Fownhope’s Heart of Oak Society traces its roots to the age of friendly societies, when communities provided their own safety net. Its anniversary celebrations reveal a tradition still very much alive, says MARK SEDDON
Latest editorial
The US is a world leader in authoritarianism
If the situation for citizens of the West’s most powerful nation was not bad enough, consider what this global bully does to maintain its interests across the planet, writes ROGER McKENZIE
A US soldier stands guard as a helicopter takes off during the invasion of Iraq
ANGUS REID explains the significance of Cuba’s egalitarian in letter and spirit Family Code and the pertinent lessons it holds for democracies anywhere in the world
Special report by PEOPLE’S WORLD
NICK WRIGHT considers how the isolation of Israel and a new film on the controversial Italian communist leader are creating new reference points for Italy’s left
CARLOS MARTINEZ says Cuba’s achievements in the face of a criminal blockade are startling, but the island’s future if the United States succeeds in crushing it looks bleak
AMNON BROWNFIELD STEIN reports that far-right MPs who mobbed the event organised by Hadash may have helped raise awareness of the brutality of the Israeli right
FAR from being “the land of the free,” I believe the US is the most authoritarian country in the world. It is also the world’s biggest exporter of authoritarianism.
To be fair to the US, it has beaten off some pretty stiff competition for the title, but I do think it is well deserved.
I can already hear the shrill liberal voices pointing the finger at other parts of the globe from a mostly anti-communist or Islamophobic standpoint, but their voices will likely always be aimed at countries that dare to challenge the global dominance of the US.
Similar stories
As peers prepare to debate reform of the 1861 Offences Against the Person Act, Labour MP Tonia Antoniazzi leads a bid to end the criminalisation of women who end pregnancies at home. LYNNE WALSH reports
As Saudi Arabia is hailed abroad for its ‘reforms,’ the reality for women inside the kingdom grows ever more repressive. On the International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women, MARYAM ALDOSSARI argues it is time to stop applauding the illusion – and start listening to the women the state works hardest to silence
RON JACOBS welcomes a timely homage to one of the IWW and CPUSA’s most effective orators
It is only trade union power at work that will materially improve the lot of working people as a class but without sector-wide collective bargaining and a right to take sympathetic strike action, we are hamstrung in the fight to tilt back the balance of power, argues ADRIAN WEIR