C is for Capital
— C mo te Capital is available in te reo Māori Welcome to the ABC of Socialism, an introduction to socialist ideas for would-be world-changers. In our previous columns we introduced readers to two classes: the working class (or proletariat) and the capitalist class (or bourgeoisie). These are the main classes that make up capitalist […]
B is for Bourgeoisie
This article continues our ABC of Socialism series, an introduction to key socialist concepts for would-be world-changers. In our first column on Alienation we talked about the have-nots of society, the “99 percent,” who are alienated from the land, the resources and most of the wealth of society. But what about the haves, the 1 […]
Fascism – What It Is and How to Fight It
This piece was originally presented as a public talk to the Whanganui-a-Tara branch of the ISO in July 2023. The audio of the talk is available on our Youtube channel. Tēnā koutou katoa. Ko Te Whanganui-a-Tara tōku whenua tupu ko tōku kāinga hoki. Ko Taranaki Whānui ki te Upoko o Te Ika, rātou ko Te […]
Public Political Education Day
Tēnā koutou katoa! The International Socialist Organisation of Aotearoa is pleased to invite you to a political education and discussion day as part of our annual organisation-wide hui. The day will consist of a series of formal talks or presentations, followed by chaired discussions between all attendees. There will be a short break between each […]
Competition (And Cooperation) For A Socialist Future
Competition is lauded as a foundational aspect of both the capitalist economy and human development. It is proclaimed that because of competition in the market, capitalism forces businesses to distribute goods and services as efficiently as possible; that without competition, innovation would be minimal if not impossible, and people would have no incentive to do […]
Thinking About Ecology with Marx – A review of Kohei Saito’s Marx in the Anthropocene
The destruction of the natural environment in the Stalinist regimes through the twentieth-century made it understandable that, for many, Red and Green seemed incompatible. Think about the disaster at Chernobyl and the erosion of the Black Sea coast in the USSR, the catastophes of the ‘Great Leap Forward’ in China, the coal-fired pollution across Eastern […]
The Wizards Who Delved Too Greedily
Dungeons and Dragons (D&D) is, unfortunately, a commercial product owned by for-profit company Wizards of the Coast LLC (WotC) and therefore by that company’s owners: Hasbro Inc. We say unfortunately because D&D is also an experience, a source of joy, and a source of community for a lot of kids and adults alike. From fantasy […]
A Full Tide for Socialism
When the International Socialists met for our national conference over Queen’s Birthday weekend, we had an opportunity to reflect on how exciting, but also how difficult, the past years have been. Exciting because, finally, after decades of low levels of class struggle, our side is on the move again: there have been strikes and struggles […]
Why You Should Be a Socialist
This piece was given as a public talk at a meeting of the Pōneke branch of the International Socialist Organisation We’re living through a mass extinction event. Unlike any previous mass extinction on planet Earth, this one is entirely caused by human activities. We don’t know of any intelligent life anywhere other than on this […]
Rebel Lives: Sylvia Pankhurst
A review of ‘Sylvia Pankhurst: Natural Born Rebel’ by Rachel Holmes, 2020, Bloomsbury Publishing This biography of Sylvia Pankhurst (1882-1960) is told comprehensively and magnificently by Rachel Holmes. No other British person can match Sylvia Pankhurst’s record stretching over the first half of the twentieth century. Such was the length, intensity and variety of Sylvia […]
