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Spectre of Communism

What is ‘woke’? Culture war vs. class war

Around the world, the capitalist establishment is increasingly obsessed with the so-called ‘Culture War’, with conservative journalists and politicians scaremongering about the ‘woke agenda’, while liberals drape rainbow flags on war and austerity and call it ‘liberation’. How can communists cut through this reactionary nonsense and get to the heart of the issues facing us today?

To answer this question, this week’s episode of Spectre of Communism Podcast welcomes Yola Kipcak, a leading member of Der Funke, the Austrian section of the Revolutionary Communist International. Yola explains why communists oppose the toxic division sown by identity politics, and instead fight for a class-based approach to fighting for the liberation of humanity.

For more from Yola on how communists should fight for liberation, read her article “Marxism vs Queer Theory” here: https://marxist.com/marxism-vs-queer-theory.htm

For a longer read on this topic, we recommend the Revolutionary Communist International’s document from 2018, “Marxism vs Identity Politics”: https://marxist.com/marxist-theory-and-the-struggle-against-alien-class-ideas.htm

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Israel invades Lebanon: fight war, fight imperialism!

The situation in the Middle East is escalating dramatically. Israel’s current invasion of Lebanon has sent shockwaves throughout the region and represents a further step towards the outbreak of a region-wide conflict, risking open war with Iran. As the Middle East grows more unstable, communists need a clear understanding of these events and what we can do to fight against militarism and imperialism wherever we are.

This week’s episode of Spectre of Communism Podcast welcomes Fred Weston, from the International Secretariat of the Revolutionary Communist International. Fred discusses recent events in Israel’s escalating military campaign, and explains the need for communists to fight for the real interests of workers and youth, which has nothing to do with the hypocritical warmongering of the ruling class internationally.

For further reading on Israel’s war on Lebanon, we recommend this article published on 1 October: https://www.marxist.com/israel-invasion-of-lebanon-starts-fight-war-fight-imperialism.htm

For more from Fred on recent events in the Middle East, we recommend his latest article on the killing of Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah: https://www.marxist.com/the-killing-of-nasrallah-netanyahu-is-provoking-iran-to-enter-war.htm

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State surveillance, fake boyfriends and blacklisting: police infiltration exposed – feat. SpyCops Info Podcast

For decades, undercover police officers with Britain’s Metropolitan Police systematically infiltrated numerous political organisations, posing as activists. These SpyCops not only gathered information on supposed enemies of the state, but went as far as entering romantic relationships and even having children with political activists, in order to maintain their cover.

A public inquiry into the outrageous and despicable behaviour of these Spy Cops has been underway since 2015, revealing the depths that the British state is willing to sink to, in order to defend its interests.

This episode of Spectre of Communism Podcast welcomes Tom Fowler, presenter of The Spycops Info Podcast, as well as Jorge Martin from marxist.com’s editorial board, to discuss the details of the case and what it shows about the role of the police in the capitalist state.

For more on the ongoing SpyCops inquiry, check out Spycops Info Podcast: https://open.spotify.com/show/3Ro2fbJDChepIcpCgz48x5 

Also on Twitter: @SpyCopsInfo

Follow Tom Fowler on twitter: @tombfowler

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Interview with Fiona Lali: Suella is a symptom, capitalism is the disease

Fiona Lali recently shot to prominence, and stunned former British Home Secretary Suella Braverman, when she publicly branded Suella a “war monger” and a “liar” for her support for the genocide in Gaza. Fiona’s words chimed with millions of workers and youth who have seen this clip, and who are sick and tired of this rotten imperialist system, of the hypocrites who run it, and of the commentators, media and ‘opposition’ that do nothing to challenge it.

In this exclusive interview, Fiona presents the communist approach to war and imperialism, and explains why we need to kick out not only individual Tory politicians, but the whole capitalist system.

Fiona Lali is national campaigns coordinator of the Revolutionary Communist Party (the British section of the International Marxist Tendency), which will be holding an important national online meeting this Thursday, to coordinate the immense wave of student protests sweeping British universities. Register for the event here: https://communist.red/palestinemeeting

If you’re a communist in Britain and you agree with Fiona, join the RCP today in the fight against the war mongers in Parliament and the system they represent: https://communist.red/

For those beyond Britain, the IMT is a worldwide, fighting, communist organisation, and this June, we are founding a new Revolutionary Communist International (RCI). You can join us! Find your section of the IMT at https://marxist.com/ and sign up to attend the founding conference of the RCI, which you can join online at: https://schoolofcommunism.com/

Finally, we recommend listeners check out the podcast of the RCP in Britain, where Fiona will be hosting daily news updates starting tomorrow: https://communist.red/category/marxist-voice/

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Encampments for Palestine: reports from the front lines

As the horrors of Israel’s war on Gaza continue to escalate, a wave of student protests has erupted in solidarity with the Palestinians: drawing comparisons with the anti-Vietnam War movement. Starting in the USA, the encampments quickly spread internationally, meeting with press slander and brutal police repression. In this special episode, we speak with four student communists from Canada, the UK, Austria and the USA, who have been active in encampments at various universities, to hear about their experiences of this inspiring struggle. 

What is the mood at these encampments? What kind of opposition have they faced from university authorities and state forces? What sort of demands are being raised? We cover all of this and more! Offering context and our general perspective, we welcome back as well Fred Weston from our International Secretariat to talk about the situation in Gaza, Israel’s operations in Rafah, and what is necessary for this movement to escalate.

We recommend this statement on a communist programme for the encampments. 

Here is our latest statement on Rafah, which also contains our proposed strategy for escalating the protest movement. 

We also suggest recent articles on the repression and attacks against students in Canada and the United States.

Divest and disclose: open the books!

Not a cent, not a bullet for the Israeli war machine!

Free Palestine!

Intifada until victory, revolution until victory!

—

Register now for the founding conference of the Revolutionary Communist International! https://schoolofcommunism.com/ 

Subscribe and listen at your preferred platform, and find us on social media, here: https://linktr.ee/specom 

#CommunismPodcast 

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Why we need a Communist International – season FINALE!

In June, the International Marxist Tendency will take the monumental step of founding a new Revolutionary Communist International (RCI), to provide communist workers and youth around the world with a bold rallying point in the struggle to overthrow capitalism. In doing so, the RCI will build on the immense revolutionary legacy left behind by the Third (Communist) International, founded by Lenin and the Bolsheviks as the world party of revolution. Register now for the founding of the RCI!

This week’s episode of Spectre of Communism podcast welcomes Fred Weston, a leading comrade of the International Marxist Tendency, to explain the historic revolutionary importance of the Communist International. In doing so, Fred demonstrates the palpable need for a similar organisation in the world today. 

You can watch a video recording of this discussion on YouTube.

This episode will be the finale of the first season of the podcast, which will return with new weekly content after a short break.

In addition to registering for the founding conference, we also recommend reading the recently published Manifesto of the Revolutionary Communist International (available in 20 languages), which will constitute the founding document of the RCI.

We also recommend Ted Grant’s 1943 article, ‘The Rise and Fall of the Communist International’ (cited in the episode).

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Why AI under capitalism is a failure

Advances in artificial intelligence continue to make headlines, as AI has begun to play a role in everything from art and journalism to conspiracy theories and unemployment. While AI is clearly here to stay, it is equally clear that the capitalist class has no interest in using it to its fullest. Once again, capitalism’s brutal inefficiency and systematic misuse of such technology is profound evidence of the need for communism and economic planning.

To discuss the real potential of AI and how this is squandered by the ruling class, this week’s episode of Spectre of Communism podcast welcomes Daniel Morley, a leading member of the Communists in Britain. Countering both the excessively jubilant and the existentially morbid approaches to AI that are common from capitalist commentators, Daniel gives a concrete appraisal of this technology in the class struggle today, and brings out some of the possibilities for the use of AI under a planned economy.

For more on artificial intelligence and its role under capitalism, we recommend this article.
And for more on the recent speculative bubble in the AI sector, see this article.

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Art, culture and the Russian Revolution

Communism is often presented by its enemies as being at best uninterested in art and culture, and at worst openly hostile to anything but the crudest propaganda. This is completely at odds with the approach of Lenin and the Bolsheviks, and genuine communists today. The Russian Revolution ushered in an explosion of artistic creativity, which for the first time was unshackled from the constraints of class society. This is the legacy that communists must defend. Watch the video episode on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5QILJ_lXw6U

To discuss the important place of art and culture in the Russian Revolution, this week’s episode welcomes Nelson Wan, a leading member of the International Marxist Tendency in Britain. Nelson explains the communist approach to art and culture, and describes some of the immense achievements in this field made by figures such as Sergei Eisenstein, Konstantin Stanislavski and El Lissitzky.

This episode is the most recent part of a series of podcasts celebrating the life and ideas of Lenin, 100 years after his death in 1924. For a complete defence of the incredible achievements of history’s greatest revolutionary, we recommend In Defence of Lenin by Alan Woods and Rob Sewell, now available from Wellred Books.

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

Register to attend the RCI conference: https://schoolofcommunism.com/

#CommunismPodcast

#Communism

#SchoolOfCommunism

#LeninLives

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Would communists ban religion?

Communists are often slandered by our enemies as wanting to violently suppress and ‘ban’ religion. While Marxism is a materialist philosophy, and therefore uncompromisingly atheist, the policy of Marxists towards religion bears absolutely no resemblance to this crude caricature.

As Marx explained, the oppressed and exploited masses turn to religion not for abstract reasons, but as a protest against the real suffering they endure in the land of the living. In a world that offers no hope, the promise of paradise is a balm to the otherwise unconsoled. 

For this reason, religion is a powerful tool in the hands of the ruling class, who use the religious establishment as an ideological and spiritual lever over the workers and poor.

Communists do not conceal their views, but neither do we seek to drive a wedge between ourselves and the masses by denouncing or belittling their religious faith. Instead, we strive to build a society that can give people the paradise on earth, that they are currently only offered after death.

This week’s episode of Spectre of Communism podcast welcomes Jack Halinski-Fitzpatrick to explain how communists should approach religion.

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Manifesto of the Revolutionary Communist International

Yesterday, the International Marxist Tendency proudly published the Manifesto of the Revolutionary Communist International: a call to arms for all communists who want to put an end to the rotten capitalist system once and for all. If you agree with our analysis, register now for the founding conference of the RCI in June, and help us build an organisation in the traditions of Leninism and Bolshevism. This episode of Spectre of Communism podcast welcomes Alan Woods, who was instrumental in drafting the document, to introduce the Manifesto.

The RCI aims to unite communist workers and youth in all countries under a clean banner in the tradition of Lenin and Trotsky. As capitalism continues to die on its feet, more and more people are realising that the only solution is to do away with it in its entirety, so that the working class can finally liberate itself from the endless horrors of the world today.

The Manifesto of the RCI is a weapon in the arsenal of communists everywhere. Currently, the text is available in 15 languages, with more soon to be announced. We encourage listeners and readers to circulate the text as widely as possible, so that all who want to fight to end capitalism may join us in this task.

Read the Manifesto of the RCI here, and register now for the founding conference of the RCI in June. When sharing on social media, please use the hashtags #Communism and #SchoolOfCommunism

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