(2023-01-05). Socialism Is Not a Utopian Ideal, but an Achievable Necessity. dissidentvoice.org 
Philip Guston (Canada), Gladiators, 1940. In May 2021, the executive director of UN Women, Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka, and the UN high representative for disarmament affairs, Izumi Nakamitsu, wrote an article urging governments to cut excessive military spending in favour of increasing spending on social and economic development. Their wise words were not heard at all. To …
(2023-01-05). Communist replies to BBC budget tips: 'Get out and see the real world.'. thecommunists.org The following letter was sent by one of our members to the BBC in response to yet another patronising and delusional piece on 'budgeting'. ***** There is what you describe as a 'cost of living' crisis, and there is a real crisis — a crisis of capitalism. A crisis that will not be going away. …
(2023-01-05). Hundreds attend funeral of Sri Lankan Trotskyist Sarath Kumara. wsws.org Sarath joined the Revolutionary Communist League, forerunner of the SEP, in 1991 and remained a courageous and dedicated working-class fighter for Trotskyism until his death aged 57.
(2023-01-04). Saturday 1/7: Election 2022: What Does It Mean for the Socialist Left? indybay.org
(2023-01-04). Britain's National Health Service faced with deliberate collapse. wsws.org COVID policies backed by all the major parties of allowing tens of thousands of people to die unnecessary deaths and countless more to suffer prolonged ill health—rather than taking measures impacting on profits—were only the sharpest expression of a growing hostility to health spending seen as an intolerable drain on British capitalism, to be reduced as quickly as possible.
(2023-01-04). Marx, the 'Metabolic Rift' and Capitalism's Assault on Nature. socialistproject.ca 
In recent years millions of young and working-class people have engaged in protests against the climate and ecological crisis as devastating wildfires, heat waves, droughts, hurricanes and floods have increased in regularity and intensity around the world. "System change, not climate change!" has become the main slogan, reflecting a sense that we need a fundamental transformation of society to avoid catastrophe. | It is no surprise that this has emerged alongside a renewed interest in the ideas of Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels, and their critique of capitalism. They argued that capitalism was based on exploit…
(2023-01-04). Senior Chinese official stresses orderly transition to Class-B management of COVID-19. ecns.cn A senior official of the Communist Party of China (CPC) called for effectively coordinating the epidemic response with economic and social development in an orderly transition to Class-B management of COVID-19.
(2023-01-04). Free antipyretics for sanitation workers and poor families in Hebei. ecns.cn A volunteer service booth distributes free medicines to sanitation workers and families in extreme poverty in Changli County, Qinhuangdao City, north China's Hebei Province on Tuesday.
(2023-01-04). Child poverty rates highest in states that haven't raised minimum wage. juancole.com 
By Casey Quinlan |  ; ( Minnesota Reformer )  ; Of the 20 states that have failed to raise the minimum wage above the federal $7.25 an hour standard, 16 have more than 12% of their children living in poverty, according to a States Newsroom analysis of wage and poverty data. Anti-poverty advocates say that's …