The Biden administration announced a major escalation in its sanctions against Russia yesterday with a ban on the import of Russian oil, liquefied natural gas (LNG) and coal to the United States. A White House press statement said that the United States made this decision “in close consultation with our allies and partners around the world” and with bipartisan consensus. This move from the U.S. government fuels the flames of global tensions to the benefit of giant energy and military corporations, making the prospect of lasting peace in Ukraine even more remote. Read the full article here: https://www.liberationnews.org/embargo-on-russian-oil-gives-gift-to-energy-corporations-deals-blow-to-hopes-for-peace/

The war in Ukraine is ushering in a new period of heightened danger in world politics and the threat of a global conflict that would devastate humanity. Socialists and people who want peace need to recognize that the entire U.S. foreign policy and military establishment is now organized around “great power conflict” against Russia and China as the defining strategy for decades to come. It is essential to recognize that Russia, China and other countries are not being targeted fundamentally because of human rights, or this or that military action, but because they no longer accept the U.S.-dominated world order. We must stand in opposition to this new Cold War-style period of confrontation. This major power conflict is not in the interests of the great mass of people, in the United States or worldwide. The logic of it will only produce severe economic pain, climate disaster and ultimately catastrophic war. The working class has no interest in being dragged into such a conflict in the name of preserving the dominance of Wall Street and the Pentagon. In the run-up to the Russian invasion of Ukraine and ever since, the corporate media in the United States has been working overtime to spread misinformation and confusion. They hope that inundating people with non-stop anti-Russian content will manufacture the consent necessary not just for a short-term military escalation in Eastern Europe, but so as to sign people up for a whole new Cold War. Against this, the Party for Socialism and Liberation is advancing five basic points that can serve to unite those who oppose U.S. imperialism and support peace. Read the full article: https://www.liberationnews.org/the-working-class-must-reject-the-new-cold-war-5-points-of-unity/

George L. Jackson, convicted of armed robbery, discusses his book 'Blood in My Eye' which critiques the US state. Topics include his background, political radicalization in prison, rejection of electoral politics, embrace of guerrilla warfare, and analysis of fascism, settler colonialism, slavery, and the prison industrial complex.

La operación militar rusa en Ucrania pone de manifiesto que el mundo ha llegado a una peligrosa bifurcación. Es de vital importancia que la gente en Estados Unidos, la que obtiene gran parte de la información de los medios de comunicación burgueses que funcionan como una cámara de eco del gobierno, sepa que la crisis actual es el subproducto de un largo esfuerzo del Estado estadounidense para establecer una dominación absoluta en toda Europa. Su política tiene como objetivo socavar la seguridad de Rusia, rodeándola de misiles avanzados que pueden alcanzar objetivos rusos en menos de 10 minutos. Durante los últimos tres meses, el gobierno ruso ha solicitado que se negocien los problemas de seguridad y, al mismo tiempo, ha desplegado tropas en las fronteras entre Rusia y Ucrania, y entre Ucrania y Bielorrusia. Putin anunció que Rusia intervendría militarmente en Ucrania después de que Estados Unidos y la OTAN rechazaron sus exigencias fundamentales: que Ucrania no se incorporara a la OTAN y que su territorio, que comparte una frontera de 1.200 millas con Rusia, no se utilice como base para misiles avanzados apuntando a Rusia. En esencia, Putin y Rusia exigían que Ucrania fuera un país neutral, sin nunca ser un miembro de la OTAN. Fue precisamente a través del territorio de Ucrania que Rusia enfrentó la invasión nazi de la Segunda Guerra Mundial y otras anteriores de potencias occidentales. En la Segunda Guerra Mundial, cuando Ucrania y Rusia eran un solo país (la Unión Soviética), más de 27 millones de personas murieron resistiendo la invasión nazi. En este momento crítico, es imperativo que el gobierno de Estados Unidos cambie su postura imprudente y provocadora de cercar a Rusia y expandir implacablemente la OTAN hacia el oriente. Desde la disolución de la Unión Soviética en 1991, Estados Unidos ha intentado incorporar a casi todos los antiguos aliados europeos soviéticos/rusos a la OTAN, la que es una alianza militar ofensiva. Tras ver rechazadas todas sus demandas por parte de Estados Unidos y la OTAN, el gobierno ruso decidió invadir Ucrania. A partir de este momento, se están llevando a cabo importantes operaciones militares. El gobierno ruso ha dicho que no ocupará Ucrania, pero que pretende llevar a cabo la “desmilitarización” y “desnazificación” del país. No está claro qué significan realmente estos términos. En algunos segmentos del Estado ucraniano, en particular la policía y el ejército, existe una considerable influencia nazi. En la vida política de Ucrania, el poder de los grupos fascistas ha disminuido considerablemente en los últimos años y no ejercen influencia decisiva dentro de la administración del presidente Zelenskyy. Estados Unidos y las potencias europeas han prometido imponer un régimen de sanciones totales a Rusia, aislando al país de la economía mundial y apuntando a sus industrias más vitales. Biden ha anunciado hoy una primera tanda de sanciones. Estas sanciones se dirigen a algunos de los mayores bancos y empresas de Rusia y están especialmente dirigidas a limitar su capacidad para acceder a las divisas y a los mercados de alta tecnología. Ya se han impuesto una serie de sanciones desde 2014, con la incorporación de Crimea a Rusia tras el golpe de Estado respaldado por Estados Unidos en Kiev. Es probable que sigan más medidas. En conjunto, los acontecimientos de los dos últimos días constituyen una ruptura profunda e histórica del orden geopolítico existente y tendrán consecuencias en cascada durante los próximos años. Lea la declaración completa: https://www.liberationnews.org/declaracion-del-psl-sobre-la-intervencion-militar-de-rusia-en-ucrania/

The crisis in Ukraine dramatically escalated over the course of the last week, culminating in yesterday’s recognition of the Donetsk and Luhansk People’s Republics by Russia and the subsequent deployment of Russian troops into these areas. The United States and European powers are now rolling out sanctions targeting Russia, including Germany’s suspension of the critical NordStream 2 gas pipeline. The sanctions announced so far by the Biden administration in particular targets the financial sector, sanctioning two major Russian banks and prohibiting people and institutions in the United States from buying Russian government debt. These same states continue to threaten unleashing “unprecedented” sanctions in the event of a further escalation, which would aim to cut the country off from the world economy and cause tremendous suffering among ordinary Russians. Many ruling-class figures in the United States are even demanding that such sanctions be imposed now preemptively. An emergency session of the United Nations Security Council was held last night, where the United States and its allies condemned Russia and the Russian representative defended its actions. The representative from China stated, “All parties concerned must exercise restraint and avoid any action that may fuel tensions. We welcome and encourage every effort towards a diplomatic solution and call on all parties concerned to continue dialogue and consultation and seek reasonable solutions to address each other’s concerns on the basis of equality and mutual respect.” India, which has a close relationship with Russia, also issued essentially a neutral statement at the security council. The governments of Syria and Nicaragua have supported Russia’s move. Read the full article here: https://www.liberationnews.org/psl-statement-nato-expansion-must-end-to-guarantee-peace-in-ukraine/

The Russian military operation in Ukraine highlights that the world has reached a dangerous fork in the road. It is critically important for people in the United States, who are receiving the bulk of their information from the capitalist media that functions as an echo chamber for the U.S. government, to know that the current crisis is the byproduct of a long effort by the United States to establish absolute domination throughout Europe. The U.S. policy is aimed at undermining Russia’s security by surrounding it with advanced missiles that can reach their Russian targets in less than 10 minutes. For the last three months, the Russian government simultaneously called for negotiations about their security concerns while at the same time amassing troops at the Russia-Ukraine border and at the border of Ukraine and Belarus. Putin announced that Russia would militarily intervene in Ukraine after the United States and NATO rejected their fundamental demands that Ukraine not be incorporated into NATO and that Ukraine, which shares a 1,200-mile border with Russia, not be used as a staging ground for advanced missiles that target Russia. In essence, Putin and Russia were demanding that Ukraine be a neutral country and never a member of NATO. It was precisely through the territory of Ukraine that Russia was subjected to the Nazi invasion of World War Two and earlier invasions by western powers. In World War Two, when Ukraine and Russia were one country (the Soviet Union), more than 27 million people died resisting the Nazi invasion of their homelands. At this critical moment, it is imperative that the U.S. government change its reckless, provocative stance of encircling Russia and relentlessly expanding NATO eastward. Since the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991, the United States has attempted to incorporate almost every former Soviet/Russian European ally into NATO, which is an offensive military alliance. After having all of its demands rejected by the United States and NATO, the Russian government decided to invade Ukraine. As of this moment, major military operations are underway. The Russian government said it will not occupy Ukraine but that it intends to carry out the “demilitarization” and “de-Nazification” of the country. It is unclear what these terms actually mean. In some segments of the Ukrainian state – particularly the police and military – there is considerable Nazi influence. In the political life of Ukraine, the power of fascist groups has waned considerably in recent years and they do not exercise decisive influence inside of the administration of President Zelenskyy. The United States and European powers have vowed to impose a total sanctions regime on Russia, cutting the country off from the world economy and targeting its most vital industries. An initial volley of sanctions was announced by Biden today. These target some of the largest banks and corporations in Russia and are especially aimed at limiting Russia’s ability to access foreign currency and high tech markets. A series of sanctions have already been imposed since 2014, with Russia’s incorporation of Crimea after the U.S.-backed coup in Kiev. More measures are likely to follow. Taken together, the events of the last two days constitute a profound and historic rupture in the existing geopolitical order and will have cascading consequences for years to come. Read the full statement: https://www.liberationnews.org/psl-statement-on-russias-military-intervention-in-ukraine/

From its beginning, the so-called “Freedom Convoy” in Canada has been a vehicle for the far right to promote their views and press their reactionary demands. Despite being labeled the “trucker protest” by the corporate media, it does not represent the interests of workers in the trucking industry or otherwise. Its leadership from the beginning included far-right political figures and former police and security state employees. If met, its main demand — to end vaccine mandates — wouldn’t improve workers’ lives, but would instead do the exact opposite by sending them back to the job in the “new normal” with less health and safety protections. Some online pundits influential with socialists and progressives have muddied the waters and are praising the protest as some kind of workers’ uprising against the bosses. The Party for Socialism and Liberation opposes the far-right convoy and the broader anti-vaccine movement that imperils the lives of working people. A major police operation began in the early morning of Feb. 18 in Ottawa after weeks of extremely lenient or even openly supportive treatment by police officers that gave the convoy crucial room to grow. This reactionary movement has long since spread beyond Ottawa and may now have the capacity to persist despite the police action. In fact, it has become a worldwide phenomenon inspiring similar actions in France, Belgium and the United States. The Teamsters union in Canada represents 55,000 drivers including 15,000 long-haul truckers. Ninety percent of them are vaccinated. The head of the Teamsters in Canada released a statement titled “The Real Enemy for Truckers is Covid-19,” in which he argued that “the despicable display of hate lead by the political Right and shamefully encouraged by elected conservative politicians does not reflect the values of Teamsters Canada, nor the vast majority of our members, and in fact has served to delegitimize the real concerns of most truck drivers today.” Read the full statement: https://www.liberationnews.org/psl-statement-why-workers-should-oppose-the-far-right-canadian-trucker-convoy/

When the People’s Republic of China was proclaimed in October 1949, the country’s economy was in a shambles, devastated by decades of war and ravaged by inflation triggered by global forces beyond local control. The Communist Party of China and the new revolutionary government faced tremendous challenges in restoring order to rural and urban areas, securing the country’s territory from foreign influence or invasion, and establishing conditions of stability and security within which the people could pursue their livelihoods. The new leadership was dedicated to the long-term goal of developing China into a modern, industrialized, socialist economy, but had to undertake that endeavor in a context of institutional limitations, complex social conditions, and an uncertain geopolitical environment. The CPC had a membership of around 1,000,000 and faced the prospect of guiding the governance and advancing the economy of a population of more than 450,000,000. Seventy years later, China was the second largest economy in the world, had eliminated absolute poverty among its people, and was re-emerging as a significant participant in global economic and political affairs. With nearly 1.4 billion people—and more than half of them living in modern cities, with life expectancy more than double that in 1949, and with education and public health provision at high level global standards—China achieved what the Party characterized as a “moderately prosperous society,” the initial stage of “socialism with Chinese characteristics.” Read the full article here: https://www.liberationschool.org/ten-crises-wen-tiejun/

In November 2016, shortly after the election of Donald Trump, U.S. diplomats in Cuba began to complain about hearing strange noises and experiencing various symptoms including nausea, headaches and hearing loss. Those noises were ultimately shown to have been common crickets. But the U.S. government’s claim that its diplomats had been “attacked” (at first by sonic weapons and later by microwave weapons) and were suffering “Havana syndrome” not only persisted, but expanded in the years that followed to include more than one thousand diplomats and CIA agents in countries around the world. Now, more than five years after the initial claims of this “syndrome” emerged in Havana, and numerous articles in the press suggesting that Cuba, Russia, or China was responsible for these “attacks,” the CIA has finally admitted there has never been any proof that any of this was true. As the headline in the NBC News article which broke the story reads, “CIA says ‘Havana Syndrome’ not result of sustained campaign by hostile power.” The U.S. government hasn’t completely abandoned the story, still claiming that “In about two dozen cases, the agency cannot rule out foreign involvement.” But the New York Times spelled out what that statement really means: “The idea that Russia, China or Cuba was responsible for attacking hundreds of diplomats around the world was never backed up by any evidence that the Biden administration could unearth.” Read the full article here: https://www.liberationnews.org/havana-syndrome-claims-exposedby-the-cia/

Exploring Marx's base-superstructure model for analyzing capitalist society and organizing for socialism. Understanding the productive forces and relations of production. The relevance of the model in the class struggle and dynamics of the base and superstructure. The impact of smartphones on society and the relationship to the base and superstructure. The tactical objective of establishing a legally limited working day and its impact on capitalism and overthrowing it.