Episode 32 - The Party Line on why capitalism needs war and empire

We had a request for more socialist theory, so this ep delivers some classic marxist content in classic party line style (which is not very theoretical). The concept of imperialism has been widely discussed following Israel’s genocide in Gaza and the more recent US-Israeli assault on Iran and Lebanon. We argued last week that it wasn’t about Trump’s foibles, still less Epstein files, but about profit, power and empire. This week we unpack why countries go to war, what tools they use to compete, how it evolves directly from capitalist competition in the marketplace, and why only socialism can end war for good. We also take a look at why tankies and stalinists are wrong to defend bourgeois dictatorships that happen to be opposed to the US for whatever reason (looking at Russia, China, Iran, etc here). Shout out to the PSL and the FRSP in the US for being some of the most toxic propagators of this reactionary theory that is unfortunately spreading across the world at this moment.  

Readings:

Understanding war: Lenin’s 'Imperialism: The Highest Stage of Capitalism'

Lenin and Bukharin
 on imperialism 

Huge thanks to our tireless editors Charlie Wardrop and Persephone Waxman, and our content editor Charlotte Tavan.

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This is a podcast by members of the Socialist Party in Naarm (Melbourne). We hope to bring a radical perspective to a podcast landscape dominated by insipid liberalism (looking at you, The Daily). The pod will come out weekly, and aims to breakdown news and current events from a socialist point of view. While a lot of what’s going on in the world is fairly bleak, The Party Line will try and highlight voices of resistance and struggle.

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