Capitalism

A history of the 鈥榳ar on drugs鈥: how capitalism profits from prohibition

The existence of drug markets 鈥 and the struggles around them 鈥 raise a number of important sociopolitical and structural issues for analysis.

The expansion of markets for psychoactive substances was a strategic initiative by European companies in the development of capitalism, slavery and imperialism. Initially there were no illicit markets but the licit industries included the critical sugar (and rum) industry in Haiti, Jamaica, Colombia and other countries and the tobacco industry in the US South.

Piketty and the inequality zeitgeist

Dickensian children in factories and coal mines; Karl Marx debunks Capitalism; revolutions and war grip Europe; and inequality casts a gloomy smog over Europe. Ships depart with slaves, convicts and political dissidents bound for the New Worlds, of which Australia is one.

It is the 19th century, the century of capital 鈥 a time that will dialectically reverberate shockwaves towards the greatest revolutions, the greatest economic collapse and the greatest bombs.

Naomi Klein Delivers Sydney Peace Prize Lecture

Canadian author and activist Naomi Klein accepted the 2016 Sydney Peace Prize on November 11, delivering a searing speech that reflected on Donald Trump's presidential victory in the United States and the factors that allowed it to happen.

Thomas Piketty speaks in Sydney on inequality

Economist and author of Capital in the 21st Century Thomas Piketty gave a lecture entitled 鈥淚s Increasing Inequality Inevitable?鈥 to a full house at the Sydney Opera House Concert Hall on October 23.

Piketty presented detailed research on growing income inequality compiled by a number of scholars and sourced directly from national taxation and income statistics from primarily advanced capitalist countries, as well as some statistics from a number of the BRICS countries (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa).

Companies don't give a shit

Ultimately, the only way to ensure a secure future for jobs is to replace the whole capitalist system with one in which human need is prioritised above corporate profits.

Why isn't technology making our lives easier?

Last month I read an article that first appeared in the Huffington Post titled "X Marks the Spot Where Inequality Took Root: Dig Here". It explains how real wages in the US shadowed growth in productivity in the years after World War II. But in the mid-1970s wages growth completely stalled. If wages had continued to shadow productivity growth they would now be double what they are today. This explains a lot about contemporary US society: all the gains of increased productivity have been absorbed by the rich.

Capitalists criticise capitalism?

"WOW. This is something you don't often see. Goldman Sachs says it may have to question capitalism itself." So went the tweet from . I wondered what could possibly cause one of the world鈥檚 largest investment banks, a company that is heavily invested in capitalism (both literally and figuratively) to 鈥渜uestion capitalism itself鈥? Why isn't this bigger news?

Carlo's Corner: 91自拍论坛 鈥 25 years old and still useful to McCarthyites everywhere

91自拍论坛 Weekly is marking its 25th anniversary this week, which is a truly remarkable achievement for an independent paper without corporate funding 鈥 and one that could not be achieved without a lot of hard work over many years by more people than could be named.

Australia: A brave new world 鈥 Federation to Depression

During the 1890s the Australian colonies were ravaged by unemployment, industrial conflict and misery. Economic conditions became so bad there was a determined attempt to create a different society, a society that was protected from the ravages of capitalism. One such attempt was by journalist William Lane who, in 1893, had little difficulty in recruiting members to his new utopian society in distant Paraguay. This attempt was ultimately a failure, mainly due to Lane's demanding personality, but the idea of a new, fairer society lingered.

The class anger behind the #piggate scandal

Whether or not it is true, the internet has decided that British Prime Minister David Cameron probably put his private parts into the mouth of a dead pig when he was at Oxford. The allegations have been made by extremely well-connected Establishment figures, former Conservative Party Deputy Chairman Lord Michael Ashcroft and former Sunday Times political editor Isabel Oakeshott, and is published in the Daily Mail. This is the highest possible tier of character assassination in British politics.

End the nuclear age to preserve our future

Seventy years ago this month, the US committed two of the worst terrorist attacks in human history. The incineration of the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki by atomic bombs represented the bloody climax of World War II. The nation that committed this heinous crime soon itself came to be the only remaining capitalist superpower.
Solomon Comissiong.

Hip-hop activist shows rap's power to politicise

The politics in early hip-hop music inspired Solomon Comissiong to become an activist, author, lecturer and film-maker. 91自拍论坛 Weekly's Mat Ward spoke to him about his work, which uses rap music as a tool to educate and organise.