VUW Panel on End of Life Choice Act
The New Zealand General Election is fast approaching. In addition to the customary option to vote for a party and an electoral candidate, there will simultaneously be two referenda. One of those will be about whether or not to pass into law particular processes to allow people with terminal illness the option of assisted death […]
Dual Crisis: COVID-19 and Capitalism
This talk was presented by ISO member Josh O’Sullivan at a national hui on workers organising during the pandemic, 11 May 2020.
Covid-19 Update – Government Gambles on Outbreak
The government has rolled the dice. On Tuesday the 28th of April we will move down to level 3 of the COVID-19 Alert System. More businesses will open up as long as they can show they don’t have direct contact with consumers. Forestry, Manufacturing and Construction will reopen. Schools and Early Childhood Centres will be […]
For Solidarity: Maintain lockdown to save lives
Support essential workers! Give them PPE! Beware Slackening the Fight against COVID-19 The lockdown against the spread of COVID-19 is, among other things, a piece of class struggle. Workers socially distancing themselves and limiting their exposure to essential workers (keeping supermarket shopping to an absolute minimum and following distancing guidelines) are acting together to save […]
COVID-19 and the Crisis: a socialist response
Shomi Yoon gave this talk to a national meeting of the International Socialists discussing our organisation’s response to this emergency on April 3. At this stage, we’ve had one person pass from Covid-19 in New Zealand. The number of confirmed and probable cases is 868.Community transmission remains minimal at 1%. We won’t know whether the […]
Pandemic, the Left, and Workers’ Power
In the face of the economic and public health crisis triggered by the coronavirus pandemic, the US left oscillates between mutual aid efforts and parliamentary impotence. We need to take part in workers’ struggles today and prepare for the coming upsurge. There are over 140,000 diagnosed cases of COVID-19 in the US, but the actual […]
We need solidarity and socialism to confront this disaster
The COVID-19 pandemic is running out of control and wreaking havoc all around the world. It is clear now that we are facing not just thousands of deaths, but hundreds of thousands or more. Elderly people are being found dead in their homes, unable to reach medical care. Young people are turning up to hospital […]
Italian workers strike to force action on the coronavirus pandemic
Italian workers have gone on strike to shut down the country as the death toll from the COVID-19 pandemic surpasses 7,500 – mostly in Lombardy, the main industrial region in the north-west of the country. Despite the government’s well-publicised lockdown, it has been business as usual for many sectors of the economy. Last week, the […]
The State of Emergency: Musings on the Capitalist State
Today the Ardern government formally declared the State of National Emergency and the Epidemic Notice that we were told to expect as we enter the Level 4 lockdown. The government will have the powers to use the police and the armed forces to enforce the lockdown. Parliament has been adjourned for nearly five weeks. In […]
The politics of the virus
Socialist Alternative is an Australian socialist organisation. This speech was given at a video conference of Socialist Alternative’s national committee on 22 March. Mick Armstrong is a founding member of Socialist Alternative and is a member of the organisation’s national executive. There can be no overstating the significance of this horrific crisis for humanity. The death […]
