Skip to main content
Leaving behind 33 years of false paths for the left
The left’s retreat from class, embrace of ‘hyphenated capitalisms’ and tepid reformism in tropical settings needs to be finally dumped in favour of a bold socialist programme and Leninist party organisation, writes ZOLTAN ZIGEDY
Vladimir Lenin, revolutionary leader of the first government of Soviet Russia

WHAT does history tell us about where we are today, well into the first half of the 21st century? It surely tells us that capitalism remains the greatest obstacle to solving the manifold injustices, irrationalities and existential threats that face humanity.

History also teaches us that the false answers of nationalism, racialism and social exclusion remain leading obstacles to overcoming capitalism and the class divide at the centre of capitalist social relations.

Division — the separation of potential allies in the struggle against capitalism — remains a deep infection immobilising those seeking social justice for all, a lesson the advocates of both casually chosen and deeply personal identities seem to have missed.

Support the Morning Star
You have reached the free limit.
Subscribe to continue reading.
Morning Star call for advertising
More from this author
Confetti and flowers are dropped from a military helicopter
Opinion / 1 April 2025
1 April 2025
The transformation of a stable secular state into a fractured ruin largely ruled by Western-backed fundamentalists exposes the hollow nature of ‘multipolarity’ and the absence of principled anti-imperialism today, writes ZOLTAN ZIGEDY
10 - AFL-CIO_Headquarters_by_Matthew_Bisanz
Features / 9 January 2025
9 January 2025
ZOLTAN ZIGEDY reflects on the lessons from two books looking at the US labour movement and the recent history of spontaneous mass uprisings – and finds two pernicious ideologies working against the interests of the people
11 - Trump supprt
Features / 22 November 2024
22 November 2024
ZOLTAN ZIGEDY argues Trump’s victory shows the deep failure of liberal calculations that write off huge swathes of the electorate and mirrors the worldwide rise of right-wing populism amid Establishment collapse
Cringeworthy words in the battle of ideas
OPINION / 31 October 2024
31 October 2024
From ‘middle class’ to ‘microaggressions,’ from ‘fascism’ to ‘terrorism,’ ZOLTAN ZIGEDY makes an anguished cry for us to turn away from the most misused and misleading terms and tropes – or at least use them accurately
Similar stories
IN THE BELLY OF THE BEAST: Thousands of protesters march aga
Opinion / 24 February 2025
24 February 2025
Lenin’s theory of the weakest link shifted the centre of gravity of the proletarian revolution towards peoples’ struggles in the developing world, contrary to the expectation of Marx and Engels. The effect was to hinder the cause of socialism by decades. Time bring it back to its natural home, argues FAWZI IBRAHIM
10 - AFL-CIO_Headquarters_by_Matthew_Bisanz
Features / 9 January 2025
9 January 2025
ZOLTAN ZIGEDY reflects on the lessons from two books looking at the US labour movement and the recent history of spontaneous mass uprisings – and finds two pernicious ideologies working against the interests of the people
Lenin
Features / 3 November 2024
3 November 2024
SAM BROWSE examines how Lenin’s analysis remains relevant for confronting modern challenges of inequality, climate change and rising fascism ahead of an important discussion with the acclaimed historian and activist Paul le Blanc
Lenin
Features / 1 July 2024
1 July 2024
100 years on from his death, the great revolutionary leader’s thinking is extra relevant to today’s time of economic and climate crises, combined with a relentless drive to war, says LOGAN WILLIAMS