Who are SL Marxists?

SL Marxists (SLM) is an organisation of revolutionary socialists committed to ending the barbarities of capitalism. We are a group of principled left activists fighting for a world free from war, racism, sexism and oppression. We stand for a society organised along lines of workers’ democracy, in which production is owned and controlled by the mass of humanity for human need rather than for profit. We are affiliated to SL Left Unity as a platform. If you think a better world is worth fighting for, don’t wait for the barricades to go up – join us!

Visit our headquarters in New Babbage:
http://slurl.com/secondlife/New%20Babbage/41/252/116

Stop the reactionary SOPA and Protect IP!

As all Marxists in the US and indeed around the world should, SL Marxists thoroughly opposes the introduction of reactionary laws to bolster the state’s power to police the internet in the name of protecting “intellectual property.”

The proposed legislation now before the US congress is nothing but an attempt by the bourgeoisie to protect the profits of multimedia companies in a time of economic distress. They take aim at the internet, a revolutionary medium which allows people all across the world to share information freely at rapid speeds. Computer technology allows everything from text to images, video and audio to be copied and transmitted across the globe in seconds, making information extremely accessible for billions of people.

Under ordinary market conditions, such super-abundance of a commodity should set its value to zero. According to the supply and demand model of classical economics, as the supply of a commodity approaches infinity, its value should approach zero. Information is theoretically infinitely abundant and should therefore have no value in the market whatsoever. This, however, threatens the profits of record companies, movie studios and other multimedia companies. As such, the bourgeoisie are inclined to violate their market ideology and introduce reactionary laws to limit the supply of information to ensure it can still be sold.

This also demonstrates how capitalism is unable to allow for society to progress to an era of post-scarcity. Although not all pro-capitalists agree this is possible, communists understand this is well within the realm of possibility and can only be achieved by a global socialist revolution.

The American Dream – a reactionary short film.

I have come across a disturbing animated short film recently that I feel should be rejected unanimously. The film, entitled “The American Dream,” presents the fallacious idea that finance capitalists are a separate class of individuals that have corrupted capitalism. This conspiracy, which has its roots in the anti-Semitic book “The Protocols of the Elders of Zion,” seeks to justify the existence of industrial capitalism by misdirection. It is an idea which has lead to the emergence of fascism in Europe, and has distracted the working class and prevented meaningful revolutionary organization.

Anyone with even a basic understanding of Marxism would not take this film seriously. It shares striking similarities with the Zeitgeist films, and is nothing but a petite-bourgeois reactionary polemic against late-stage capitalism.

To top it all off, the film contains very sexist sentiments and relies on pop-culture references to entice the viewer into buying its ridiculous message.

If you have not seen it, it is available to watch on youtube.

J30: Support the British Public Sector Strike

Time/date: All Day
Location: Speakers’ Corner, SL London Hyde Park

SLUNCUT, a broad coalition formed to support the global resistance against cut-backs and austerity, have called a day of action in SL as a show of solidarity with the hundreds of thousands of public sector workers on strike in Britain this Thursday.

700,000 British public sector workers have voted to take strike action in defence of their jobs and services. Teachers, public servants, healthcare workers, transport workers, lecturers and council workers will be stopping work to stop cuts to the NHS and pensions.

Join SLUNCUT

We will be aiming for a full day occupation of London Hyde Park in SL to share tweets from the protests as they unfold and to discuss the way forward for the fightback. We may even meet a few people on strike themselves. Wherever you are in the world (except possibly the UK, in which case we’d expect you to be on the streets!), we encourage you to come along and show your support for the public sector workers of Britain. United we stand, we will defeat these cuts.

Rally called by SLUNCUT
Endorsements: SL Left Unity, SL Marxists

Protesting violence against the Libyan people

Today we are in the United Nations Association sim, protesting the violence going on right now against the Libyan people, who have risen up to overthrow Muammar al-Gaddafi.
This protest action was initiated by no organization, but rather by individuals who felt they wanted to express their rage at this unprecedented use of bloody force by the Gaddafi regime against their own people.
Several Activist groups are represented among the protesters here today: SLLU, Amnesty International, Four Bridges, Anti-Nazi League, No Pasaran!, In Soldarity with Egypt, SL Marxists.
We wait together and watch Al Jazeera and Twitter for breaking news.
Other articles on today’s protest action can be found at:
http://ireport.cnn.com/docs/DOC-559642
http://slleftunity.blogspot.com/2011/02/sl-calls-for-gadaffi-to-go.html
http://palaisorleans.blogspot.com/2011/02/libya-calling.html

The protest will commence again tomorrow at 10:00 AM SL time, at http://slurl.com/secondlife/Clearwater%20Beach/135/101/25

To quote one activist who helped to bring this protest action together today: “We are here in (Second Life), We are there in (Real Life). We are everywhere. We demand Freedom, Peace, and Human Rights for Libyan People.”

SLM Endorses SLUncut

SL Marxists supports the proposal for SL Left Unity to initiate a broad-based campaign of opposition to austerity and cuts, and to show solidarity with the struggle of workers across Europe fighting back against the biggest attacks on their living standards in decades.

You can view the original proposal here.
http://slleftunity.blogspot.com/2011/02/proposal-for-sluncut.html

“Take Tahrir to the factories!” – Egypt’s Junta and the Permanent Revolution

Commentary, Hossam el-Hamalawy, Revolutionary Socialists of Egypt

Since yesterday, and actually earlier, middle class activists have been urging Egyptians to suspend the protests and return to work, in the name of patriotism, singing some of the most ridiculous lullabies about “let’s build new Egypt,” “Let’s work harder than even before,” etc… In case you didn’t know, actually Egyptians are among the hardest working people in the globe already..

Those activists want us to trust Mubarak’s generals with the transition to democracy–the same junta that has provided the backbone of his dictatorship over the past 30 years. And while I believe the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces, who receive $1.3 billion annually from the US, will eventually engineer the transition to a “civilian” government, I have no doubt it will be a government that will guarantee the continuation of a system that will never touch the army’s privileges, keep the armed forces as the institution that will have the final say in politics (like for example Turkey), guarantee Egypt will continue to follow the US foreign policy whether it’s the undesired peace with Apartheid State of Israel, safe passage for the US navy in the Suez Canal, the continuation of the Gaza siege and exports of natural gas to Israel at subsidized rates. The “civilian” government is not about cabinet members who do not wear military uniforms. A civilian government means a government that fully represents the Egyptian people’s demands and desires without any intervention from the brass. And I see this hard to be accomplished or allowed by the junta.

Mubarak Is Out!

Mubarak has resigned today, bringing an end to his thirty years of dictatorship. The people of Egypt have spoken.
Mubarak is out but the fight must continue! Revolution until complete victory! Tear down the whole regime!

Today in SL Egypt the people had a well-deserved celebration. Many SL Marxists (members of the large group’ In Solidarity with Egypt’, joined with Egy

ptians in a happy gathering to celebrate the dawning of a new day for people everywhere. We rejoice to see that the voice of the people has made the first step forward to real democracy for Egypt and hopefully for us all around the world.

You won’t fool the children of the revolution

A child leads a march of 3 million in Alexandria. Truly one of the most inspiring scenes to have come out of the Egyptian Revolution.

A call from Egyptian socialists

Revolutionary socialists in Egypt issued this statement about the Egyptian uprising and the tasks that the movement faces as the struggle continues in the coming weeks.

From Socialist Worker (US)
http://socialistworker.org/2011/02/07/call-from-egyptian-socialists

Glory to the martyrs! Victory to the revolution!

What is happening today is the largest popular revolution in the history of our country and of the entire Arab world. The sacrifice of our martyrs has built our revolution and we have broken through all the barriers of fear. We will not back down until the criminal “leaders” and their criminal system is destroyed.

Mubarak’s departure is the first step, not the last step of the revolution

The handover of power to a dictatorship under Omar Suleiman, Ahmed Shafiq and other cronies of Mubarak is the continuation of the same system. Omar Suleiman is a friend of Israel and America, spends most of his time between Washington and Tel Aviv, and is a servant who is faithful to their interests. Ahmed Shafik is a close friend of Mubarak and his colleague in the tyranny, oppression and plunder imposed on the Egyptian people.

The country’s wealth belongs to the people and must return to it

Over the past three decades, this tyrannical regime corrupted the country’s largest estates to a small handful of business leaders and foreign companies. One hundred families own more than 90 percent of the country’s wealth. They monopolize the wealth of the Egyptian people through policies of privatization, looting of power and the alliance with capital. They have turned the majority of the Egyptian people to the poor, landless and unemployed.

Factories wrecked and sold dirt cheap must go back to the people

We want the nationalization of companies, land and property looted by this bunch. As long as our resources remain in their hands we will not be able to completely get rid of this system. Economic slavery is the other face of political tyranny. We will not be able to cope with unemployment and achieve a fair minimum wage for a decent living without restoring the wealth of the people from this gang.

We will not be guard dogs of America and Israel

This system does not stand alone. As a dictator, Mubarak was a servant and client directly acting for the sake of the interests of America and Israel. Egypt acted as a colony of America, participated directly in the siege of the Palestinian people, made the Suez Canal and Egyptian airspace free zones for warships and fighter jets that destroyed and killed the Iraqi people, and sold gas to Israel dirt cheap while stifling the Egyptian people by soaring prices. Revolution must restore Egypt’s independence, dignity and leadership in the region.

The revolution is a popular revolution

This is not a revolution of the elite, political parties or religious groups. Egypt’s youth, students, workers and the poor are the owners of this revolution. In recent days, a lot of elites, parties and so-called symbols have begun trying to ride the wave of revolution and hijack it from their rightful owners. The only symbols are the martyrs of our revolution and our young people who have been steadfast in the field. We will not allow them to take control of our revolution and claim that they represent us. We will choose to represent ourselves and represent the martyrs who were killed, their blood paying the price for the salvation of the system.

A people’s army is the army that protects the revolution

Everyone asks: “Is the army with the people or against them?” The army is not a single block. The interests of soldiers and junior officers are the same as the interests of the masses. But the senior officers are Mubarak’s men, chosen carefully to protect his regime of corruption, wealth and tyranny. It is an integral part of the system.

This army is no longer the people’s army. This army is not the one which defeated the Zionist enemy in October 1973. This army is closely associated with America and Israel. Its role is to protect Israel, not the people. Yes, we want to win the soldiers for the revolution. But we must not be fooled by slogans that “the army is on our side.” The army will either suppress the demonstrations directly, or restructure the police to play this role.

Form revolutionary councils urgently

This revolution has surpassed our greatest expectations. Nobody expected to see these numbers. Nobody expected that Egyptians would be this brave in the face of the police. Nobody can say that we did not force the dictator to retreat. Nobody can say that a transformation did not happen in Tahrir Square.

What we need right now is to push for the socio-economic demands as part of our demands, so that the person sitting in his home knows that we are fighting for their rights. We need to organize ourselves into popular committees, which elect higher councils democratically, and from below. These councils must form a higher council, which includes delegates of all the tendencies. We must elect a higher council of people who represent us, and in whom we trust. We call for the formation of popular councils in Tahrir Square, and in all the cities of Egypt.

A call to Egyptian workers to join the ranks of the revolution

The demonstrations and protests have played a key role in igniting and continuing our revolution. Now we need the workers. They can seal the fate of the regime. Not only by participating in the demonstrations, but by organizing a general strike in all the vital industries and large corporations.

The regime can afford to wait out the sit-ins and demonstrations for days and weeks, but it cannot last beyond a few hours if workers use strikes as a weapon. Strike on the railways, on public transport, the airports and large industrial companies! Egyptian workers, on behalf of the rebellious youth and on behalf of the blood of our martyrs, join the ranks of the revolution, use your power and victory will be ours!

Glory to the martyrs!
Down with the system!
All power to the people!
Victory to the revolution!