Marx Engels Lenin Institute

Iran Strikes Mossad & The DPRK Changes Course

As Iran strikes back at Mossad following the deadly bomb attacks on Kerman last week we look at the way in which US imperialism has manipulated the Kurdish national question and why the British left falls in line with this.  

We also examine a change in policy towards the US occupied South by the DPRK and what might have caused this.  

Outro music is a DDR patriotic song entitled 'Der Hemliche Aufmarsch'

Gramsci - The Intellectuals - Part 2

This is the second part of our series covering the work of Antonio Gramsci in the collection of his writings from the period of his imprisonment by the Italian Fascist regime.  In this second part of our analysis of his essay 'The Intellectuals' we examine the different ways the intellectual layers of the bourgeoisie had been formed in Britain and Germany. We also consider how Gramsci's analysis of the role played by the intellectuals can be applied to Communist Parties in workers states. 

The Events In Ecuador

In this episode we start off by looking at the recent arrest of my CPGB-ML comrades at the most recent Palestinian solidarity demonstration and how it fits into a much longer story of increasing state repression in imperialist countries.

We then turn to the events that have recently taken place in Ecuador where criminal gangs seized public buildings and staged a jail break for two of their leaders.  In considering this we look at what relationship poverty has with crime, why lumpenisation is used by the ruling class against class conscious workers and why the worst outposts of imperialism are the sites of the most criminality. 

Outro Music is a song of the Ecuadorian Communist guerilla group Fuerzas Armadas Populares Eloy Alfaro.  They were an urban guerilla organisation that carried out armed actions against the Ecuadorian state in the 1980s.

Yemen Will Prevail

As the US imperialists carry out more bombing raids on Yemen we look at how Ansar Allah came to lead the national liberation movement there since the reunification of the country. This leads onto a discussion of why these latest actions by the US will not lead to any kind of victory and only show how impotent the imperialists have become.

We also consider the visit by British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak to Kiev and why the "guarantees" he gave Zelensky are utterly worthless.

Outro music is 'The Fletcher Memorial Home' by Pink Floyd take from 'The Final Cut' album which was the last to feature founding member Roger Waters.

Still Waiting For Utopia

In this episode we look at how many liberals are still desperately hoping for the promised land to emerge. They dream of a system of international relations in which all conflicts will be settled by legal systems and binding contracts with genius statesmen being able to keep this together with their personal charisma and Kennedyesque speeches.  All of this is of course a desire to have capitalism without the chaos, crisis and blood letting that it brings with it. We explore this liberal belief with reference to John Locke, Jean Jacques Rousseau and Jan Smuts.

Outro music for this episode is 'Life During Wartime' by Talking Heads

The German Farmers Revolt

In this episode we examine the recent revolt of farmers in Germany with militancy also breaking out in Poland, Belgium, the Netherlands and France. We discuss how communists should approach these petit bourgeois layers and how we might be able to win some of them over to at least joining some kind of united front with the proletariat. 

Outro music is 'Der Offene Aufmarsch' a song from the German Democratic Republic

Gramsci On The Intellectuals

In this first part of a new series that will be broadcast every Sunday at 20:00 GMT we look at the essay by Antonio Gramsci entitled 'The Intellectuals'.  

In this episode I make the argument that Gramsci is not just offering a critique of the role played intellectuals under capitalism but is offering a new definition of what constitutes an intellectual.  In this we can see that actual essence of Gramsci's project in these notebooks, to consider the question of how best to build proletarian power. 

The Case Of The Fulminating Colonels

As former army officers pop up all over the British bourgeois press demanding the British army engage in Crimean War 2 we ask how possible any of this is.  We examine the numbers game of Britain v Russia before moving on to look at just how manifestly inadequate the British and wider European industrial base is if the ruling class wish to wage a real war against the Russian Federation. 

War and Radical Reconstruction - Interview With Marius Trotter

In this second part of our discussion with American Communist writer Marius Trotter we examine the civil war and reconstruction period. We also discuss the importance of a proper understanding of American revolutionary history for communists in this period. 

Outro Music is 'This Land Is Your Land' performed by Pete Seeger

The Evolution of National Liberation Wars

In this episode we discuss the evolving picture of national liberation wars in West Asia.  Our focus in doing so is on the recent speech given by Hezbollah General Secretary Hasan Nasrallah, the doctrines of General Soleimani and how these have similarities with the writings of Mao.

Outro Music is 'One Of These Days' by Pink Floyd

Eight Decades Of Revisionist Deceptions

In a recent editorial in their daily newspaper the Communist Party of Britain argued (yet again) that workers should vote for the labour party in the upcoming elections this year. In this episode of the programme we examine the sordid history of British revisionism and why it is unable to change a political line that has been proven wrong for decades now.

Outro music is 'Panic' by The Smiths

The Trump Conundrum

Why is the US bourgeois so unable to deal with the Trump phenomenon? In this episode of the programme I present the argument that Trump is merely one manifestation of a deep crisis of legitimacy facing US imperialism. Their inability to deal with this is one aspect of their inability to resolve the underlying crisis of the imperialist system.

Outro music is 'Jokerman' by Bob Dylan

Your Possible Pasts

As 2023 falls away we look at the the defining events from the last year including the Russia-NATO war and why this is still the event around which many others turn.  We also examine the liberation struggle in the Sahel and the Palestinian war of national liberation.  

Musical Outro is The Soviet National Anthem sung by Paul Robeson

Addiction, Alienation and the Death of God

In this programmme we look at Marx's 1843 work where we outlined his critique of religion. From there we proceed into a discussion of how capitalism killed Christianity but never removed the need for religious belief.  This leads into a deliberation on how capitalism promotes addictions as a way to offer people a fake feeling of transcendence.  

Outro Music Is 'The People Of The World Will Surely Be Victorious!" a Chinese Cultural Revolution era song from 1971. 

Once More On Revisionism

We pick up on a question posed by a listener to further explore the nature of revisionism and the differences between the CPSU and CPC in this respect.

In the latter part of the episode we also look at why the US and Europeans are spending a lot of money and producing nothing when it comes to armaments.

Outro Music is 'Crush Deng Xiaoping's Dream of Restoration' performed by the Art Troupe of the Political Department of the Chinese People's Liberation Army Corps of Engineers

Russia Demands The End Of NATO

In this episode I examine the draft treaties submitted by the Russian Federation to the US in December of 2021. By looking at these we can see what the final Russian aim is in this war and it goes far beyond Ukraine. What the Russian government was demanding in 2021 was that the US remove its forces from Eastern Europe and dismantle the military infrastructure of NATO that had been built up after 1997. 

In this epsidoe I make the argument that what the Russians are demanding is that a US leader agree to a capitulation on the same scale as Gorbachev and Yeltsin did between 1989 and 1994.

The other treaty referenced in this episode is the 1997 NATO-Russia treaty

Outro Music Is 'Boundless Longevity to Chairman Mao'

What Did Collapse In 1991?

On our first programme back following being off sick I look at the Soviet collapse of 1991. In doing so I argue that the correct way to view this is to see it as a collapse of an entire revisionist period that began in 1945 and unfolded until the final betrayals of 1991 brought it to a disastrous conclusion. 

Merry Christmas

Seasons greetings to all subscribers and thanks for supporting the work we've been doing over the last year. I'm now back in action so there'll be a special catch up programme on December 26th.

Enjoy the day however you're celebrating it.

Off Sick

I've been hit with the traditional winter flu virus so I'll be put of action for a few days. I'll update on when regular programming will start again.

The End Of The Affair?

As Putin hosts a press conference that lasts for over 4 hours his opponents in Washington fall into ever greater disarray. Zelensky is denied further funding thanks to a stand off between different factions within the US bourgeois political system thus rendering the former actor now redundant.

Outro Music is 'A Hard Rain's A Gonna Fall' performed by Pete Seeger

Self Reinforcing Delusions

As Zelensky heads to Washington we examine the failed assumptions made by the US imperialists and how a certain Michael McFaul is at the centre of a lot of these. We look at why they got things so wrong, how Ukraine was only ever a tool for them and conclude by looking at a question regarding revolutionary tactics in this time.

Outro music is 'Join the British Army' by Luke Kelly

Imperial Propaganda & The Institutional Left

In this episde we explore the way in which the proganda of the US imperialists has shifted over the years since the fall of the USSR.  We pay particular attention to the way in which the messaging of the Trotskyites has been utilised by imperialism. In doing so we look at the cases of Yugoslavia, Georgia, Ukraine and the current war on Palestine. We end the episode by discussing how the protests against the Israeli murder spree could escalate.

Outro music is the Yugoslav military song 'Patrola'

Performer: Ensemble "Lole"  
Year performed: 1982
Composer: Darko Kraljić 

Lyricist: August Putarek 

Putin and Ideas of the Russian Nation

We examine a recent speech given by President Putin where he outlined his vision of Russian statehood. In this we consider the history of Bonapartism, the nature of Putin's rule, the criminality of the Yeltsin period, how US imperialism chronically underestimated Putin and his debt to the very Soviet nationality policy that he spends so much time pretending to hate. 

Outro is 'Song of Shchors' 

Venezuela, Essequibo and US Imperialism

In this edition of the programme we explore the issues around the disputed territory of Essequibo. In doing so we go back to the Spanish colonial period and look at how the British empire created schemed to prevent the emergence of a strong pan-American state.

The maps referenced in the programme are included here as attachments.

Outro music is 'La Hora Del Pueblo' - An anthem of the PSUV

Chaos Reigns!

As Bidens handlers struggle to keep the Ukrainian state afloat and Israel stages a macabre theatre piece we discuss how imperialism is still dangerous.  

Outro music is 'The Future' by Leonard Cohen

Endgame In Ukraine?

Is Zelensky facing the end of his ill fated presidency? Are the US imperialists looking to impose Zaluzhny? These questions become ever more urgent as we see the divisions within the Kiev regime reach crisis point.

Outro is the Palestinian version of 'Bella Ciao'

The Affordability of Imperialism

In this programme I look at the question of whether the US can afford to continue its attempted full spectrum dominace.  I argue that the US imperialists are caught in a deep crisis. They cannot afford to continue on the way they are but they cannot stop without making fundamental, and risky, changes to the US economic model.

Outro music is 'Absolutely Sweet Marie' by Bob Dylan

'Napoleon' Review - Audio Only

This is the audio version of the review of Ridley Scott's 'Napoleon' which went out as a patrons livestream recently. 

Death of a Functionary

In light of the death of Henry Kissinger I devoted the latest livestream to a political obituary of the man. 

As today also saw the death of Shane Macgowan I am using 'Turkish Song Of The Damned' as the outro music.  For some reason it seemed appropriate given the subject matter. 

Discord Server Launched

I've now launched a discord server which we'll be doing live classes on.  The first of these is going to be on Chapter 1 of Franz Fanon's 'The Wretched of the Earth' and has been scheduler for Sunday December 3rd at 22:00. The audio recording of this session will then be placed on patreon for subscribers.