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Against the Stream Spectre of Communism

2024 Wrapped: a year of war and revolution

2024 has been a year of war, revolution and crisis on every continent. From the horrors of the Gaza genocide, to the revolutionary summer in Kenya and Bangladesh; from viral assassinations, to to the re-election of Donald Trump. The communists have been offering analysis and perspective at every step of the way, and now: it’s time to put this dramatic twelve months in review with 2024 WRAPPED!

The above are not random or isolated incidents. They are all ultimately products of the unprecedented crisis of the capitalist system. The tensions and class anger in one country after another carry revolutionary implications. In response to the mood of profound rage against the system, we launched a new Revolutionary Communist International in 2024: the embryo of the world party of communist revolution so desperately needed by the working class!

In a joint season finale, the two podcasts of the RCI – Spectre of Communism and Against the Stream – have come together to provide a round up of this turbulent year. Joe Attard, Hamid Alizadeh and Jorge Martín look at the events that have defined 2024, and the strides forward we have taken in the RCI.

We would like to thank everyone who has listened to Spectre of Communism and Against the Stream this year. We’d love to hear about your favourite episodes. Stay tuned in the new year, when both podcasts will return for brand new seasons!

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Recommended reading/viewing:

Analysis of the Gaza and Ukraine Wars:

https://marxist.com/israel-palestine.htm

https://marxist.com/tag-menu-item/ukraine-russia-conflict

Article and speech about Bangladesh: 

https://marxist.com/bangladesh-the-unfinished-revolution.htm

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q5Z-mcO80OE

Speeches from the founding Conference of the RCI:

https://podcast.marxist.com/category/international-marxist-university-2020

Manifesto of the RCI:

https://marxist.com/manifesto-of-the-revolutionary-communist-international.htm

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Against the Stream

Assad regime falls, the Kurds under attack, Zelensky hated in Ukraine, and CEO assassination reveals class hatred

Once again, this week has been defined by sharp turns in world politics. In Syria, the Assad regime collapsed after a sudden offensive by Islamist groups, taking the whole world by surprise. In the US, the assassination of a US healthcare CEO was met with an enormous outpouring of sympathy for the killer, in a clear expression of the simmering class rage beneath the surface. In Ukraine, it is becoming increasingly clear that Zelensky – darling of the West – is becoming hated by the population.

It would be understandable, however, if the bourgeois media’s reporting on these events have left you confused. In Syria, the media has branded the Al-Qaeda group placed in power by the collapse as ‘rebels’, and the US and UK are even debating removing them from their terrorist list. In Ukraine, they have been propagandising about this war as one of freedom and self determination, and not a proxy war between NATO and Russia. And – if you only read the mainstream papers – you would be under the impression that the death of this CEO was an unmitigated tragedy, and not the just deserts of someone who has profited off the death of thousands of sick, vulnerable people.

At Against the Stream, we intend to cut through the fog of the liberal media and explain what is really going on. Furthermore, these developments raise a whole number of questions: for example, what does the fall of the Assad regime mean for the Middle East? What does it mean for the Kurds? How will the Ukraine war end? And where is America going? 

To answer those questions, Hamid Alizadeh and Fred Weston from the International Secretariat of the Revolutionary Communist International met for another episode of Against the Stream.

This podcast was streamed live on YouTube. Tune in every Thursday at 3pm GMT, or catch up on Spotify or Apple Music.

Articles discussed in this episode:

Assad falls, Islamists take over Syria – https://marxist.com/assad-falls-islamists-take-over-syria.htm

The deepening unpopularity of Zelensky – https://www.spectator.co.uk/article/the-deepening-unpopularity-of-zelensky/

Why the assassination of Brian Thompson ignited American politics – https://www.newstatesman.com/world/americas/north-america/us/2024/12/why-the-assassination-of-brian-thompson-ignited-american-politics

Class hatred and the assassination of UnitedHealthcare’s CEO – https://marxist.com/class-hatred-and-the-assassination-of-unitedhealthcare-s-ceo.htm

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Spectre of Communism

Lenin’s crusade against imperialist war – lessons for today

We are living through an epoch of war and revolution. In Ukraine, Gaza, Lebanon, Syria, and countless other countries, wars and civil wars are raging, all with the backing and complicity of various imperialist powers. In these turbulent times, the ideas and methods of Lenin – who fought a relentless struggle against warmongering chauvinism during the First World War – provide the clarity that is so desperately needed in the world today.

War tests all political trends to destruction. Then as now, the outbreak of war saw the same ‘socialist’ leaders who had once opposed imperialist conflict abandon their class perspective, and line up behind their respective capitalists in defence of the ‘fatherland’. Lenin waged a merciless crusade against this betrayal, and argued for a class-independent position against the horror of imperialist war. This firm line was instrumental in the Bolsheviks’ eventual seizure of power in October 1917.

To discuss Lenin’s masterful approach to the questions of war and imperialism, the Spectre of Communism podcast welcomes Marie Frederiksen, leading member of the Revolutionary Communist Party in Denmark. Marie explains not only the historical development of Lenin’s ideas, but their immediate relevance to the struggle against war and imperialism today.

To bring out the immense relevance of Lenin’s ideas and to transmit them to a wider layer of communists today, Wellred Books – the publishing house of the Revolutionary Communist International – has recently published a collection of Lenin’s writings on imperialism and war. 

This is an invaluable tool in the theoretical arsenal of revolutionaries today, and we strongly recommend listeners get their copy today, available here in paperback, as an ebook and as an audiobook: https://wellred-books.com/on-imperialist-war-lenin-selected-writings/

We also recommend The First World War: the Great Slaughter by Alan Woods for a Marxist analysis of the causes, history and aftermath of WWI: https://wellred-books.com/the-first-world-war-a-marxist-analysis-of-the-great-slaughter/  

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Against the Stream

French government falls, Syrian Civil war reignites, Biden pardons corrupt son, and Korean President gambles on martial law

This week has been full of sharp and sudden turns. The Syrian civil war has suddenly reignited due to the shock advance of a Turkey-backed rebel group. The French president was forced to resign after trying to force through an austerity budget. Joe Biden has used his last few weeks in power to pardon his corrupt son. And, to top things off, the president of South Korea declared martial law, only to be quickly defeated by opposition from the whole of parliament and mass mobilisations. 


Everywhere we see increasing instability, war and political turmoil. All of these are symptoms of the profound economic and social crisis, a product of the complete impasse of the capitalist system.

Such developments can be incredibly disorienting. So in order to break them down, link them together, and draw out the general processes driving them forwards, Hamid and Jorge from the International Secretariat of the Revolutionary Communist International sat down for another episode of Against the Stream.

If you’re hungry for more communist analysis of an increasingly unstable world situation, tune in to Against the Stream every week on Thursday at 3pm GMT.

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Spectre of Communism

What is the Permanent Revolution?

Trotsky’s theory of the permanent revolution is one of the most important, but also amongst the most misunderstood ideas in the entire Marxist tradition. Does it really mean that revolution needs to happen everywhere, all at once? Does it ignore workers outside of the West? Is it contrary to Lenin’s views? Josh Holroyd, leading member of the Revolutionary Communist International, takes up these questions and explains the real essence of Trotsky’s remarkable contribution to our theoretical arsenal.

Trotsky developed his theory based on his experience of the Russian Revolution of 1905, in which he played a leading role. He witnessed first hand the treachery of the ‘liberal’ Russian capitalists, and the immense revolutionary potential of the young Russian working class. He defined the permanent revolution as one that “makes no compromise with any single form of class rule, which does not stop at the democratic stage, which goes over to socialist measures… a revolution whose every successive stage is rooted in the preceding one and which can end only in the complete liquidation of class society.”

In other words, the proletariat in underdeveloped nations, at the head of other oppressed layers, particularly the peasantry, is the only class capable of leading and winning a revolution for democratic demands (freedom of assembly, free speech, land reform etc.) Having done so, rather than hand power back to the capitalists and ‘wait their turn’ for socialist revolution, the workers will move to socialist tasks of expropriating capitalism and planning the economy. 

The revolution will also not limit itself to national borders, but become the spark for an international revolutionary process that can only truly end with the overthrow of capitalism in the most advanced countries. Thus, the revolution occurs not in predetermined ‘stages’, but constitutes a ‘permanent’ chain of development, ending with the victory of socialism throughout the world. 

This important theory was proved correct in practice, both positively with the victory of the Russian workers and peasants in October 1917, and negatively with the defeat and deformation of revolutions throughout the 20th Century and beyond. 

Overcoming the myths and grasping the essence of Trotsky’s analysis is critical for class fighters striving to understand the dynamics of revolution today, and bring the world socialist revolution to victory!

We recommend this episode be viewed in conjunction with this one on the question of Socialism in One Country: https://marxist.com/podcast-is-socialism-in-one-country-possible-a-reply-to-the-young-communist-league.htm 

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Against the Stream

Netanyahu and the “rules-based order”; The Lebanon ceasefire; Macron sitting on top of a volcano

This week, the Middle East has once again dominated the news, with the ICC issuing an arrest warrant for Benjamin Netanyahu and former Israeli Defence Minister Yoav Gallant, as well as the announcement of a supposedly ‘lasting’ ceasefire in Lebanon. In Europe, meanwhile, explosive events are being prepared in France, as the tottering National Assembly is set to face off against a rising tide of class struggle.

Everywhere, the response of the capitalist press to these events has been hysterical and hypocritical. For that reason, in this episode of Against the Stream, Hamid Alizadeh and Jorge Martín – from the International Secretariat of the Revolutionary Communist International – analyse the stormy events of the week and draw out the key processes that the capitalist media try to obscure.

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Spectre of Communism

Trump and the crisis of liberal democracy

Three weeks ago, to the horror of the liberal establishment in the USA and internationally, Donald Trump was elected President of the United States for the second time, defeating the hated and discredited Democrats. The capitalist media is filled with hysteria about a dire threat to democracy and the rise of ‘fascism’ posed by Trump’s presidency… just like in 2016! Communists need to cut through all the noise and understand what is really happening here.

The US is facing a deep crisis of the regime, following half a century of capitalist decay. After four years of Joe Biden and the Democrats running in the interests of the rich at home, while facilitating war and genocide abroad, people have had enough. They have lost all faith in ‘official’ institutions like the state, the courts, and establishment politicians, and a growing layer is looking towards (self-proclaimed) alternatives. 

The liberals have nothing to offer, as they preside over a discredited system. Attempts to sell Kamala Harris through identity politics failed to wash. Reformists like Bernie Sanders have also animated millions of workers and young people with class struggle rhetoric, only to betray and disappoint. The labour movement leaders remain slavishly attached to the Democrats. 

Despite being a billionaire elite himself, Trump poses himself as a scrappy, unapologetic enemy of the establishment, and has been able to skillfully (albeit cynically) capitalise on some of the angry mood. Another dose of Trump’s ‘fire and fury’, coupled with a war on federal institutions, will only intensify the polarisation of US society, and further expose the limits of the so-called democratic regime, which will create huge opportunities for revolutionaries! Trump will inevitably disappoint, leading millions to question the entire capitalist system like never before.

This week’s episode of Spectre of Communism Podcast welcomes Antonio Balmer, a leading member of the Revolutionary Communists of America – the US section of the Revolutionary Communist International – who explains why it has never been a better time to be an American communist!

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For more from Antonio on the implications of Trump’s victory, we recommend his recent talk on this topic at the Revolution Festival in London: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9Cz_JGRVDOY

For further analysis of what Trump’s return to power means for the establishment, we recommend this article by Alan Woods: https://marxist.com/trump-victory-2024.htm

Check out the website of our US comrades in the RCA: https://communistusa.org/

New episodes of the Spectre of Communism podcast are out every Tuesday! Subscribe and  listen at your preferred platform, and find us on social media, here: https://linktr.ee/specom 

#CommunismPodcast #booksnotbombs #civilwar #communism #marxism #podcast #leninlives 

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Against the Stream

Biden escalates Ukraine war, Trump vs the ‘deep state’, and the death of the American dream

In this episode of Against the Stream, Hamid Alizadeh and Niklas Albin Svensson, from the International Secretariat of the Revolutionary Communist International, discussed the reckless escalation of the Ukraine war by Biden, Trump’s controversial picks for his administration, and the death of the American Dream.

The last few weeks have been a whirlwind in world politics. As the hosts of Against the Stream have discussed, the German government has collapsed, the Spanish monarch has been pelted with mud, Trump has returned to power, and Biden has now escalated the Ukraine war by permitting the Ukrainians to strike into Russia with American long-range missiles.

In order to penetrate the fog created by the hysterical media and liberal establishment, Hamid and Niklas focused on the incoming Trump presidency and its implications for world imperialism relations.

As we have discussed in previous weeks, Trump’s victory was based on his demagogic appeal to the working class, as well as his promise to pull the US out of the costly war in Ukraine. Now, months away from power, he has started to appoint a coterie of loyalists, all set on purging the state of any opposition to Trump’s programme of tariffs and deportations.

In the meantime, Biden has tried to undermine his arch nemesis Trump by enabling Ukraine to strike into Russia with American missiles, to which Russia has responded with the launch of an ICBM.

All this chaos, on the backdrop of the crisis of the world economy will usher in mighty class struggles which will shake American imperialism to its foundations. 

We’ll be back next week for a special episode on the world economy. As per usual, we’ll be streaming live to YouTube from 3pm GMT.

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Spectre of Communism

Corbyn spokesman: “Why we lost” – reformism & the perils of opportunism

The meteoric rise and catastrophic fall of the Corbyn movement represented a major turning point in British and world politics. For all that it inspired millions of workers and youth, it was an object lesson in the betrayals inherent in reformism and the pitfalls of opportunism: i.e. when left-wing leaders make ‘pragmatic’ concessions to the class enemy – with fatal consequences. This week, the Spectre of Communism speaks to Matt Zarb-Cousin, former spokesperson for Jeremy Corbyn, who saw this process unfold from the inside…

The election of Jeremy Corbyn as leader of the British Labour Party in 2015 was an earthquake. Massive support for Corbyn’s left-wing programme from workers and young people, in particular, showed the desperation for an alternative after years of grinding capitalist austerity following the 2008 crash. Corbyn was almost elected as Prime Minister in 2017; but was eventually crushed and the Labour left routed, with the pro-capitalist, genocide-supporting Keir Starmer firmly in the driver’s seat. 

What happened, and what are the lessons to be learned? Listen to Zarb-Cousin providing an inside perspective on the errors that ultimately spelled doom for the Corbyn movement, which so terrified the British ruling class for a period. We also welcome Sean Hodges, a leading member of the Revolutionary Communist Party, whose own experiences of that period led him towards Marxism and communism, as the only road forward for working people and the youth.

The Labour Party in its current guise is totally sewn up by the right wing, but the return of popular left-reformist trends is not ruled out. As the crisis of capitalism continues unabated, similar developments to the Corbyn phenomenon will undoubtedly emerge in the future. It is therefore vital that communists and class fighters make a serious study of the failure of Corbynism, and especially the threat posed by opportunism in particular.

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Against the Stream

The implications of Trump’s victory, the Ukraine war, and protests in Spain

This week on Against the Stream, Hamid Alizadeh and Jorge Martin from the International Secretariat of the Revolutionary Communist International sat down once again to discuss the implications of Trump’s victory on the class struggle in America, the Ukraine war, and the floods in Valencia, Spain, which have led to protests of hundreds of thousands of people against the regime.

Every week, members of the International secretariat pick a number of flashpoints in current affairs to discuss, using articles from the billionaire press as a starting point.

Contrary to the liberals, who respond to these events with hysteria and confusion, we, as Marxists, seek to explain and understand what is going on beneath the surface, and what is driving these events forward.

Tune in to Against the Stream every Thursday at 3pm (GMT). New episodes are streamed live to YouTube. We’d love to hear your feedback along with any articles or questions you want discussed on the podcast.

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