With the world turned on its head by the coronavirus pandemic, it has never been more important to spread the ideas of Marxism. Please donate generously and help us build the International Marxist Tendency!
The coronavirus has shattered the unstable equilibrium that existed in the world. The world economy was already on the verge of another major recession. The COVID-19 pandemic triggered it.
Faced with such an economic catastrophe, the bourgeoisie, desperately worried about the social and political consequences of a depression, are throwing everything they have at the economy in an attempt to cushion the fall. But whatever tools they may have had in the past to postpone the recession have already been used up.
The crisis is exposing the lies and hypocrisy of the past 40 years: the cuts, the lack of investment, the short termism of the capitalist class. Now the inability of capitalism to cope with this crisis stands exposed for all to see.
The economic fallout will have lasting consequences far beyond the pandemic itself. Already companies across the world are carrying out mass layoffs, and worse is to come. US Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin is openly talking about 20 percent unemployment in the US. This is what we will be facing in all countries. This is a global crisis of unprecedented proportions and the capitalists will try to make workers pay for it.
What we are living through is a change in epoch, and it will have a huge impact on consciousness. The crisis of 2008 made millions of workers and youth start to question capitalism. Even in countries such as the US, socialism had become very popular even before the present crisis broke out. The new turn of events is only going to pose the question in a sharper way: do things have to be this way? Revolution is on the order of the day.
Workers in Italy, Spain, Austria, Canada, the US and many other countries have already been forced to take strike action to demand the shutdown of production in non-essential sectors of the economy or the necessary protective measures to prevent the spread of the virus. Millions are asking why companies are bailed out when they face losses, but never share their profits.
Now more than ever, only a world socialist revolution can offer a way out.
Over the coming few months, the world is going to be turned upside down and class consciousness will be leaping forward as the dramatic events reveal the real nature of the system we live in. In these conditions, we need to redouble our efforts to spread the ideas of genuine Marxism.
Donate to help build the Marxist tendency!
We need your help. We are extending the scope of our activities. Increasing numbers of people are contacting us from all over the world, looking for a revolutionary alternative to the present rot of the capitalist system.
We need to provide more analysis of the great events that are unfolding and that are about to unfold, as well as preparing theoretical material. This will be the basis for educating a new generation of revolutionary Marxists in all countries.
One country after another is going into lockdown, which means more and more people will be at home in self-isolation. It is going to be a difficult period for the mass of workers and youth, but we will have more time and we must all use it wisely. That is why we are expanding our online work, including video and audio material. For this, we need human and technical resources.
We do not have rich backers. As a tendency that bases itself on the interests of the world working class, we have always had to count on the many small donations of workers and youth around the world. Now we need your help more than ever before.
That is why we are asking the sympathisers, comrades and readers of In Defence of Marxism to help us raise €150,000 to accelerate and strengthen the building of the Marxist tendency!
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For larger donations, please contact us and we will arrange for a way of transferring them to us without incurring large fees.