Class Struggle
n°80
September 2008
- 1
Britain - Brown's fuel and housing packages - a cynical PR exercise
Following Labour's dramatic losses in the Crewe and Glasgow East by-elections, the so-called "anti-Brown" faction was smelling blood and flexing its muscles on the eve of this year's Labour party annual conference. Not that Charles Clarke, Patricia Hewitt, and other critiques of his government, whether former "Blairites" or non-aligned … - 2
Britain - Drug companies and the NHS - 60 years of guaranteed profits
This August, NHS patients with advanced cancer of the kidney were confronted with the news that the NHS would no longer pay for the latest and most effective drugs available to treat their condition. They were told that the treatment was not "cost effective", since it might only prolong life … - 3
Britain - The not-so-new clothes of Thomas Malthus
One might have hoped that the ideas of the Reverend Thomas Malthus on the unsustainability of population growth, circa 1798, would be long-forgotten. His theological metaphysics and pessimistic moralism, although not uninfluential in the British establishment at the time, were dismissed by progressive thinkers - and by Karl Marx and … - 4
Economlc crisis - towards the chaotic ”hard landing” of a bankrupt system?
This September started with the London stock market experiencing its worst ever week since the "dotcom" speculative bubble crashed, seven years ago. By the end of that week, the FTSE 100 index of the 100 largest companies listed in the City, had fallen by 7%, thereby wiping out over £100 … - 5
South Korea - a summer of discontent
From the middle of last May onwards, a wave of militant protest swept South Korea. For over two months, tens - sometimes hundreds - of thousands of demonstrators took part in daily mass rallies in downtown Seoul and other South Korean cities. This wave of protest involved significant sections …