Meeting Sept 20: Socialism and the Fight Against War

Socialism and the Fight Against War
Meeting at Victoria University of Wellington
Friday September 20, 6:30pm
Student Union Building SU218

The renewed threats of war against Iran underscores the fact that 18 years after the United States launched the “war on terror,” the entire world is being dragged into an ever-expanding maelstrom of imperialist violence. The contradictions of the capitalist and nation-state system, which led to two world wars in the twentieth century, have created conditions for another catastrophic war to re-divide the world.

The invasions and interventions organized by US imperialism have devastated Afghanistan, Iraq, Libya, Yemen and Syria. NATO is engaged in a massive rearmament program in preparation for war with Russia. Africa and Latin America are the target of relentless US and European neo-colonial machinations. Border disputes are provoking tensions and clashes in Eastern Europe and the Indian subcontinent. In East Asia, Washington’s economic war and military encirclement of China threatens all-out war between nuclear-armed powers.

The Labour-NZ First-Greens government of Jacinda Ardern, far from opposing war, is strengthening NZ’s alliance with Washington and spending billions to upgrade the military. A campaign against Chinese “interference” is being whipped up in NZ and Australia to justify supporting US militarisation.

In every country, nationalism, anti-immigrant xenophobia, and outright fascist forces are being promoted by the ruling class to pollute the atmosphere in preparation for war. Opposition is being suppressed. Anti-war and socialist voices are increasingly censored online and in the media, and those who expose war crimes, such as Julian Assange and Chelsea Manning, are persecuted.

Young people and workers are profoundly opposed to war, but this finds no reflection in official politics. The IYSSE’s meeting on Friday September 20 will discuss the urgent need for a new anti-war movement, based on socialist principles, to unite the working class throughout the world against the source of war: capitalism. We urge students, and anyone else interested, to attend and join the discussion of this vital issue.

Facebook event: https://www.facebook.com/events/384147775547122/

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