Socialism

We can move beyond the capitalist model and save the climate – here are the first three steps

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Jason Hickel and Yanis Varoufakis

https://www.theguardian.com/environment/commentisfree/2026/feb/12/capitalist-model-climate-growth-capitalism-species-humanity

‘Capitalism cares about our species’ prospects as much as a wolf cares about the lamb’s.’ Photograph: Minerva Studio/Alamy

Capitalism cares about our species’ prospects as much as a wolf cares about a lamb’s. But democratise our economy and a better world is within our grasp

We have an urgent responsibility. Our existing economic system is incapable of addressing the social and ecological crises we face in the 21st century. When we look around we see an extraordinary paradox. On the one hand, we have access to remarkable new technologies and a collective capacity to produce more food, more stuff than we need or that the planet can afford. Yet at the same time, millions of people suffer in conditions of severe deprivation.

What explains this paradox? Capitalism. By capitalism we do not mean markets, trade and entrepreneurship, which have been around for thousands of years before the rise of capitalism. By capitalism we mean something very odd and very specific: an economic system that boils down to a dictatorship run by the tiny minority who control capital – the big banks, the major corporations and the 1% who own the majority of investible assets. Even if we live in a democracy and have a choice in our political system, our choices never seem to change the economic system. Capitalists are the ones who determine what to produce, how to use our labour and who gets to benefit. The rest of us – the people who are actually doing the production – do not get a say.

And for capital, the purpose of production is not primarily to meet human needs or to achieve social progress, much less to deliver on any ecological goals. The purpose is to maximise and accumulate profit. That is the overriding objective. This is the capitalist law of value. And to maximise profits, capital requires perpetual growth – ever increasing aggregate production, regardless of whether it is necessary or harmful.

…

We urgently need to overcome the capitalist law of value and democratise our economy, so that we can organise production around urgent social and ecological priorities. After all, we are the producers of the goods, the services, the technologies. It is our labour and our planet’s resources that are at stake. And so we must claim the right to decide what is produced, how, and for what purpose.

…

https://www.theguardian.com/environment/commentisfree/2026/feb/12/capitalist-model-climate-growth-capitalism-species-humanity

Donald Trump urges you to be a Climate Science denier like him. He says that he makes millions and millions for destroying the planet, Burn, Baby, Burn and Flood, Baby, Flood.
Donald Trump urges you to be a Climate Science denier like him. He says that he makes millions and millions for destroying the planet, Burn, Baby, Burn and Flood, Baby, Flood.
Nigel Farage urges you to ignore facts and reality and be a climate science denier like him and his Deputy Richard Tice. He says that Reform UK has received £Millions and £Millions from the fossil fuel industry to promote climate denial and destroy the planet.
Nigel Farage urges you to ignore facts and reality and be a climate science denier like him and his Deputy Richard Tice. He says that Reform UK has received £Millions and £Millions from the fossil fuel industry to promote climate denial and destroy the planet.
Orcas discuss Donald Trump and the killer apes' concept of democracy. Front Orca warns that Trump is crashing his country's economy and that everything he does he does for the fantastically wealthy.
Orcas discuss Donald Trump and the killer apes’ concept of democracy. Front Orca warns that Trump is crashing his country’s economy and that everything he does he does for the fantastically wealthy.

Continue ReadingWe can move beyond the capitalist model and save the climate – here are the first three steps

From Mandelson to the markets: Big Finance’s rule over Britain

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https://www.morningstaronline.co.uk/article/mandelson-markets-big-finances-rule-over-britain

 Tony Blair and Peter Mandelson, September 7, 2001

The Mandelson scandal reveals a political settlement in which democratic choice is curtailed and the power of markets eclipses the will of voters – only the left can challenge this, writes JON TRICKETT MP

THE whole Mandelson revelations have been interpreted by the mainstream media through the lens of the appalling paedophilia of Epstein as well as whether or not the PM can survive.

But there are other truths which ought to be equally the focus of attention.

For more than a couple of generations, British politics has been conducted beneath the increasingly menacing shadows cast by the towers of concrete and glass in the City of London and around Canary Wharf.

Buildings that reach for the sky are owned and controlled by global financiers who exercise huge economic leverage. These are the new Masters of the Universe who along with big tech now stride like giants across the global economy. Recent events have cast a light into areas which are largely unseen.

Viewed from this perspective, we see that the emissaries of Big Finance have successfully penetrated governments of all shades. The revelation of Peter Mandelson’s role as an agent of the moneyed elite is extraordinary now in its transparency.  

We now know that while the Prince of Darkness was effectively the deputy prime minister, he was funnelling private state information to Epstein the financier. It appears also that the former Prince Andrew was passing information gleaned from his role as trade ambassador.

We must conclude both that the betrayals now revealed were of extraordinary proportions but equally that it was not an isolated scandal or a matter of a few bad apples. It provides a window into a deeper truth: the systematic capture of democratic government by major corporations and financiers.

…

The deeper lesson of Mandelson, and of the ongoing obsession with market “confidence,” is that democracy is not something that disappears overnight. As we see in the US, it  is eroded gradually.

But it can be challenged. Only the left can do this, because the rest are trapped in a reactionary discourse. Reversing that erosion will require confrontation with power.

We remember the famous dictum about the political right by Nye Bevan: “How can wealth persuade poverty to use its political freedom to keep wealth in power? Here lies the whole art of Conservative politics in the 20th century.”  

Recalling those words we must pose once again Bevan’s question to us on the left which is now urgen: “How can poverty use democracy to challenge the power of wealth?”

Jon Trickett Labour MP for Normanton and Hemsworth.

https://www.morningstaronline.co.uk/article/mandelson-markets-big-finances-rule-over-britain dizzy: I recommend reading this analysis by Socialist MP JON TRICKETT.

Keir Starmer commits to play the caretaker role for Capitalism through the "hard times".
Keir Starmer commits to play the caretaker role for Capitalism through the “hard times”.

Continue ReadingFrom Mandelson to the markets: Big Finance’s rule over Britain

China Reaffirms Vow to Aid Cuba Amid Trump’s ‘Inhumane’ Economic Strangulation

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Original post by Brett Wilkins republished from Common Dreams under Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0).

Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi shakes hands with his Cuban counterpart, Bruno Rodríguez Parrilla, in Beijing on February 5, 2026. (Photo by Lin Jian/X)

“China firmly supports Cuba in safeguarding national sovereignty and security and opposing external interference,” a Beijing spokesperson said.

As the Trump administration weaponizes its economic privation of the Cuban people in hopes of ousting their socialist government, China on Tuesday reaffirmed its pledge to help alleviate the island’s worsening oil shortage.

Emboldened by his recent abduction of socialist Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro on legally dubious “narco-terrorism” charges, President Donald Trump is ratcheting up pressure on a people already ravaged by 64 years of what many critics call Washington’s “economic terrorism” and decades of actual terrorism committed by US-based right-wing Cuban exiles.

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Cut off from the Venezuelan petroleum that provided around 75% of Cuba’s imported oil just a few years ago, the island is suffering a worsening energy emergency. The Cuban government has responded by strictly rationing fuel and seeking alternate sources of oil such as Mexico and, to a lesser extent, Russia.

“I would like to stress again that China firmly supports Cuba in safeguarding national sovereignty and security and opposing external interference,” Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Lin Jian said during a press conference.

“China stands firmly against the inhumane actions that deprive the Cuban people of their right to subsistence and development,” he added. “China will, as always, do our best to provide support and assistance to Cuba.”

As is usually the case when Washington tightens the screws on Cuba, everyday Cubans are suffering the most.

“You can’t imagine how it touches every part of our lives,” Marta Jiménez, a hairdresser in Cuba’s eastern city of Holguín, told CodePink co-founder and frequent Common Dreams opinion contributor Medea Benjamin, who traveled to Cuba last week with a group to deliver 2,500 pounds of lentils.

“It’s a vicious, all-encompassing spiral downward,” Jiménez continued. “With no gasoline, buses don’t run, so we can’t get to work. We have electricity only three to six hours a day. There’s no gas for cooking, so we’re burning wood and charcoal in our apartments. It’s like going back 100 years.”

“The blockade is suffocating us—especially single mothers,” she added, “and no one is stopping these demons, Trump and [Secretary of State] Marco Rubio.”

The United Nations General Assembly has voted overwhelmingly every year but once since 1992 to condemn the US blockade on Cuba. Last October, the UNGA voted 165-7 against the embargo, with 12 abstentions.

Original post by Brett Wilkins republished from Common Dreams under Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0).

Orcas discuss how Trump was re-elected and him being an obviously insane, xenophobic Fascist.
Orcas discuss how Trump was re-elected and him being an obviously insane, xenophobic Fascist.
Donald Fuhrump says that Amerikkka doesn't bother with crimes or charges anymore, not being 100% Amerikkkan and opposing his real estate intentions is enough.
Donald Fuhrump says that Amerikkka doesn’t bother with crimes or charges anymore, not being 100% Amerikkkan and opposing his real estate intentions is enough.
Elon Musk urges you to be a Fascist like him, says that you can ignore facts and reality then.
Elon Musk urges you to be a Fascist like him, says that you can ignore facts and reality then.
Continue ReadingChina Reaffirms Vow to Aid Cuba Amid Trump’s ‘Inhumane’ Economic Strangulation

Targeting ‘Bad Landlords,’ Mamdani Invites New Yorkers to Testify at ‘Rental Ripoff’ Hearings

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Original article by Julia Conley republished from Common Dreams under Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0). 

New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani announces a series of new policy moves involving public health and taxes on February 3, 2026 in New York City. (Photo by Spencer Platt/Getty Images)

“What tenants share at these hearings won’t lead to empty promises,” said the mayor. “Their testimony will guide our work and help shape the policies we advance to build a city New Yorkers can afford to call their home.”

After delivering on his promise of universal childcare for New York families, launching a process to ramp up construction of affordable housing, and personally seeing to snow removal after a major storm and the repair of a road hazard that’s long plagued cyclists, New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani on Tuesday made strides toward fulfilling another campaign pledge: cracking down on “bad landlords.”

The effort will involve active participation from residents across the city, whom Mamdani invited to testify at “Rental Ripoff” hearings set to begin later this month in the five boroughs.

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“You can’t fight for tenants without listening to them first. That’s why we’re launching Rental Ripoff Hearings in all five boroughs—bringing together renters to speak directly about what they’re facing, from hidden fees to broken tiles and unresponsive landlords,” Mamdani, a democratic socialist, said in a statement.

On social media, Mamdani said the hearings will give New Yorkers “a chance to tell the city EXACTLY what your landlord’s been getting away with” and will help his government to enact “real policy changes.”

People who testify will have the opportunity to meet one-on-one with officials from City Hall, “including commissioners from the city’s housing and consumer protection agencies, to help shape future policy,” according to the BK Reader.

The city website urges residents to testify about challenges including “getting issues in their homes addressed” and “rental junk fees,” like fees for certain amenities, pets, services, and rental payment systems.

The dates of the hearings were announced five weeks after Mamdani signed Executive Order 08, which stipulates that city agencies will publish a report 90 days after the final hearing—scheduled for April 7 in Staten Island—with recommendations for policy changes and action plans.

Kenny Burgos, CEO of the New York Apartment Association (NYAA), which represents apartment building owners and property managers, quickly denounced the planned hearings as “show trials” and “a distraction.”

Burgos claimed the NYAA believes that “renters with complaints should have their voices heard,” but suggested landlords have little ability to respond to complaints because “thousands of buildings are being defunded by the government through overtaxation, nonsensical rent laws, and failing city agencies.”

Mamdani has argued that “the problems tenants deal with every day need to become real problems for landlords, too” and has called for the doubling of fines for hazardous housing violations.

“What tenants share at these hearings won’t lead to empty promises,” said Mamdani on Tuesday. “Their testimony will guide our work and help shape the policies we advance to build a city New Yorkers can afford to call their home.”

Original article by Julia Conley republished from Common Dreams under Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0). 

Orcas discuss Donald Trump and the killer apes' concept of democracy. Front Orca warns that Trump is crashing his country's economy and that everything he does he does for the fantastically wealthy.
Orcas discuss Donald Trump and the killer apes’ concept of democracy. Front Orca warns that Trump is crashing his country’s economy and that everything he does he does for the fantastically wealthy.
Donald Fuhrump says that Amerikkka doesn't bother with crimes or charges anymore, not being 100% Amerikkkan and opposing his real estate intentions is enough.
Donald Fuhrump says that Amerikkka doesn’t bother with crimes or charges anymore, not being 100% Amerikkkan and opposing his real estate intentions is enough.
Elon Musk urges you to be a Fascist like him, says that you can ignore facts and reality then.
Elon Musk urges you to be a Fascist like him, says that you can ignore facts and reality then.

Continue ReadingTargeting ‘Bad Landlords,’ Mamdani Invites New Yorkers to Testify at ‘Rental Ripoff’ Hearings

Mexico sends shipment of humanitarian aid to Cuba

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Original article by Pablo Meriguet republished from peoples dispatch under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 (CC BY-SA) license.

Shipment of humanitarian aid leavez Mexico for Cuba. Photo: MFA Mexico

Hundreds of tons of food were sent from the port of Veracruz to the island as the island faces one of its most critical challenges. Mexico also promised to send hundreds of tons of food in the coming weeks.

The government of Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum announced the shipment of 814 tons of milk, meat, beans, rice, and other foodstuffs to Cuba on Sunday, February 8. The move came days after Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel presented a series of emergency measures being adopted by his government to mitigate the impact of the severe fuel shortage facing the island.

Cuba is currently facing a serious crisis, provoked by recent maneuvers from the US government which, emboldened by its massive military build up in the Caribbean and its recent bombing of Caracas, has sought to further tighten the blockade on the island, hoping to finally force the overthrow of the government. On January 29, Trump announced an executive order under which any country that trades hydrocarbons with Havana will see a 10% increase in tariffs on its products exported to the United States. The executive order was said to have targeted Cuba’s main energy suppliers: Venezuela, Mexico, and Russia. 

Venezuela was already effectively forced to halt oil shipments to Cuba due to the naval blockade imposed by the US against Venezuela, which already resulted in the illegal seizure of a Cuba-bound Venezuelan oil tanker.

Russia, a country which, due to heavy sanctions, is the most decoupled from the US economy, has declared that it will continue supplying fuel to Cuba. The government has said that “the situation in Cuba is truly critical” and top government spokesperson Dimitry Peskov, said “We are in close contact with our Cuban friends through diplomatic and other channels.”

Mexico, for its part, announced that it was engaged in negotiations with the US over oil shipments. President Claudia Sheinbaum has openly declared her rejection of the Trump measure: “You can’t suffocate people like that. It is very unfair.”

She also promised that Mexico would continue to help Cuba in any way possible: “We will continue to support Cuba and take all necessary diplomatic action to resume oil shipments.” In recent days, after learning of the Trump administration’s “threat”. Mexico, one of the few countries that sent oil to Cuba, said it would consult with Washington to determine the extent of possible retaliation.

According to Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel, not a single drop of oil has entered the island in 2026, posing a serious threat to a country that depends heavily on fuel for its power grid and to keep transportation, health, education, and other key systems functioning. Government officials and political analysts have claimed that the recent measure seeks to annihilate the Cuban people.

Former Colombian President Ernesto Samper shared this opinion in a post: “SOS for Cuba. The genocide of the Cuban people is being prepared by suffocating their vital conditions for survival. A United Nations humanitarian mission could lead a deployment of humanitarian ships loaded with the fuel that the island needs today, like the oxygen we breathe every day to stay alive.”

Mexican solidarity with Cuba

For his part, the Cuban president said, regarding the Mexican shipment that departed in two ships from the port of Veracruz: “Thank you, Mexico. For your solidarity, affection, and always warm embrace of Cuba.”

Cuban Foreign Minister Bruno Rodríguez wrote on X: “We thank the Government of Mexico, under the leadership of President Claudia Sheinbaum, for sending more than 800 tons of aid to Cuba, amid the intensification of the blockade following the recent Executive Order by the US government. While some try to suffocate our population, sister nations extend their hand in solidarity.”

Original article by Pablo Meriguet republished from peoples dispatch under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 (CC BY-SA) license.

Orcas discuss Donald Trump and the killer apes' concept of democracy. Front Orca warns that Trump is crashing his country's economy and that everything he does he does for the fantastically wealthy.
Orcas discuss Donald Trump and the killer apes’ concept of democracy. Front Orca warns that Trump is crashing his country’s economy and that everything he does he does for the fantastically wealthy.
Elon Musk urges you to be a Fascist like him, says that you can ignore facts and reality then.
Elon Musk urges you to be a Fascist like him, says that you can ignore facts and reality then.
Donald Fuhrump says that Amerikkka doesn't bother with crimes or charges anymore, not being 100% Amerikkkan and opposing his real estate intentions is enough.
Donald Fuhrump says that Amerikkka doesn’t bother with crimes or charges anymore, not being 100% Amerikkkan and opposing his real estate intentions is enough.
Continue ReadingMexico sends shipment of humanitarian aid to Cuba