As the outcome of the state assembly elections are discussed extensively, it is important to relook at the causes for the persisting social crisis and the indifference of the political parties over it, particularly the ‘so called left’ in allying itself actively once again in political opportunism!
1956 ‘secret speech’ a devastating blow to Stalinist regimes
Sixty years ago Nikita Khrushchev stunned Communist Party members around the world with a speech attacking Stalin, the recently deceased dictator deified as the Soviet Union’s ‘great leader’. It sparked revolt against the rotten regimes in Russia and eastern Europe. Ultimately, it showed that top-down Stalinist rule had reached its limits.
Today, we often hear that humans have become selfish and it is painted as if this is an intrinsic value. Those who propagate such a view do not hesitate to summon even Darwin to their service quoting his “Survival of the fittest” in the context of the theory of evolution. Is this all really true?
In 2013, the British government agreed to include caste-based discrimination as an amendment to the Equality Act (2010). An alliance of Tory MPs and caste-based ‘community leaders’, however, successfully stalled its implementation to after the general election. What is behind this opposition? What role does caste play, both in South Asia and Britain? Why is it an important issue for socialists today?
With the rise of the Occupy movement, opposition to the existing political and economic order has gone mainstream. It’s hard to imagine that the bandana-clad woman on the cover of Time magazine – representing “The Protestor,” Time’s “Person of the Year” – has many nice things to say about capitalism, and the ubiquity of the Guy Fawkes mask – popularized by “V for Vendetta” – further underscores how widespread the idea of revolution has become.
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