Marx Engels Institute

We sat down with Tania and Anton from the Belarusian Marxist organisation Poligraf Red to discuss both historical and current events in their country and the former wider ex Soviet states.  Our discussion covers everything from the Gorbachev years, the role of the intellectuals in the counter revolution, the restoration of capitalism in Belarus, the nature of the Lukashenko regime and much more.  You can find more details about Poligraf Red on their website and you can also find them on youtube

Full episode available here: https://www.patreon.com/posts/end-of-year-q-1-59947648 We talk about the recent British vote to implement vaccine passes, the Trotsky vs Stalin debate, "patriotic socialism" and more.

We sit with Jorge Martin of marxist.com to learn about the recent metalworkers' strike in Cadiz, and why it is a pivotal moment for the Spanish working class.  An article with more information about this here: https://www.marxist.com/cadiz-metalworkers-strike-a-pivotal-struggle-for-the-spanish-working-class.htm Another perspective: https://en.communia.blog/end-of-cadiz-strike-what-can-we-learn/

This week we spoke with Professor Norman Fenton of Queen Mary University, London, to discuss the use and misuse of statistics by governments during the last two years.  We cover the tricks governments have pulled over the presentation of data of infections, the farce regarding testing and vaccine efficacy.  It's a very interesting discussion and we encourage listeners to read the articles mentioned in the interview which are linked to below. Episode image is from the 1985 film 'Brazil' Directed by Terry Gilliam http://probabilityandlaw.blogspot.com/2021/12/possible-systematic-miscategorisation.html?m=1 http://probabilityandlaw.blogspot.com/2021/11/is-vaccine-efficacy-statistical-illusion.html?m=1

We look at a recent decision by a local of the Ontario Secondary School Teachers Federation (a high school teachers' union in Ontario, Canada) which implemented weighted voted system based on race categories. Some news coverage here: https://nationalpost.com/news/canada/ontario-teachers-union-implements-controversial-weighted-voting-system-to-increase-minority-representation

In this second part of our climate change episode (now unocked for general release) we look at the dubious origins of "green" policy such as "cap  & trade", why so many Marxists have bought into the climate change  narrative and conclude by examining Marx & Engels views on humans  place within nature.

This is the part one of what will be a two part episode on the science, politics and political economy of climate change.  In this episode we look at the questions regarding the conventional narrative on climate change, the problems with "the science" and why this has come to be adopted by the advanced captialist nations.   Part 2 will be released next week. 

Full episode here: https://www.patreon.com/posts/supply-chains-58821794 Supply chains are undergoing a well-publicized shock right now. But the root of the crisis goes much further than the current pandemic. The structure and functioning of supply chains was *as a result of* a search for lower costs. This led capitalists to shift much of production to developing countries. The inevitable result is a complex and long supply chain system which is sensitive to sudden shocks. This does not mean, however, that the entire system will be brought down. In fact, even accounting for regular crisis like the current one, the way supply chains are structured have more advantages for capitalism than drawbacks.

We look at the bourgeois media circus surrounding the Rittenhouse trial and ask, why the concept of a fair trial is so alien to many these days? Why are liberals so keen to jettison universalist standards? And who bares responsibility for the riots last year? On side 2 we take a question of socially necessary labor from a listener and look at how the employers manipulate conscientious workers.

Is inflation back?  Is the solution spending more or less? Why are  leftist influencers invested in denying it? What are Hayek &  Friedman right about? What is the point of Kyle Kulinski? All of this  and more will be explained as we dive into the questions of inlfation,  what causes it and what can the Marxist method teach us about it?