East of England YCL: a proud past and a bright future
Joe Weaver marks the establishment of a new YCL Branch in the East of England and notes that it builds on a longstanding and proud communist tradition in the area.
Democratic Federalism, the Welsh Economy & Economic Justice
Nathan James makes the case for radical economic planning and redistribution in Wales to reverse a decade of austerity and invigorate democratic rights.
Democratic federalism emphasises the symbiotic relationship between public sector intervention and economic democracy at a local, federal and national level. It requires a significant level of income redistribution at federal level combined with the development of economic democracy at the local and national level. This vision stands in contrast to the type of economic devolution mandated for English regions by the Cities and Local Government Devolution Act (2016).
Poetry Corner: The Kingdom of Heaven by Christopher Caudwell
Christopher Caudwell was a Communist Party member, poet and influential Marxist thinker.
Born into a relatively well to do Catholic family, Caudwell worked as a journalist before working on Marxist critiques on a variety of subjects from poetry to his book The Crisis in Physics.
Like many of his contemporaries, such as John Cornford, Caudwell volunteered for the International Brigades in Spain. Caudwell was killed in the fighting on the first day of the Battle of Jarama, 12th February 1937
Much of his work was published posthumously including his best known book Illusion and Reality.
Tory austerity, Labour indecision or SNP nationalism? Class politics is the answer
Young people in Britain live in grim and uncertain times. Even before the COVID-19 Pandemic, we were denied the chance of a dignified life and an optimistic future.
The pandemic, as well as inflicting tens of thousands of tragedies and tearing families apart, has exposed the inhumanity of the capitalist system and its inability to protect the lives of working people. But this is no time to despair.
An Interview with the President of the University of Damascus Student Union
Jack Trustam interviews Khaled Bakdash, President of the University of Damascus Student Union. Khaled Bakdash is also Secretary of the International Relations Bureau of the Syrian Communist Youth Union.
Times are changing – and we have to capitalise on the opportunity
The recent outbreak of Coronavirus, and subsequent global Covid-19 pandemic, have exposed the true failings of neoliberalism and late-stage capitalism. There can be no doubt over the extent to which the past ten years of Tory austerity have decimated our public services and resulted in the social murder of our class. But it has also […]
Poetry Corner: Trotsky Visits the Far East by Mao
Mao Tse-Tung is a man who needs little introduction, especially to members of the Young Communist League. However, despite being a remarkable leader and philosopher, his poetry is often overlooked. This is partly because many pass it off as ‘poetic politics’, namely just a fruity disguise of his politics. Others simply ignore it because he was ‘authoritarian’, so they would not demean themselves by pandering to it.
Poetry Corner: To Whom It May Concern (Tell me lies about Vietnam)
Adrian Mitchell, 1932 – 2008, first performed his stirring denunciation of the Vietnam War, To Whom It May Concern (Tell me lies about Vietnam), at an anti war protest in Trafalgar Square, London, in 1964.
This video features a performance on 11 June 1965 at London’s Royal Albert Hall, at the height of the Vietnam War.
Cuban Communism: social justice, equality and real human rights
Robin Talbot discusses the successes of the Cuban Revolution in advancing human rights and equality, and what lessons we can learn
Poetry Corner: Ho Chi Minh’s Prison Poetry
As well as being the anti-colonial and revolutionary leader of Vietnam, Ho Chi Minh was also a keen poet. Here we feature some of the poems wrote by Ho Chi Minh during a long period of imprisonment.
In 1942, at age 52, Ho Chi Minh was arrested in South China, accused of being a spy by Nationalist forces. For fourteen months, bound in leg irons, he was shifted from jail to jail. Throughout he kept a diary written in poetry. The following poems are a selection of poems from Ho Chi Minh’s Prison Diary.
