(On May 5 this year was observed the one hundred and ninetyfourth birth anniversary of Karl Marx. On this occasion we remember that immortal revolutionary with the following excerpts from his unforgettable writings and speeches.) “In direct contrast to German philosophy, which descends from heaven to earth, here we ascend from earth to heaven. That [...]

  Marx had a very clear vision. It was a vision of a society which would permit the full development of human beings – a society which allowed everyone to develop their potential. And, that would occur not because of gifts from above but, rather, as a result of the activity of human beings. Michael [...]

  I As is well known, Marx never wrote a book or even an essay on communism. Yet, as even casual readers of Marx know, descriptions of the future society are scattered throughout his writings. Over two decades ago, I gathered together the most important of these descriptions in a single place. Treating them like [...]

  A chapter from “How to Read Karl Marx” by Ernst Fischer A brief introduction    to  this chapter  by  John Bellamy Foster  Marx’s revolutionary humanism—his conception of human freedom as the development of the whole human being—was rooted in his “philosophy of praxis” (or practice). It contests both idealism, according to which the intellect, standing [...]

  A New Labor Movement? A few weeks ago, I was a guest on a radio show hosted by Ed Martin on KDVS in Davis, California.  The Egyptian revolt was in full swing.  I said:   I know there’s a lot of pent-up anger. If you take a country like Egypt, where people are suppressed, [...]

  Renewal? The collapse of the Soviet Union in 1989 had the champions of capitalism crowing that history had ended, that there was no alternative to the “magic of the marketplace.” Historical developments since then have given some credence to this view, as even China has rapidly moved from socialism to capitalism and in the [...]

  The Decline of the Left In the United States, radical labor education had great vitality from the heyday of the Socialist Party and the IWW before the First World War until the end of the Second World War. In fact, much of the impetus for labor education came from the left, and a good [...]

   LABOR ON THE MARCH While unions are indispensable organizations of the working class, they are not likely to lead a radical social transformation. They face inherent constraints. First, unions may replicate already existing divisions within the working class. Many occupations are segregated by gender. Nearly all coal miners are men. A union of coal [...]

    FORWARD We are on our way to Amherst, Massachusetts, where I will be teaching a two-week course in labor economics to labor union brothers and sisters.  I have been a labor educator for thirty years. I have taught working people, mostly union leaders and members, a wide variety of courses in all kinds of [...]

We live in a complex, divided society. We are divided by wealth, income, education, housing, race, gender, ethnicity, religion, and sexual orientation. These divisions are much discussed; in the last two years, there have been entire series in our major newspapers devoted to the growing income divide. The wealth-flaunting of today’s rich was even the [...]