Labour’s crisis management has pleased nobody. It takes money out of the pockets of its natural supporter base, antagonises those, such as farmers, whom it often comes into conflict with, and fulfils none of the expectations demanded of it from capital. The fact that one poll places them below Reform should surprise none of us.

Labour’s synthesis of work, welfare and health policy constitute an expansion of the state’s coercive capabilities. Starmer’s government offers an image of exactly how ruling classes are seeking to mobilise authoritarian forms of population management to steer demographic transition into productive ends which disempower workers. In a service economy so dominated by William Baumol’s “cost disease”, where productivity increases are marginal because so much of the foundations of the economy are predicated on privatised care and reproduction, whether these moves will be successful is in serious doubt.

The old neoliberal consensus is in jeopardy, weighed down by its own contradictions: the breakdown of the US-led global order, the decimation of living standards across the board, the growing impact and realisation that runaway climate change is here to stay, as well as demographic decline to boot. Britain’s economic model isn’t simply breaking down, the social contract which rode Thatcher, Blair and then Cameron to power is cracking. The proliferation of high housing costs, increased interest rates and demographic ageing shatters the privatised welfare state which underpinned the neoliberal social contract and saw millions borrow credit in order to fund elder and social care, consumption and their children’s futures.

The task of radical politics, aware that the projection of boredom entails a radically regressive shift against the working classes, is not simply to put a spanner in the works of Starmerism. As desirable as this is, socialists also need to develop an organising account of how we construct a radical leftwing majoritarianism which unites homeowners with renters, racialised majorities with racialised minorities, the rustbelt regions with the gentrifying metropoles and private and public sector workers. The election of five independent and four Green MPs, the mass Palestine solidarity movement, and the growth in discussion of developing a serious alternative to Labourism, all need to be capitalised upon. For too long, socialism has been understood as national state ownership and an equitable distribution of society’s resources. Instead, socialists today should build a project which emphasises building power from below and organising feasible political challenges which facilitate the unification of distinct class agents subjected to different experiences of capitalist domination – drawing together the provincial, national and global spheres into a network of global socialist strength. The Faragist right is doing this successfully, recreating insubordinate images of national and bodily sovereignty, masculine uplift and racialised resentment whilst also leaning into popular economic terrain such as supporting water nationalisation and opposing the two-child benefit cap. Our side needs to get up to speed.

https://www.ebb-magazine.com/essays/move-fast-and-fix-things

"For decades, the Guantanamo migrant detention center has been the hallmark of the most inhumane, racist, and brutal U.S. policies against people seeking refuge," said Jesse Franzblau, senior policy analyst with the National Immigrant Justice Center. "The Biden administration could have shut down the facility but tragically renewed and entered into new contracts to keep it up and running."

Drop Site News revealed that the MOC can detain single adults, families, and unaccompanied children. Because the MOC is inside of a military base, migrants awaiting processing are transported in black out vans “with hand restraints and black out goggles to obscure their vision,” according to the documents obtained by Drop Site. Migrants also have limited communication with the outside world, with their few phone calls monitored for “restricted information,” including information about the navy base, the documents showed.

https://www.dropsitenews.com/p/trump-guantanamo-immigration-cuba-detention

Su spinta della maggioranza è ripartito l’iter per la modifica della Legge 185/90 che disciplina l’autorizzazione e l’esportazione di materiale d’armamento dal nostro Paese. La proposta governativa svuota la norma, indebolendo la trasparenza e il controllo di cittadini e Parlamento sull’export. La lobby delle armi festeggia ma l’intervento rischia di minare la sicurezza interna ed estera. Le proposte della Rete italiana pace e disarmo per un testo innovativo e ambizioso

https://altreconomia.it/basta-favori-ai-mercanti-di-armi-la-mobilitazione-per-salvare-la-legge-185-90/

La disuguaglianza di reddito nell'Unione Europea è diminuita tra il 2007 e il 2019, principalmente grazie alla convergenza dei redditi nei paesi dell'Est europeo, ma le differenze tra i sistemi di welfare nazionali sono rimaste significative. La riduzione della disuguaglianza si è concentrata soprattutto nei divari tra i redditi medi di mercato tra i paesi, mentre i trasferimenti redistributivi attraverso i sistemi di welfare nazionali non hanno avuto un impatto positivo, e anzi, sono stati meno efficaci nel 2019 rispetto al 2007. Questo miglioramento nella distribuzione dei redditi è stato facilitato dalla crescita economica dei paesi dell'Est, che ha ridotto il gap con i paesi più sviluppati.

Tuttavia, le disuguaglianze restano marcate tra i vari paesi dell'UE, con i paesi mediterranei come Spagna e Italia che si trovano ancora in una posizione svantaggiata. La Commissione Europea dovrà affrontare la questione di armonizzare i sistemi fiscali e di welfare per ridurre ulteriormente le disuguaglianze all'interno dell'Unione. Nonostante i progressi, c'è ancora molto lavoro da fare per creare una maggiore uniformità nelle politiche fiscali e redistributive.

https://lavoce.info/archives/107010/uneuropa-piu-uguale-almeno-nei-redditi/

“Big Oil’s total financial influence this election cycle amounts to an astounding $445 million,” the report states, noting that the oil and gas industries also donated to dark money groups in support of Republicans and Trump that make it “nearly impossible to understand the full scope of their impact” over the past year.

Of the money that has been disclosed, $96 million went directly to Trump’s presidential campaign. That’s about one-tenth of the amount Trump requested from Big Oil executives during a secretive meeting at his Mar-a-Lago estate in April, when he begged executives to give his campaign $1 billion and vowed to enact policies to increase their profits in return.

Another $80 million from oil and gas companies went to advertising to support Trump and Republicans, or toward positive advertisements for the industry during the election cycle. And a whopping $243 million was spent on lobbying members of Congress last year, the Climate Power report shows.

In his first week in office, Trump has already issued numerous executive orders that favor the fossil fuel industry, including:
- Declaring a “national emergency” on energy, aimed at increasing domestic energy production;
- Rescinding Biden administration restrictions on drilling in Alaska, as well as off the east and west coasts;
- Restarting liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminal approvals, which had been paused under the Biden White House;
- And rolling back Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) emission standards.

Trump’s cabinet and advisory positions within the White House have also been stacked with Big Oil representatives and their allies.

https://truthout.org/articles/big-oil-spent-445-million-to-influence-2024-elections/

This situation, however, is more than just a judicial issue—it is deeply intertwined with political and economic interests between Italy and Libya. Italy, under Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, has a vested interest in maintaining strong relations with the Libyan government, particularly in controlling migration flows. The Italian government has supported Libyan authorities in halting migration, with financial backing for Libyan coast guards who intercept migrants attempting to cross the Mediterranean. Meanwhile, Libya's role in managing migration has created a complex relationship where political pragmatism often trumps international legal obligations, such as cooperation with the ICC.

The strategic importance of Libya to Italy is further evidenced by ongoing energy and military agreements, including Italy's significant import of Libyan oil and gas. For the Italian government, preserving these relations is seen as vital, even at the cost of disregarding human rights concerns, as in the case of Almasri. In the end, the broader geopolitical and economic stakes in Libya seem to have outweighed the moral and legal considerations surrounding Almasri's release.

https://www.editorialedomani.it/fatti/migranti-e-petrolio-perche-meloni-ha-liberato-almasri-il-torturatore-blcqrhyf

Dominionism is a theological/ideological position found in modern Christofascist and Christian nationalist movements, which essentially seeks to replace any semblance of secular society or governance with a system governed by an ultra-conservative, literalist interpretation of biblical laws. In effect, Dominionism seeks to replace democracy with a fascistic, oligarchic, theocracy where “sinners” and otherwise non-believers would face punishments as described in the Bible and determined by a council of theocrats.

We can’t abandon religious spaces to the right anymore. We as a movement must stake our claim and push on from there, we must not cede an institution under considerable influence in day-to-day life from the American Right.

The 1980’s–1990’s was a period of fertile ground for the hyper-moralist philosophies of Christianity, and thus a nascent Christian nationalist movement started to pop up. The era of Ronald Reagan and the Waco siege became the spawning ground of the modern fundamentalist Christian nationalist ideas which have become commonplace in American conservatism. Reagan, in his attempt to rally voters against Jimmy Carter, invoked fears of moral degradation and chaos and inherently began to tie conservatism explicitly with Christianity. This conservative moralism had always existed, but the specific brand and method in which he did so was heavily influenced by groups like the Moral Majority led by Jerry Falwell Sr. and other prominent figures and members of the broader Shepherding movement. It was this move by Reagan and others in his circle that truly mobilized white middle-class Christians as a force in politics. (...) The Waco siege arguably sparked the formation of right-wing Christian militias in America.

As it stands, Christian nationalism stands concerningly poised to conquer the spiritual sanctums of America. The right has long held control of churches, and Christofascism presents yet another tool for them to utilize in pursuit of power. If the Civil Rights Movement taught us anything, it’s that the church is a powerful tool for organizing. During the CRM, it was Black Churches which played an incredibly important role in helping to organize direct action by giving black communities support in the form of meeting spaces, funds, and connections across the country. Certain religious communities, such as the Quakers, have played a historically significant role in supporting civil rights and abolitionist efforts in the US. Transcendentalists such as Henry David Thoreau have presented some of the earliest attempts at American environmental activism and socialist ideas, and some of the earliest attempts at socialist communes find their roots in Fourierism. Such instances reflect the power of religious communities to advance liberatory movements! If we do not include religious communities and help incorporate socialism into their beliefs, they will always remain at odds with our vision and thus resent us.

https://dsa-lsc.org/2025/01/28/christianity-and-reaction-the-case-for-leftist-organizing-in-the-church/