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The Reggaeton Revolution Freedom Denied in Israel

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The Reggaeton Revolution Freedom Denied in Israel WINTER 06/07 £1 NHS: the fightback begins PLUS ★ Velvet Counter Revolution ★ No to a Nuclear Future ★ Venezuela: the Reggaeton Revolution ★ Freedom Denied in Israel editorial The mainstream press speak of a revived Tory threat to the government. It is true that the Conservatives are looking more popular than they have done for the past decade and more. This is largely due to the fact that millions of British working people have completely lost their faith in the New Labour Government, because of its appalling policies – including the privatisation of essential services and notable imperialist ‘adventures’, which in Iraq alone have cost 650,000 lives – and are refusing to declare their support for anyone. The right has been on the march for a quarter of Millions of a century and is becoming ever more aggressive – the outlawing of the Communist British working Youth in the Czech Republic (The Velvet Counterrevolution, p9) is a case in point. The real struggle the left faces now is to get the ball rolling the other way – to people have intensify the mass struggles which have exploded in opposition to neoliberal and imperialist policies and start putting the right-wingers on the defensive. This is already completely lost happening. In our cover story (The Fightback Begins, pp10–11) Phil Brand relates the unions’ struggle to resist the fragmentation, erosion and outright privatisation of their faith in the NHS, while on p6 Brendan Lee looks at the fight to prevent a new lease of life for Britain’s nuclear arsenal. From an international perspective, there are lessons to the New Labour be learned from the successes of union and youth campaigns in France, covered in our Industrial Diary (French Lessons, p12), while the striking victories achieved by Government, Hezbollah and their allies in the resistance war against Israel last summer (Freedom Denied, p7) provide hope that the desperate position of the peoples held in thrall because of by Israel will not last for ever. Meanwhile, the urgent need to defend the Chavez government in Venezuela, whose policies are changing millions of lives for the better, its appalling is made clear by James Tweedie on pages 14 and 15. The Chinese construction of an ‘eco-city’ to provide a blueprint for sustainable, non-polluting urban life in the future policies (A Socialist Solution, p13) is also encouraging. The spotlight is focused on imperialism in this issue’s Back to Basics (p16), in the first of two articles on the subject, while our Book at Bedtime takes a look at Engels’ explanation of how such seemingly diverse concepts as property, gender equality and militarism are interlinked (pp17–18). It promises to be a busy winter, for the YCL and the left in general. No-one who reads the news can deny that millions are dying, pointlessly, across the world, or that billions lack the basic essentials of life, such as clean water, food, and shelter. Capitalism, far from seeking to improve this situation, is the chief cause of it. A global movement to fight back has already begun. For the sake of the human race, it must succeed. Ben Chacko Contents In the news . 4–5 No to a Nuclear Future .. 6 in this As essential public services are being sold off, Brendan Lee takes a look at Trident replacement. Freedom Denied . 7 ISSUE Ben Stevenson shows that while the West posture about freedom, Israel denies basic rights to an entire people. COVER STORY: NHS fightback Build the YCL… for the Struggle Against Capitalism ............ 8 p10–11 Gawain Little reports on the Summer Offensive. Velvet Counter Revolution .. 9 The Czech Republic has ordered the dissolution of the Communist Youth Union. Gawain Little comments. COVER STORY NHS: the fightback begins . .10–11 Freedom Denied: Phil Brand looks at the effects of privatisation in the Israel exposed NHS and how unions are beginning a counterattack. p7 Industrial Diary . .12 David Morgan urges trade unions to learn from the example of the French labour movement. Dongtan: the Socialist Solution . .13 The Chinese government is adopting a revolutionary approach to climate change. Ben Chacko reports. Velvet Counter Venezuela: the Revolution: Czech Reggaeton Revolution . 14–15 Venezuela is constructing its own brand of ‘Socialism Republic p9 for the 21st Century’. James Tweedie investigates. Back to Basics: Part 7 . .16 A clear analysis of the world we live in today requires an understanding of what Marxists call imperialism. Uncle Joe’s Book at Bedtime . .18 Frederick Engels’ Origins of the Family, Private Property and the State is laid out for discussion. The Reggaeton What we stand for . .19 Revolution: Venezuela Editor: Ben Chacko Thanks to all our contributers Business Manager: Gawain Little this issue, with special thanks this p14–15 Design: Jo Levy issue to Gawain Little and Graham Print: Communist Party of Britain Stevenson, and all those who fight Published by: for a better tomorrow. The Young Communist League, Ruskin House, 23 Coombe Road, London CR0 1BD N EWS in the news The Blair-Brown Sideshow eptember’s explosion of infighting important than how he leaves, and Brown’s Samong the top echelons of New probable victory is less important than the Labour was in some senses satisfying for circumstances under which it occurs. The the left. One cannot have lived through public perception that trust in Blair has been the struggles against tuition fees, top-up shattered by the invasion of Iraq and the fees, the Private Finance Initiative and the disgraceful attempts to prolong the war in Public Private Partnership, and of course Lebanon in order to help Israel means that the imperialist attacks on Yugoslavia, any successor should pause for thought Afghanistan and Iraq without feeling glad at before unleashing more imperialist wars. the prospect of Blair’s imminent departure But it is less commonly perceived that from Downing Street. Blair’s domestic record is also damaging his Despite this, however, Blair as an popularity. Working people do not want their individual is incidental to the struggle to public assets sold off, essential services defeat New Labour – we should recall delivered by a myriad of competing profit- that to all intents and purposes his likely seeking companies. A strong campaign successor Gordon Brown has been the co- against the continuation of these policies, architect of the New Labour project. Brown combined with the threat from the left in played a key rôle in all the numerous dodgy the Labour Party headed by McDonnell, economic initiatives of the Blair régime could force Brown or whichever other right- and did not say a word against its acts of wingers the leadership proposes into military aggression. His recent statement making concessions to the left; and a strong that he is in favour of the renewal of showing for McDonnell in terms of votes, Britain’s nuclear weapons ‘deterrent’ is even if it fails to achieve victory, might drag another proof of his unsuitability to lead a the centre-ground of Labour leftwards. progressive Labour government. The left It would only be a step – but at least it should oppose an undemocratic ‘coronation’ would be a step in the right direction, and of Brown and campaign for a leadership sadly a decade of Labour government has contest – in which leftwinger John seen far too few of those. ■ McDonnell will be competing. Still, the chances of McDonnell beating Brown are slim (though we can always hope). Would a Brown premiership be a defeat for the left? Not necessarily. This struggle, as mentioned above, is not really about personalities at all, although the bickering between New Labour goons about who should succeed Blair seems to be. Blair’s departure in and of itself is less Penal Reforms? N EWS Just not good enough Afghanistan – the slaughter continues s the more high profile civil war in AIraq continues, an earlier adventure …the fact has come back to haunt the imperialist that the powers. An overextended United States has withdrawn its troops from Afghanistan and army is handed over responsibility for this particular war to the British. having to The mantra that our soldiers are simply win village attempting to keep the peace in Afghanistan and protect the population from a tiny after number of Taleban insurgents grows more village in unconvincing by the day. This ‘tiny number’ are putting up a tough fight against our devastating soldiers, and the situation in the country is bloodbaths getting worse. While our commanders report significant victories, the fact that the army is shows that having to win village after village in devastating Western t is a sad fact that at a time when crime public, who are the victims of the crimes bloodbaths shows that Western brutality is Irates are falling, the government feels committed by released prisoners. Reports aiding the Taleban, not helping to defeat them. brutality is it has to build two new prisons to increase from prison management suggest that most And we can’t help being sceptical when we aiding the the capacity of British prisons to almost prisoners are eager to ‘go on the straight hear that the RAF has ‘killed X number of 100,000 (British jails already hold more and narrow’ when they leave, and courses insurgents in an air strike’, as we so often Taleban, inmates than those of any other European which teach them valuable skills with which do. The truth which leaked out in Yugoslavia not helping country.) Yet this development is not to make a living when they get out are and Iraq about the inaccuracy of these air necessarily wrong. Overcrowding in British massively oversubscribed. So something is strikes, and the callous disregard for human to defeat prisons is a major problem, leading to worse going wrong.
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