Socialists of America and candidate in the Democratic Party primary election for the New York State Senate, won her race by a decisive vote of 58.5 to 41.5 percent. Since there is no Republican opponent in the general election, she is virtually assured of taking a seat in the Senate. Her victory represents another demonstration that DSA’s electoral strategy of running or endorsing candidates in the Democratic Party can be successful in winning primary and some general elections. And that’s no small accomplishment.
The yellow jackets’ movement destabilizes Macron
13 December 2018, bySince the beginning of December, France has been in a political crisis from which Macron hoped to escape with the statement he made Monday evening 10 December. The yellow jackets’ movement has been growing since mid-November. Saturday 1 December was a turning point, bringing about a change in the social crisis.