“Finances and the Current Crisis: How did we get here and what is the way out?, Pt. 2” first appeared on PoliticalAffairs.net on October 3, 2008. Read it on PoliticalAffairs.net.

The turmoil in financial markets and the bailout to the tune of $700 billion has turned the public eye and wrath on Wall Street and Washington. While millions are aware of the triggering causes, ranging from predatory lending to deregulation to insatiable greed, what isn’t so obvious is the longer-term process that brought our financial system and economy to the edge of the abyss. 

“Challenges and Opportunities in the 2008 Elections” first appeared on PoliticalAffairs.net on December 21, 2007. Read it on PoliticalAffairs.net.

Not every struggle carries the same political significance. Some leave little trace on the political landscape; others rearrange it extensively.

The decisive defeat of the Republican Party next year falls into the latter category. Much like the elections of 1936 and 1964 where Democrats won in a landslide, a similar Democratic victory next year will alter the political landscape in a positive direction and give new energy, confidence, and hope to the labor-led people’s movement, thereby setting the stage for progressive and radical reforms. 

“How the Labor-led People’s Movement Can Change America” first appeared on PoliticalAffairs.net on November 18, 2007. Read it on PoliticalAffairs.net.

Are we entering a new stage of struggle in our country in which the convergence and interaction of political events, movements, and processes of an immediate and medium term nature contain the possibility of throwing the class struggle on a new political trajectory?

Or to put it in more familiar language, are we in a transition from one stage of struggle to another? Are we moving from the struggle against the extreme right, which has dominated politics for more than a quarter century, to a new stage where the challenge is to radically curb corporate power as a whole?

“New Political Terrain Requires New Tactics” first appeared on PoliticalAffairs.net on June 24, 2007. Read it on PoliticalAffairs.net.

The new balance of forces in Congress, the greatly weakened position of the Bush administration, and the growing activity of the labor-led people’s coalition have rearranged the political playing field in our country. Everyone involved in politics has to adjust their tactics to these new realities.

Those of us on the left are no exception. Some sections of the left have adjusted, others are in transition, but some are still stuck on an outdated approach that doesn’t serve either them or the larger movement well. Below I outline some of the Communist Party’s thinking on tactics taking into account the new realities and opportunities now shaping our nation’s political life.

“Class, Race and Women’s Equality- a Strategic View” first appeared on PoliticalAffairs.net on April 27, 2007. Read it on PoliticalAffairs.net.

Editor’s note: Excerpted from The Nature, Role and Work of the Communist Party. See for the full article.

We look at the world through a class lens. The class struggle is the mainspring of the historical process.

As Marx and Engels observed, “the history of all hitherto existing societies is the history of the class struggle” (Communist Manifesto) Up until then, the historical process was seen as accidental and arbitrary. In constructing a new theoretical model, they persuasively argued that historical change was in large measure the outcome of the collective struggle of millions against their class oppressors rather than the whims of dominant classes and individuals or historical accidents. Their insight provided people in every corner of the globe with a new way to understand as well as influence history.