Global Left Midweek – September 7, 2022
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- Controlling Inflation at the Workers’ Expense
- Chile’s Constitution
- Workers in Ukraine, Kazakhstan and Georgia
- Puerto Rico Energy Showdown
- UK Unions Flex Political Muscle
- Gorbachev in Context
- Which Way for the SACP?
- The Honduran Left in Power
- Italy: Unione Populare
- Need to Know These Comrades
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Controlling Inflation at the Workers’ Expense
Prabhat Patnaik / Peoples Democracy (New Delhi)
No matter what kind of inflation we are talking about, it can always be controlled at the expense of the working class; and, what is more, under capitalism it is invariably controlled at the expense of the working class. Not allowing wages to rise in tandem with prices is capitalism’s cure for any inflationary upsurge.
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Chile’s Constitution: Implications of a Rout
Charis McGowan / Al Jazeera (Doha)
The proposed constitution would have replaced the current Magna Carta which was imposed by the Pinochet dictatorship 41 years ago. More than 60 percent of Chileans voted against the proposal, which emphasized feminist, pro-environment and progressive transformation of society. The opposition distorted the content via mass media.
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Workers in Ukraine, Kazakhstan and Georgia
- Ukraine’s Unions / Ukraine Solidarity Campaign (London)
- Zelensky Suppresses Workers’ Rights Federico Fuentes / Green Left (Sydney)
- Solidarity in Kazakhstan Almas Kaisar and Paolo Sorbello / openDemocracy (London)
- Georgia’s Social Workers Sofia Japaridze / Commons (Kyiv)
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Puerto Rico Energy Showdown
Angely Mercado / Gizmodo (New York)
Last year, the islands’ electricity was privatized and taken over by LUMA, an American-Canadian company. The company was supposed to help repair the power system after extensive damage from hurricanes and earthquakes. Residents say that outages are still as frequent, if not worse than before, and they are asking government officials to revoke LUMA’s 15-year contract.
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UK Unions Flex Political Muscle
Alexandra Topping / The Guardian (London)
As Britain heads into an autumn of strikes – and the Labour party comes under pressure to come up with ideas to tackle the cost of living crisis – and support stoppages – we look at the (mostly) union leaders becoming a powerful force of opposition to the Tory government.
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Gorbachev in Context
- What Was Lost Tommaso Di Francesco / il manifesto Global (Rome)
- Contradictions Ronald Grigor Suny / Jacobin (New York)
- Riding the Tiger Walden Bello / Foreign Policy in Focus (Washington DC)
- Putin and Gorbachev’s Mission Julian Borger / The Guardian (London)
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Which Way for the SACP?
- 15th Congress Political Report South African Communist Party / Politicsweb (Johannesburg)
- How the Party Fought for Freedom Tom Lodge / The Conversation
- Left Renewal or Same Old? Gunnett Kaaf / Amandla! (Cape Town)
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The Honduran Left in Power
Matt Ginsberg-Jackle interviews Gerardo Torres / Convergence
LIBRE under President Xiomara Zelaya and with a candidacy as strong as hers has been able to put an end to the historic hegemony of the conservatives and make way for the progressive forces. For the first time in Honduras there is a party that is not capitalist in character and that is historic.
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Italy: Unione Populare
Muhammed Shabeer / Peoples Dispatch (New Delhi)
Left-wing groups in Italy have launched the People’s Union (UP) to contest the upcoming general elections. Its promises include taxing the rich, improving public services and an ecological transformation for the transport system.
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Need to Know These Comrades
- Mary Roy (1933-2022) Shaju Philip and Apurva Vishwanath / The Indian Express (Noida)
- Metin Çulhaoğlu (1947-2022) Cenk Saraçoğlu / Marxism and Sciences (Balçova, Turkey)
- Mario Fiorentini (1918–2022) David Browder / Jacobin
- Omar Latif (1952-2021) / Jamhoor
- John Berger (1926-2017) Francesca Peacock / Verso (London)