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In the aftermath of World War Two, American workers launched the biggest strike wave in the country’s history. In a single year, over 100 million workdays were lost, and the bosses were forced to give ground. Yet by 1980, unions were in retreat, living standards were stagnating and the rich were getting richer. What happened? In part two of our series on the history of the US labour movement, Fred Weston, leading member of the Revolutionary Communist International, rejoins Joe Attard to pick up where we left off. We start with Roosevelt’s New Deal, which the reformist left celebrates as a victory for the working class. Was FDR really a friend of labour, or was he saving capitalism from itself? From there, we follow how the movement was reined in, first by its own leaders during the war, then by repression and the postwar boom. But the calm didn’t last. The 60s and 70s saw a new wave of radicalisation, wildcat strikes and class struggle, only for it to be crushed by the Reagan offensive and followed by a long period of dormancy. But now, from the Wisconsin uprising to the Minneapolis general strike, this sleeping giant is stirring again, rediscovering its strength, and becoming increasingly open to the ideas of communism and revolution... This is the real history of the American class struggle that Donald Trump and Elon Musk don’t want you to hear – and one full of lessons for class fighters today. If you haven’t already, watch part one first! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h4StM0c2c2w 📖 Texts mentioned 📖 Book: "A People’s History of the United States" by Howard Zinn Book: "Socialism on Trial" by James P. Cannon Movie: "Harlan County, USA" by Barbara Kopple Article: Why does the CPUSA support Democratic Party candidates for the presidency instead of running their own candidates? https://www.cpusa.org/interact_cpusa/why-does-the-cpusa-support-democratic-party-candidates-for-the-presidency-instead-of-running-their-own-candidates/ Article: Social democrats are not the enemy right now https://www.cpusa.org/article/social-democrats-are-not-the-enemy-right-now/ Article: Trade Unions in the Epoch of Imperialist Decay by Leon Trotsky https://www.marxists.org/archive/trotsky/1940/xx/tu.htm ⏱️ Timestamps ⏱️ 0:00 Introduction 1:24 The New Deal and the Wagner Act 14:23 Strikes in World War Two 19:19 The no-strike pledge and the Communist Party 30:58 Soldiers, war profits and the Labor Party question 43:37 The 1945-46 strike wave 58:22 Taft-Hartley and the Red Scare 1:09:11 The postwar boom and the AFL-CIO merger 1:15:19 Strikes of the 1960s 1:21:33 The 1970 postal strike and the 1970s 1:29:00 Harlan County, USA 1:33:50 The 1970s internationally 1:38:17 Chrysler bailout and PATCO 1:40:55 Union decline and recent strikes 1:48:57 Wages, productivity and Minneapolis 1:56:12 Lessons for the coming class war 🫵 Join the Revolutionary Communist International: https://marxist.com/join-us.htm 📚 Marxist literature: https://wellred-books.com/ 🎧 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/68nGNHz5lB8UZXICGIDMva?si=682ef70551644443 📱 Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/against-the-stream/id1777793987 📸 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/revcomintern/ 💬 Twitter: https://x.com/revcomintern/

Mass strikes; gun battles with scabs, cops and Pinkertons; revolutionary communists on the picket lines. This is the real history of the American labor movement that Donald Trump and Elon Musk don’t want you to hear.While often presented as a bastion of reaction, the United States has a long and rich history of class struggle. In the first of this two-part series, Fred Weston, leading member of the Revolutionary Communist International, joins Joe Attard to uncover the forgotten history of the US labour movement from the rise of American industrial capitalism to the great class battles of the 1930s – and to draw out the lessons of these struggles for communists and class fighters today.(NOTE: The New Deal will be covered in next episode)📖 Books mentioned 📖Labor's Untold Story, by Richard O. Boyer and Herbert M. MoraisAmerican Labor Struggles: 1877–1934, by Samuel Yellen🫵 Join the Revolutionary Communist International: https://marxist.com/join-us.htm 📚 Marxist literature: https://wellred-books.com/🎧 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/68nGNHz5lB8UZXICGIDMva?si=682ef70551644443 📱 Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/against-the-stream/id1777793987 📸 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/revcomintern/💬 Twitter: https://x.com/revcomintern/

Imperialism threatens humanity. Our burning task is to overthrow it – but how? Many revolutionaries have turned to Mao and Stalin for answers, as they are associated with the biggest blows to imperialism in world history: the Russian and Chinese revolutions. But did Stalin and Mao really fight imperialism? And what would we have done differently? These are the questions we set out to answer in the latest episode of Spectre of Communism. As communists, we aim to learn the lessons of the past in order to conquer the future. In the 20th century, no lessons are more important and controversial than those of Stalinism and Maoism. On the one hand, they are associated with anti-imperialist liberation struggles. On the other, they are accused of betraying and undermining those same struggles in their own interests. Brushing aside the vicious lies and attacks of the capitalists, who use Stalin and Mao to slander communism in general, we invited Daniel Morley, member of the Executive Committee of the Revolutionary Communist Party, to set the record straight. 📺 Related episodes 📺 The truth about Mao and the Chinese Revolution – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WXZR5t4Bo4k The Spanish Revolution and Civil War: A Complete Timeline – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yjMcYaCMBSY Stalinism on trial – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0JevkQNg98E 📖 Texts cited 📖 SPEECHES ON WAR AND PEACE AT A MEETING OF THE C.C. OF THE R.S.D.L.P.(B.). JANUARY 11 (24), 1918 – https://www.marxists.org/archive/lenin/works/1918/jan/11.htm Out of the Night, Jan Valtin – https://files.libcom.org/files/2025-02/Out%20of%20the%20Night%20(Jan%20Valtin)%20(Z-Library).pdf The Third International After Lenin, Leon Trotsky – https://www.marxists.org/archive/trotsky/1928/3rd/index.htm West European Unity Against Hegemonism ls a Historical Necessity (Peking Review 1978 no.9 p.20) – https://www.marxists.org/subject/china/peking-review/1978/PR1978-09.pdf 📖 Recommended reading 📖 Stalinist land programme wins peasants – Chiang’s conscripts roped to prevent escape, by Ted Grant – https://marxist.com/ted-grant-china-jan-1949.htm Reply to David James, by Ted Grant – https://www.marxists.org/archive/grant/1949/james.htm On Imperialist War: Lenin Selected Writings – https://wellred-books.com/on-imperialist-war-lenin-selected-writings/ China: From Permanent Revolution to Counter-Revolution – https://wellred-books.com/china/ ⏱️ Timestamps ⏱️ 00:00:00 Introduction 00:00:59 Why are we so critical? 00:06:43 Comintern: Lenin, Trotsky and the Bolsheviks 00:17:38 Stalin, Zinoviev and the German Revolution 00:23:40 Socialism in One Country + Stalin's Foreign Policy 00:36:19 The Spanish Revolution + Popular Front 00:40:57 WWII 00:48:49 Stalin and the Founding of Israel 00:51:15 Mao's Foreign Policy and the Sino-Soviet Split 01:08:08 China and Western Europe (1960s–1970s) 01:15:00 The Indian Subcontinent 01:21:31 Southeast Asia 01:22:26 Angola 01:26:50 Conclusion 🫵 Join the Revolutionary Communist International: https://marxist.com/join-us.htm 📚 Marxist literature: https://wellred-books.com/ 🎧 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/5JSs2U1TANlRkawQCH7luP?si=ec9ca883b8f940f0 📱 Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/spectre-of-communism/id1659878020 📸 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/revcomintern/ 💬 Twitter: https://x.com/revcomintern/

A stereotype holds that British workers have always been conservative and averse to radical class struggle. But a century ago, they waged a general strike that reached revolutionary proportions, threatening the very foundations of capitalist society. The Guardian newspaper declared on 10 May 1926: “It is just a week since Civil War was declared in this country. It is not a war of arms; it is not yet even a war of tempers; it is a trial of strength.” But the strike ended suddenly after 9 days: at its peak. What happened? Shamefully, little has been written to mark the centenary of the 1926 general strike, and the accounts that do exist completely misrepresent it in various ways. Right-wing historians say the unions were simply a ‘boil that needed lancing’ and the workers’ case was a hopeless one (despite the terror the strike struck into the hearts of the establishment at the time). Meanwhile, some left-wingers deny the workers were actually defeated! Which rather raises the question of why they were forced to accept brutal wage cuts, lengthened hours and targeting sackings, leading to a whole period of paralysis on the industrial front. The real story of the 1926 general strike reveals a tragic failure of leadership. Despite the immense power and courage of the British workers – who paralysed the country, established their own embryonic seats of power and even developed a rival press – they were ultimately sold out by the trade union leadership. This major episode in the British and world class struggle is full of lessons for class fighters today, at a time when the capitalist system is one more in an historic crisis and trying to force ordinary people to shoulder the burden. We are delighted to welcome onto the show Ben Gliniecki, General Secretary of the Revolutionary Communist Party and author of A Communist History of the British General Strike, to set the record straight. 📖 RECOMMENDED READING 📖 A Communist History of the British General Strike, Ben Gliniecki: https://wellredbooks.co.uk/product/a-communist-history-of-the-british-general-strike/ Accounts critiqued: The 1926 General Strike: revolutionary potential, reformist betrayal, and the lessons for today, Dylan Murphy: https://morningstaronline.co.uk/article/1926-general-strike-revolutionary-potential-reformist-betrayal-and-lessons-today How the 1926 General Strike shaped trade union solidarity, Aslef general secretary David Calfe: https://morningstaronline.co.uk/article/how-1926-general-strike-shaped-trade-union-solidarity “Their Greatest Effort Ever”: The British General Strike at 100, Cal Winslow: https://jacobin.com/2026/05/general-strike-britain-labor-history General Strike was 'the boil that needed lancing', BBC (citing David Torrance, author of ‘The Edge of Revolution: The General Strike that Shook Britain’): https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c7057jy14j1o Reflections on the General Strike, 100 years on, Paul Nowak, General secretary of the Trades Union Congress: https://www.tuc.org.uk/blogs/reflections-general-strike-100-years

Did you know that Adam Smith, the poster child of free-market capitalism… was also a major influence on Karl Marx?  While Smith is celebrated today as the father of capitalism and Marx as the founder of communism, they are actually part of the same theoretical tradition of political economy. Unlike the lunatic libertarians and hired guns for capitalism who lay claim to Smith’s legacy today; in his day, he actually aimed to scientifically understand the workings of “commercial society”. Although the apologists of capitalism don't like to admit it, Smith identified labor – not trade or crafty entrepreneurs – as the true source of a nation's wealth. In so doing, he elaborated on the labor theory of value: the idea that a commodity's worth is determined by the labor required to produce it. But his analysis was incomplete and inconsistent, leaving him fundamentally unable to understand the mysteries of the burgeoning capitalist world, with all its inequality, chaos and crisis. By taking Smith's insights and pushing them to their logical conclusions, most notably by distinguishing between labor and labor-power, Marx unlocked the secret of profit: workers produce more value than they receive in wages, with the difference – surplus value – falling to the capitalist. By combining the labor theory of value with dialectical materialism, Marx revealed the fundamental laws governing capitalism and demonstrated why the system inevitably generates crises and exploitation.  In this episode of Spectre of Communism, Adam Booth (leading member of the Revolutionary Communist Party and co-author of Understanding Marx’s Capital) joins Joe Attard to explore how two seemingly opposed economists are connected. 📖 RECOMMENDED READING 📖 From Adam Smith to Karl Marx: The Wealth of Nations and Das Kapital https://marxist.com/from-adam-smith-to-karl-marx-the-wealth-of-nations-and-das-kapital.htm Understanding Marx's Capital https://wellredbooks.co.uk/product/understanding-marxs-capital/ ⏱️ TIMESTAMPS ⏱️ 0:00 — Intro — Who was Adam Smith? 8:56 — Division of labour 21:37 — The labour theory of value 43:58 — Exchange-value and price 55:04 — 'The invisible hand of the market' 1:00:36 — Profit and surplus value 1:12:44 — Decay of bourgeois economics 🌐 LINKS 🌐 ✊ Join the Revolutionary Communist International: https://marxist.com/join-us.htm 🎧 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/68nGNHz5lB8UZXICGIDMva?si=682ef70551644443 📱 Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/against-the-stream/id1777793987 📸 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/revcomintern/ 💬 Twitter: https://x.com/revcomintern/

Spectre of Communism – the theoretical podcast of the RCI – kicks off a new season by exploring one of the most fundamental and important topics of today: imperialism 💵First explained by Vladimir Lenin in his 1916 book of the same name, imperialism has come to define the past century. From countless wars to the economic dominance of giant monopolies, it has destroyed the lives of billions of people  🦅Much has changed since Lenin put pen to paper, but the core ideas and developments he described remain as relevant as ever. In fact, the parasitic features of imperialism have only become more pronounced, with monopolisation and the concentration of capital reaching truly obscene levels 📈Today, three asset management firms – BlackRock, Vanguard, and State Street – control over $22 trillion in assets and hold major stakes in 88% of S&P 500 companies. The world's richest 1% own more wealth than 95% of humanity, while developing countries pay $487 billion to foreign lenders every single year. Meanwhile, the number of wars and conflicts is at its highest since the Second World War, as rivalry between the major imperialist powers intensifies 🧨In this episode, Joe Attard is joined by Jorge Martín, leading member of the RCI, to discuss why understanding imperialism is a prerequisite for fighting it. That means grasping concretely how imperialist conflicts are bound to unfold in the period ahead – and how the class struggle that imperialism creates will provide immense opportunities to strike blows against the capitalist system the world over ✊Tune in, and subscribe wherever you get your podcasts, so you don't miss any future episodes of Spectre of Communism 📺

“A spectre is haunting Europe — the spectre of communism!” These immortal words from the Communist Manifesto (and the title of this podcast!) herald the most important piece of political literature ever written. In our final episode of the season, we go through the Manifesto chapter-by-chapter, and explain the ongoing relevance of this amazing document. In just a few dozen pages, Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels describe the development and dynamics of capitalist society, explain the revolutionary role of communists, and issue a battlecry to the workers of the world. They draw the incredibly profound conclusion that the (written) history of all hitherto existing society is the history of class struggles, a discovery that Engels later said had the same impact on political economy as Darwin’s theory of natural selection did on biology. While the Manifesto was written in 1847, in reality it more accurately describes the world of today! As Josh Holroyd, leading member of the Revolutionary Communist International, explains in our detailed chapter breakdown, the Manifesto predicts a world in which the entire population is made part of the capitalist machine, and periodically plunged into chaos by crises of overproduction. Marx and Engels fend off bourgeois slanders that communism crushes ‘freedom’ and would ‘make people lazy’. They point to the treacherous role of reformism, and teach communists how they should relate to the wider workers’ movement. And much more besides. These theoretical insights have only gained in relevance in the 150 years since the Manifesto was published. And in practice, the ideas contained in this text have transformed the course of world history, inspiring victorious revolutions and continuing to haunt the nightmares of the capitalists and their agents. We are delighted to end this season of the podcast with a deep dive into the foundational document of our movement. Workers of the world, unite! 📖 WORKS CITED 📖 Manifesto of the Communist Party, Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels (with prefaces): 🔗https://marxist.com/communist-manifesto-chapter-1.htm Purchase a physical copy here as part of Classics of Marxism Volume One: 🔗https://wellred-books.com/classics-volume-one/ Address of the Central Committee to the Communist League, Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels: 🔗https://www.marxists.org/archive/marx/works/1847/communist-league/1850-ad1.htm [Podcast] How Marx became a Marxist: 🔗https://marxist.com/podcast-how-marx-became-a-marxist.htm

The term ‘postmodernism’ is thrown around a lot by right-wing shock-jocks like Jordan Peterson, often in tandem with Marxism: although these two sets of ideas are totally opposed. In this episode, leading comrade Hamid Alizadeh takes on some of the main luminaries of this obscure, impenetrable and ultimately reactionary school including Foucault, Derrida and Lyotard. Lyotard describes postmodernism as “incredulity towards metanarratives.” In other words: an opposition to ‘big ideas’ about history, truth, science and progress. But with these ‘big ideas’ discarded, what are we left with? As Hamid demonstrates, the answer for all the postmodernists is basically the same: we cannot know the world, let alone change it, all we can do is ‘think differently’, play around with words, and retreat to subjectivity. They even celebrate writing in incomprehensible gibberish and ‘believing in nothing’ as a ‘radical’ act! This cynical philosophy is a total dead-end which winds up in stasis and despair. In total contrast to Marxism, which recognises the world as made up of complex processes, and driven by an inner lawfulness towards higher and higher complexity. By knowing the world, we can organise ourselves to intervene and change it for the better. Postmodernism is not merely a reactionary worldview, Hamid explains, it has a directly negative impact on society, serving to divide the working class through the related phenomenon of identity politics, and preserve the status quo by hampering unity of the working class. It is our duty as Marxists to oppose these counter-revolutionary ideas, and demonstrate the vast superiority of our dialectical materialist philosophy! 📖 WORKS CITED 📖 The case for theory: why communists should study philosophy | SPECTRE OF COMMUNISM: 🔗https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pBQBXX7jZYg Marxism vs. Postmodernism, Daniel Morley and Hamid Alizadeh: 🔗https://marxist.com/marxism-versus-postmodernism.htm Theological-Political Treatise, Baruch Spinoza: 🔗https://assets.cambridge.org/97805218/24118/excerpt/9780521824118_excerpt.htm Hegel, G.F. W. (1975). Hegel's Aesthetics: Lectures on Fine Art [For the quote about an ignorant man not being free] 📖 WORKS CRITIQUED 📖 Gender Trouble (Tenth Edition), Judith Butler: 🔗https://selforganizedseminar.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/07/butler-gender_trouble.pdf The Postmodern Condition: A Report on Knowledge, Jean-François Lyotard: 🔗https://monoskop.org/images/e/e0/Lyotard_Jean-Francois_The_Postmodern_Condition_A_Report_on_Knowledge.pdf The Subject and Power, Michel Foucault: 🔗https://www2.kobe-u.ac.jp/~alexroni/IPD2018%20readings/IPD1%202018%20No.8/Foucault%20Subject%20and%20Power.pdf Differance, Jacques Derrida: 🔗https://mforbes.sites.gettysburg.edu/cims226/wp-content/uploads/2018/09/Week-5a-Jacques-Derrida.pdf Article about how the CIA used Foucault and postmodern ideas to their benefit: 🔗https://thephilosophicalsalon.com/the-cia-reads-french-theory-on-the-intellectual-labor-of-dismantling-the-cultural-left/ ⏱️ TIMESTAMPS ⏱️ 00:55 - What is postmodernism? 11:40 - Is language oppressive? 25:46 - 'Differance' vs Dialectics 31:58 - Are there objective patterns in the world? 40:42 - Is there a barrier between mind and matter? 01:00:54 - Practical impact of these ideas

How did Stalin outmanoeuvre Trotsky and take power following Lenin’s death? What do Marxists mean by ‘value’? And what does it really mean to ‘master the dialectic’? We went back to social media and asked for some more burning questions from our audience, for leading communist Niklas Albin Svensson to answer in a quickfire round! Watch our previous viewers’ questions episode with Ben Curry here: 🔗https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=korpvewBWo8&t=3561s 📖 WORKS & SOURCES CITED 📖 Wage, Labour and Capital, Karl Marx: 🔗https://marxist.com/classics-wage-labour-and-capital.htm Value, Price and Profit, Karl Marx: 🔗https://marxist.com/classics-marxism-two-book/value-price-and-profit.htm ABC of Materialist Dialectics, Leon Trotsky: 🔗https://marxist.com/abc-materialist-dialectics-trotsky.htm Revolution Betrayed, Leon Trotsky: 🔗https://marxist.com/classics-the-revolution-betrayed.htm Results and Prospects, Leon Trotsky: 🔗https://marxist.com/results-and-prospects.htm Imperialism: The Highest Stage of Capitalism, Vladimir Lenin: 🔗https://marxist.com/classics-imperialism-the-highest-stage-of-capitalism/.htm The Wealth of Nations, Book One, Chapter 5: 🔗https://www.marxists.org/reference/archive/smith-adam/works/wealth-of-nations/book01/ch05.htm Astronomy Is In Crisis...And It's Incredibly Exciting - 3 million views (discusses crisis in cosmology): 🔗https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zozEm4f_dlw Reason in Revolt, Ted Grant and Alan Woods: 🔗https://marxist.com/reason-in-revolt-marxist-philosophy-and-modern-science.htm Purchase In Defence of Marxism Issue 51 here: 🔗https://magazine.marxist.com/ ⏱️ TIMESTAMPS ⏱️ 00:57 - What is value? 22:18 - How to master the dialectic? 52:20 - How did Stalin come to power? 1:04:23 - How did capitalism affect post-Soviet countries? 🌐 LINKS 🌐 ✊ Join the Revolutionary Communist International: https://marxist.com/join-us.htm 📸 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/revcomintern/ 💬 Twitter: https://x.com/revcomintern/

Ted Grant is not widely known outside of revolutionary circles, but he was the most important Marxist theorist since the death of Leon Trotsky, who alone predicted the course of world politics after WWII. Amongst other things, he foresaw the post-war economic upswing; the expropriation of capitalism in China and much of Eastern Europe; Stalin’s clashes with Tito and Mao; and much more besides. In this episode, his closest collaborator Alan Woods, the main leader and theorist of the RCI, reminisces about Ted’s life and works, and explains the importance of his contributions. In today’s episode, Alan talks about Ted’s legacy. He emphasises not only Ted’s brilliant mastery of Marxism, which gave him a huge advantage over his contemporaries; but also his humanity, his indignance towards all forms of injustice, and his profound sense of optimism. While the road to revolution is long and often difficult, Ted always said, there are two indispensable traits for any revolutionary: a sense of proportion and a sense of humour! Aside from the organisation we inherit today, Ted’s main legacy can be found in his tremendous contributions to Marxist theory and analysis. The third volume of his collected works will be released in January 2026.  Stalinist land programme wins peasants, Chiang’s conscripts roped to prevent escape, Ted Grant: 🔗https://www.marxists.org/archive/grant/1949/01/china.htm  Democracy or Bonapartism in Europe - A Reply to Pierre Frank, Ted Grant: 🔗https://www.marxists.org/archive/grant/1946/08/frank.htm  Ted’s obituaries in the bourgeois press: 🔗https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/obituaries/1524889/Ted-Grant.html, 🔗https://www.theguardian.com/news/2006/jul/27/guardianobituaries.southafrica  Ted Grant: The Permanent Revolutionary, Alan Woods: 🔗https://wellred-books.com/ted-grant-the-permanent-revolutionary/The degeneration and collapse of the Fourth International: in defence of our heritage, RCI: 🔗https://marxist.com/the-degeneration-and-collapse-of-the-fourth-international.htm The TRUTH about World War 2: Marxist historian sets the record straight | SPECTRE OF COMMUNISM:🔗https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u1vobbAMUzM&t=1191s The Changed Relationship of Forces in Europe and the Role of the Fourth International, Ted Grant: 🔗https://www.marxists.org/archive/grant/1945/03/changed.htm Economic Perspectives 1946, Ted Grant: 🔗https://www.marxists.org/archive/grant/1946/04/economy.htm Perspectives in Britain, Ted Grant: 🔗https://www.marxists.org/archive/grant/1946/07/britain.htm Czechoslovakia: The Issues Involved, Ted Grant: 🔗https://www.marxists.org/archive/grant/1948/04/czechoslovakia.htm Reply to David James, Ted Grant: 🔗https://www.marxists.org/archive/grant/1949/james.htm Stalinism in the Postwar World, Ted Grant: 🔗https://www.marxists.org/archive/grant/1951/06/stalinism

A decade ago, Greece became the epicentre of a political earthquake. Brutal EU and IMF-imposed austerity measures provoked a revolutionary struggle by workers and youth, who vested their hopes in the left-wing SYRIZA government to take on the institutions of European capitalism. But in the end, these reformist leaders prepared a betrayal. What are the lessons of Greece that must be learned for the class struggle today? In this episode of the Spectre of Communism podcast, Francesco Merli, leading member of the Revolutionary Communist International, takes us step-by-step through the whole process, beginning with the impact of the financial crisis of 2008 that saw Greece’s creditors inflicting economic warfare against the country. Francesco explains that the Greek workers and youth did not take this lying down, launching multiple back-to-back general strikes over the course of seven years, before finally electing SYRIZA on a radical reformist programme in 2015. Today, class fighters around the world continue to draw inspiration from the heroism and fighting spirit that the Greek people displayed over this long struggle. We point to the experience of the SYRIZA government as a concrete illustration of the betrayal inherent in reformism. The lessons of Greece are invaluable for the victory of the future European and world revolution! 📖 SOURCES CITED 📖 ‘Lessons from Greece’, In Defence of Magazine Issue 50, Summer 2025, Arturo Rodriguez: 🔗 https://marxist.com/magazine.htm ‘The class struggle in Greece’, Alan Woods: 🔗 https://communist.red/the-class-struggle-in-greece/ ‘Tsipras addresses American-Hellenic Chamber of Commerce’, Tovima, 🔗https://www.tovima.gr/2013/12/03/international/tsipras-addresses-american-hellenic-chamber-of-commerce/ ‘Greece: SYRIZA leaders preparing for government – what is the next step?’, Fred Weston and Stamatis Karagiannopoulos: 🔗 https://marxist.com/syriza-leaders-preparing-for-government-what-is-the-next-step.htm ‘Greece: Historic victory of left - First time in history a party with roots in Communist movement wins elections’, Communist Tendency of Syriza: 🔗 https://marxist.com/historic-victory-of-the-left-in-greece-for-the-first-time-in-history-a-party-with-roots-in-the-communist-movement-has-come-to-power.htm ‘SYRIZA in power, the crisis and the Greek revolution’, Marie Frederiksen: 🔗 https://marxist.com/syriza-in-power-the-crisis-and-the-greek-revolution.htm ‘Why Greek Exit From The Euro Would Be A Very Bad Idea’, Frances Coppola, Forbes: 🔗https://www.forbes.com/sites/francescoppola/2015/02/17/why-greek-exit-from-the-euro-would-be-a-very-bad-idea/ ‘Greece: No surrender to the Troika!’, Fred Weston: 🔗 https://marxist.com/greece-no-surrender-to-the-troika.htm ‘Greece: A troika by any other name would smell as rotten’, Jorge Martin: 🔗 https://marxist.com/greece-a-troika-by-any-other-name-would-smell-as-rotten.htm ‘Greece: The moment of decision’, Alan Woods: 🔗 https://marxist.com/greece-the-moment-of-decision.htm ‘Varoufakis’ mission “to save European capitalism from itself”’, Fred Weston: 🔗 https://marxist.com/varoufakis-mission-to-save-european-capitalism-from-itself.htm ‘Greek default approaching – what next?’, Fred Weston: 🔗 https://marxist.com/greek-default-approaching-what-next.htm ‘Greek crisis: the only way to break with austerity is to break with capitalism’, Jorge Martin: 🔗 https://marxist.com/greek-crisis-the-only-way-to-break-with-austerity-is-to-break-with-capitalism.htm

Has communism ever been a serious force in the Middle East? Are Marxists in favour of shrinking the economy to save the environment? Has there been a shift to the right in society? We took to social media and asked our viewers to send in questions about communism, Marxism and revolution for leading communist, Ben Curry, to answer in a quickfire round! Chapters: 00:00:54: The History of the Communist Movement/Parties in the Middle East 00:28:05: Marxism vs. Degrowth 00:57:33: Why is the Left so Weak? Works and sources cited: The 1917 Russian Revolution: A Complete Timeline | SPECTRE OF COMMUNISM: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eXzg544UyJ0&list=PLmkivsu9EhGABC5d-wtbSuk8D9fx55gh1   Molotov’s telegram to Israeli Foreign Minister 1948, cited here: https://marxist.com/stalin-and-the-founding-of-israel.htm   ‘Green growth’ doesn’t exist – less of everything is the only way to avert catastrophe, George Monbiot: https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2021/sep/29/green-growth-economic-activity-environment   Communism and the Iraqi Revolution, Ben Curry: https://marxist.com/communism-and-the-iraqi-revolution-part-one.htm   Population Matters, David Attenborough: https://populationmatters.org/news/2020/10/attenborough-film-saving-our-planet-requires-ending-population-growth/   A Contribution to the Critique of Political Economy, Karl Marx: https://www.marxists.org/archive/marx/works/1859/critique-pol-economy/preface.htm   The Communists Are Coming – A Visual Manifesto | RCI Documentary: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MhOCEYM8LZE

Trotsky wrote in ‘The Tragedy of Spain’ (1939) that, despite the Spanish proletariat’s revolutionary heroism, they were “brought to ruin by petty, despicable, and utterly corrupted ‘leaders.’” In this episode, we chart the great triumphs and tragic demise of the Spanish Revolution in a complete timeline. Chapters listed below! The Spanish Revolution that ran from 1931 to 1937 is one of the most remarkable and inspirational events in world history. The Spanish workers brought down the hated regime of King Alfonso XIII in April 1931; and strived to win freedom, dignity and a decent existence, which was continually denied to them by a procession of bourgeois and so-called Popular Front governments of class collaboration.  The Spanish workers spontaneously rallied to repel an attempted military coup by General Franco in 1936, and established workers’ power in key cities like Barcelona. Time and again, victory was within reach. But sadly they were betrayed at every step by the bourgeois leaders of the Republic; as well as the blunders and outright crimes of the workers’ leaders: anarchists, socialists, communists and the POUM alike. The price for these betrayals was the crushing of the revolution, with the Stalinist Communist Party (on the orders of the Comintern) playing an especially criminal role; and the eventual victory of General Franco in the Civil War, ushering in decades of military dictatorship. Leading member of the Revolutionary Communist International, Jorge Martin, takes us through these remarkable years, month-by-month, revealing the entire process by which the Spanish Revolution rose and fell.  -- Chapters: 00:01:27 – The importance of the Spanish Revolution 00:03:20 – Conditions prior to the Revolution 00:10:13 – Main political forces in Spain explained 00:20:45 – April 1931, start of the Revolution 00:23:03 – October 1931, beginning of Reformist Biennium 00:23:19 – June 1932, first elected government 00:26:02 – August 1932, attempted military coup 00:27:00 – November 1933, second election, CEDA the biggest party 00:30:54 – July 1934, coup in Austria  00:35:26 – October 1934, insurrectionary general strike and Asturian commune 00:48:04 – September 1935, founding of the POUM, two black years 00:51:31 – February 1936, Popular Front government elected 00:58:07 – April 1936, president ousted from Cortes 00:59:53 – July 1936, Franco coup defeated 01:18:41 – August 1936, changing policy of Communist Party 01:20:11 – September 1936, Caballero government 01:21:58 – October 1936, militias placed under control of bourgeois army 01:27:59 – November 1936, CNT leaders join Republican government in Madrid 01:34:17 – December 1936, repression against POUM and anarchists 01:34:32 – January 1937, POUM paper closed 01:40:17 – May 1937, Red Barcelona crushed 01:45:58 – June 1937, Nin arrested, POUM crushed 01:50:20 – August 1937, Negrin's 'government of Victory' sabotages war effort 01:52:08 – January 1938, Stalin recalling International Brigades 01:52:46 – March 1939, another coup and attempted deal with Franco 01:52:58 – April 1939, Franco enters Madrid 01:53:25 – Consequences of the revolution's defeat --- Works cited and sources: Revolution and Counter-Revolution in Spain, Felix Morrow: https://wellred-books.com/revolution-and-counter-revolution-in-spain/The Revolution and the Civil War in Spain, Pierre Broué and Emile Témime: https://www.marxists.org/archive/broue/1961/spain/rev-spain.htmlCollected Writings on The Spanish Revolution, Leon Trotsky: https://www.marxists.org/archive/trotsky/spain/index.htmThe Class, the Party and the Leadership: Why Was the Spanish Proletariat Defeated? [Questions of Marxist Theory], Leon Trotsky: https://www.marxists.org/archive/trotsky/1940/xx/party.htmHomage to Catalonia, George Orwell: https://www.marxists.org/archive/orwell/1938/homage-catalonia.htm

The Russian Revolution of 1917 was the greatest event in human history. For the first time, ordinary working people were able to win power and hold onto it. Our new season of the Spectre of Communism podcast kicks off with a complete timeline of the revolution, from January to October, charting 10 months that shook the world!  The Russian proletariat, allied with peasantry (many of whom were soldiers who had been fighting in the Great War) successfully brought down the brutal regime of Tsar Nicholas II in February and established the soviets (mass workers’ councils). Lenin was able, through patient work, to arm the Bolshevik Party with the correct slogans and tactics to win over the workers and peasants organised in the soviets. Under the leadership of Lenin, Trotsky and the Bolsheviks, the masses finally felled the capitalist provisional government in October and created a workers’ government: the first in history that began to carry out its programme. Fred Weston from the leadership of the Revolutionary Communist International takes us through the events of 1917, month by month, culminating in the seizure of power. This incredible story altered the course of world history and remains an immense inspiration to revolutionaries today. — Works cited and sources: History of the Russian Revolution, Leon Trotsky: https://wellred-books.com/history-of-the-russian-revolution/ The History of the Russian Revolution to Brest-Litovsk, Leon Trotsky: https://wellred-books.com/the-history-of-the-russian-revolution-to-brest-litovsk/  Letter to Volksrecht, V.I. Lenin: https://www.marxists.org/archive/lenin/works/1917/mar/29.htm  The April Theses (The Tasks of the Proletariat in the Present Revolution)’, V.I. Lenin: https://marxist.com/the-april-theses-the-tasks-of-the-proletariat-in-the-present-revolution.htm  Letters from Afar, V.I. Lenin: https://marxist.com/letters-from-afar.htm  A History of Soviet Russia, E.H. Carr: https://www.amazon.co.uk/History-Soviet-Russia-Revolution-Constitutional/dp/014020749X  The War, J. V. Stalin: https://www.marxists.org/reference/archive/stalin/works/1917/03/16.htm   On Slogans, V.I. Lenin: https://marxist.com/on-slogans.htm  In Kerensky’s Jail, Proletarskaya Revolutsia, F. Raskolnikov (not available online) *Lenin’s ‘words not deeds’ statement is miscited in the episode as ‘The Bolsheviks Must Assume Power, A Letter to the Central Committee and the Petrograd And Moscow Committees Of The R.S.D.L.P.(B.), V.I. Lenin: https://www.marxists.org/archive/lenin/works/1917/sep/14.htm’. This was actually sent on the 24th, just before the seizure of power. The statement Fred is referencing from 16 October can be found here: https://pdfcoffee.com/ronald-grigor-suny-the-soviet-experiment-russia-the-ussr-and-the-successor-states-1997-oxford-university-press-usa-pdf-free.html  Bolshevism: The Road to Revolution, Alan Woods: https://wellred-books.com/bolshevism-the-road-to-revolution/  In Defence of Lenin, Rob Sewell and Alan Woods: https://wellred-books.com/in-defence-of-lenin/  In Defence of Marxism Issue 51: https://marxist.com/magazine.htm  State and Revolution, V.I. Lenin: https://wellred-books.com/state-and-revolution/  10 Days That Shook the World, John Reed: https://www.marxists.org/ebooks/reed/ten-days-that-shook-the-world-reed.pdf

“Do I really need to read long theoretical books to be a communist?” This is a common question among class fighters today. In our final episode of the season, we make the case that, in order to change the world, it is first necessary to understand it. And for that, we need a philosophy! The American trade unionist Bill Haywood once said: “I’ve never read Marx's Capital, but I've got the marks of capital all over my body!” While it’s true that working people don’t need to pick up any books to understand through bitter experience the horrors of capitalism, is life experience enough? After all, if the experience of exploitation was sufficient to bring about revolutionary change, surely capitalism would’ve been brought down long ago? If we look at the bafflement of the liberals and cynicism of the reformists in the face of politics today, we see the consequences of failing to scratch the surface to the deeper truth of what is going on. Just as a surgeon would not attempt to operate through intuition and guesswork alone, if we are serious about ending capitalism, we first need to diagnose why it is in crisis and determine what we can replace it with. Marxist philosophy is the most powerful tool we have for this purpose. But Marxism is itself the culmination of millennia of philosophical development. It is no accident that Vladimir Lenin steeled himself, not only in Marx, but also the great German philosopher Hegel! Leading communist and host of the Against the Stream podcast, Hamid Alizadeh takes us on a whistle-stop tour of the history of thought, from Plato to Marx, to illustrate the advantages of developing a philosophical outlook, rather than relying on mere ‘common sense’. It was precisely the worked-out philosophical perspective of the leadership of the Bolshevik Party, Lenin and Trotsky in particular, that allowed them to understand the dynamics of history that gave rise to the Russian Revolution, and play a leading role in ensuring its victory. As Trotsky wrote: “It is historical experience that the greatest revolution in all history was not led by the party which started out with bombs but by the party which started out with dialectical materialism.” By the end of this video, we hope you will not only be convinced of the value of studying theory, but eagre to take it up! As Marx once said: “ignorance never yet helped anybody!” This is the final Spectre of Communism season four. We will be back later in the year for a new season! Please like, share and subscribe, and let us know in the comments what you thought about this season, all feedback is appreciated!  In the meantime, check out our sister show, Against the Stream, which provides rolling analysis of the world situation from a Marxist point of view every Thursday. See you soon! —  Sources: Lenin Collected Works: Volume 38, (Philosophical Notebooks), https://www.marxists.org/archive/lenin/works/cw/volume38.htm  Anti-Dühring, Friedrich Engels, https://marxist.com/classics-anti-duehring.htm  Ludwig Feuerbach and the End of Classical German Philosophy, Friedrich Engels, https://marxist.com/classics-ludwig-feuerbach-and-the-end-of-classical-german-philosophy.htm  ‘How Lenin studied Hegel’, Hamid Alizadeh, https://marxist.com/how-lenin-studied-hegel.htm  ‘Lenin in a Year: In Defence of Materialism’, Alan Woods, https://marxist.com/materialism-and-and-empirio-criticism-introduction-by-alan-woods.htm ‘In defence of theory — or ignorance never yet helped anybody’, Alan Woods, https://marxist.com/defence-theory-ignorance-never-helped.htm  ‘Marxism versus postmodernism’, Daniel Morley and Hamid Alizadeh, https://marxist.com/marxism-versus-postmodernism.htm ‘Aristotle’s Metaphysics’, Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/aristotle-metaphysics/ The Republic, Plato, https://classics.mit.edu/Plato/republic.html  ‘An Open Letter to Comrade Burnham’, L. Trotsky, https://www.marxists.org/archive/trotsky/idom/dm/14-burnham.htm