Articles by: Stephen Shenfield

The heat to come

The heat to come

All the signs are that this summer will break all existing records for heatwaves. It is only the middle of June, and yet large parts of the world are already registering temperatures that in the past were not reached until the height of the season. The US weather map for June 16 shows almost the whole South and Southwest and[Read More…]

by 18/06/2022 1 comment Climate Change
Is Mars Planet B?

Is Mars Planet B?

There is no Planet B. For most people that is obvious. No proof is required. I just examined a book and a website, both entitled There Is No Planet B. Neither contained any arguments to change the minds of those who believe that there is a Planet B. Because such people do exist. They say that to ensure its survival[Read More…]

by 19/04/2022 Comments are Disabled World
Ukraine: Who is to blame? Кто виноват?

Ukraine: Who is to blame? Кто виноват?

For people in Ukraine, the horror is just beginning. Hiding from bombardment in their basements, they will soon face hunger and then epidemics… And above them, on the streets – explosions, fire, the thunder of tanks, the whistle of bullets, the debris of fallen buildings, the cries of the wounded and dying, the foul smell of unburied corpses. But who[Read More…]

by 02/03/2022 1 comment World
Ukrainian servicemen from the 25th Air Assault Battalion are seen stationed in Avdiivka, Ukraine on January 24, 2022. (Photo: Wolfgang Schwan/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)

War beckons in Ukraine

Much is unclear about the situation in and around Ukraine. Does Putin really intend to invade all or part of Ukraine? Or is the buildup of Russian troops along Ukraine’s eastern and northern border, in Belarus as well as southern Russia, merely a means to exert pressure, demonstrate resolve, and win a few concessions from the West? Is the confrontation[Read More…]

by 30/01/2022 Comments are Disabled World
Uprising in Kazakhstan

Uprising in Kazakhstan

The latest wave of protests began in Janaozen (sometimes spelled Zhanaozen), an oil town in western Kazakhstan. It was here that police shot down unarmed strikers in December 2011. Ten years later, the oilmen again struck for higher wages, better working conditions and the right to organize. The immediate triggers were the layoff in December of 40,000 workers by the[Read More…]

by 18/01/2022 Comments are Disabled World
Trump’s ‘blue-collar’ image

Trump’s ‘blue-collar’ image

Donald Trump still struts on the American political scene. It seems probable that he will stand again for president in 2024. Here I consider one important aspect of his popular appeal – his ‘blue-collar’ image.   In 2018 a book appeared entitled Trump, The Blue-Collar President. The author, financier Anthony Scaramucci, who served as the White House Director of Communications[Read More…]

by 26/12/2021 Comments are Disabled World
Captives of Coca-Cola

Captives of Coca-Cola

In July 2018 the attention of The New York Times and then Esquire magazine was somehow drawn to a mountain town in southern Mexico and the truly remarkable amount of Coca-Cola drunk by its residents. The British Broadcasting Corporation has produced a documentary on the same topic. The town is San Cristobal, in the Central Highlands of Chiapas, Mexico’s poorest[Read More…]

by 15/10/2021 1 comment Globalisation
Unequal before the law

Unequal before the law

The founders of the US Constitution accepted social inequality in many spheres, but they did insist on equality in one sphere. All citizens must be equal before the law. That is, the law must apply equally to all. No one must enjoy legal immunity, not even – indeed, especially not — those chosen to govern the country. For otherwise the new[Read More…]

by 29/01/2021 Comments are Disabled World
Belarus Protests: Where Is It Heading

Belarus Protests: Where Is It Heading

An interview conducted by Stephen Shenfield of the World Socialist Party of the United States with Dmitry Kosmachev, a member of the Minsk Socialist Circle, about the situation in Belarus, the current protests, and where they may lead. Stephen Shenfield: In the 1990s I made visits to five of the new post-Soviet republics – Russia, Ukraine, Belarus, Georgia, Kazakhstan. I[Read More…]

by 15/11/2020 Comments are Disabled World
The myth of the American middle class

The myth of the American middle class

When ‘mainstream’ politicians and media pundits talk about the structure of American society, they focus mainly on a vaguely defined group called ‘the middle class.’ The middle class is considered the mainstay of society, a bulwark of social stability and cohesion. Indeed, the middle class is the symbolic representative of the whole society. The ‘typical Americans’ of TV sitcoms are[Read More…]

by 07/09/2020 Comments are Disabled Life/Philosophy