What is the state?
When people talk about “the state” in day-to-day conversation, they are usually referring to government agencies like civil services or any other service funded by taxes. Maybe, if the conversation is...
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What is democracy?
The U.S. Senate is full of millionaires and 97 percent white. That’s democracy? Photo: Ron Sachs/CNP The word “democracy” comes from the Greek words “demos”—the people—and “kratos”—rule, and therefore...
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The goal of socialism: Peace and equality amid plenty
What will socialist society look like? The earliest pioneers of scientific socialism—Karl Marx and Frederick Engels—did not philosophize about what socialism and communism would look like in detail....
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The Communist Manifesto: A working-class guide to changing the world
The Communist Manifesto stands among the most well-read books of all time. One hundred sixty years after it was first published, it has been reprinted hundreds of times in most of the world’s...
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Eight myths about socialism–and their answers
Over the last few years, the word socialism has become more and more common. Usually, it’s used in an extremely negative way and in almost all situations the politician or commentator uttering the word...
View ArticleWhat is women’s oppression and is it inevitable?
Several years ago, then-president of Harvard University, Lawrence Summers, faced widespread criticism for suggesting that women are less able to succeed in math and science due to their “innate...
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What is national oppression?
Oppression and exploitation are basic features of capitalist society. Workers are paid wages while the capitalist owners make profits from the products created by those who work. This is the essence of...
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What is the real legacy of the Soviet Union? An overview
The first time the people had the power The capitalist class and its well-paid intellectuals and pundits continue to argue that the fall of the Soviet Union in 1991 means that socialism and communism...
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All capitalism is wage theft
In mid-March, workers at McDonald’s in California, New York and Michigan filed lawsuits against the corporation for wage theft. The lawsuits reveal a clear pattern of abuse: paying below minimum wage;...
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6 ways socialism is superior to capitalism
How would socialism address the terrible problems of capitalist society? The following is an edited version of a talk given by Brian Becker, a member of the Party for Socialism and Liberation’s...
View ArticleWhat is surplus value?
Within the framework of capitalist mythology, wealth and poverty are explained by psychology or individual personality traits. Rich people are rich by virtue of industriousness, hard work and...
View ArticleWhat is a revolution?
You can find the word “revolution” in nearly every section of the newspaper. Innovative movies are declared “revolutions” in filmmaking. Great advances in science are deemed “revolutionary.” Meanwhile,...
View ArticleWhat is imperialism?
With the U.S. war against Iraq raging, more and more people are talking about imperialism. Scenes of U.S. troops patrolling the streets of an Arab country, U.S. diplomats handpicking “leaders,” and...
View ArticleWhat is the working class?
The Marxist outlook is based on the irreconcilable conflict between the working class (the proletariat) and the ruling capitalist class (the bourgeoisie). But how do we determine which people belong to...
View ArticleWhat is class struggle?
“If class warfare is being waged in America, my class is clearly winning.” Those were the words of billionaire Warren Buffett, chair of Berkshire Hathaway, an insurance and investment holding company....
View ArticleWhat is dialectical materialism?
Since the beginning of recorded history, people have been striving to answer essential questions about nature and human society. In earlier times, almost all events in nature were attributed to divine...
View ArticleWhat is class struggle?
“If class warfare is being waged in America, my class is clearly winning.” Those were the words of billionaire Warren Buffett, chair of Berkshire Hathaway, an insurance and investment holding company....
View ArticleWhat is imperialism?
With the U.S. war against Iraq raging, more and more people are talking about imperialism. Scenes of U.S. troops patrolling the streets of an Arab country, U.S. diplomats handpicking “leaders,” and...
View ArticleWhat is surplus value?
Within the framework of capitalist mythology, wealth and poverty are explained by psychology or individual personality traits. Rich people are rich by virtue of industriousness, hard work and...
View ArticleWhat is socialism?
The United States is the wealthiest country in the world. Its Gross National Product is $12 trillion. Yet 45 million people in the United States live without health insurance. Some 33.6 million people...
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