One aspect of the drive by the super rich to make working people bear the brunt of the new Depression is to attack the social wage.
Part of this attack is the serious erosion of public education. This predates the crisis that began in 2007, but the recession that followed has been met with a sharp increase in such attacks.
The failure of the federal government to adequately fund public education cascades down to the states and cities, who all cry there is not enough money, so cutbacks are necessary.
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Quebec's long-running student strike is set to resume at the start of the new semester on August 17. Students from universities and colleges are seeking to force the government to stop its plan to raise fees.
The student movement has turned politics in Quebec on its head, challenging not only the fee hike but the status quo of neoliberal politics. It has called into question the existence of fees and raised the idea of free education as a right.
It has not even begun, but a world record has already been set for the London 2012 Olympic games. The games, which begin on July 27, are the most corporatised, militarised and draconian Olympics of all time.
Every day there are fresh stories that reveal that, to British Prime Minister David Cameron, the Olympic spirit means giving corporations and governments free reign to do what they like.
The June 22 coup carried out against Paraguayan President Fernando Lugo was an important blow to progressive movements across Latin America.
The article below is based on a talk given at a Socialist Alliance meeting on June 26 in Melbourne by Chris Slee, a member of the SA Melbourne branch.
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The Socialist Alliance supports the right of the Tamil people to self-determination.
A resolution adopted at an SA national conference reads: "Socialist Alliance recognises that Tamils are an oppressed nation within Sri Lanka, and supports their right to self-determination.
Whether Paraguay's infamously right-wing local oligarchy and its parties that seized an opportunity to bring left-leaning President Fernando Lugo down by itself, or whether the push came from the United States government, is yet to be confirmed.
Trouble flared across Ireland's north on the night of July 12 as sectarian Orange Order marchers insisted on marching through nationalist areas, the Morning Star said the next day.
It said serious rioting followed a unionist (supporters of Northern Ireland's union with Britain) parade through the the largely Catholic and Irish nationalist working-class suburb of Ardoyne in north Belfast.
Australian Greens leader Christine Milne and the party's MPs and Senators stood up to immense pressure from the big parties and the mainstream media to support some form of “offshore processing” of refugees (either in Malaysia, as the Gillard Labor government wants, or Nauru, as the Abbott Coalition opposition demands). The Greens stood firm against offshore processing and mandatory detention of refugees.
Federal Labor’s hopes that its carbon price handouts would lift its primary vote have proven futile, and as Labor policy and rhetoric moves further to the right, a section of the party has begun a full-blown assault on its alliance with the Greens.
Activistrights.org.au was developed by the Fitzroy Legal Service as a resource for activists.
Ela Orgu, the Community Development Officer at Fitzroy Legal Service said the “website aims to provide legal information for activists. It provides legal context, lots of legal information and also places to go to for support depending on what is happening and a range of case studies as well.
“Activism is crucial in society. It’s an important way to keep leaders and systems and organisations in check.
I have mixed feelings each time I see a “Close the Gap” bumper sticker. The number of Australians supporting the health equity campaign, expressing outrage on the appalling gap in life expectancy between Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal Australians — and demanding government action — is certainly heartening. The fact that the government appears committed to the same goals, through its similarly named "Closing the Gap" initiative feels like it should be cause for celebration.
About 130 people helped officially launch Green Left TV at parties held in Sydney and Hobart on July 7. Together, the events raised close to $3000 for the new media project.
In Sydney, 75 people attended a party and live filming of the Green Left Report at the Art Resistance studio in Marrickville’s Addison Road Community Centre. Guests included University of Sydney political economist Mike Karadjis, independent journalist and author Antony Loewenstein and comic Carlo Sands.
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