Now at 115,000 members and in some polls level with Labour in terms of public support, CHRIS JARVIS looks at the factors behind the rapid rise of the Greens, internal and external
Does automation spell the end of capitalism?
Capitalism will not 'automatically' morph into some 'postcapitalist' or socialist system due to technology replacing the human workforce. As the MARX MEMORIAL LIBRARY explains, ending capitalism will require a conscious, collective action on the part of 'the many' — the working class
THE END OF WORK? Labour leader Keir Starmer meets a fleet of Starship delivery robots at a Co-op in Milton Keynes, during a visit to discuss technological innovation during Covid-19
Witnessing a war of words at a meeting on tackling militarism at The World Transformed, BEN COWLES spoke to a union rep who is organising against war from inside the arms industry itself, to hear about worker-led solutions to ending weapons production
FRANCISCO DOMINGUEZ, ROGER D HARRIS and JOHN PERRY contrast Trump’s warships and F-35 fighters threatening Venezuela with the $20bn bailout for Milei’s collapsed economy, all enabled by a highly ideological IMF
KAY GREEN explains how the Middle East and colonialism were explored at at last weekend’s FiLiA conference
ROS SITWELL reports from Europe’s largest feminist conference – hosted this year in Brighton
Morning Star campaigns manager CALVIN TUCKER gives an update on the drive to raise £95,000 to see the people’s paper keep fighting the good fight against the rich and powerful
AUTOMATION — defined as the introduction of a technology whereby a process (physical or informational) can be accomplished with significantly reduced human agency — has deep historic roots.
Two millennia ago Heron of Alexandria invented a combustion engine to open temple doors so that onlookers would believe the gods were moving them without human agency. But fire power was not used for any productive purpose — why bother to automate when you have slaves to do the work?
Under capitalism, by contrast, the displacement or routinisation of human labour in search of profit has been a prime driver of innovation. In the Communist Manifesto Marx and Engels emphasised the dynamism of technology within capitalism.
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