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by Yanis Iqbal
Writer, Dandelion Salad
Aligarh, India
August 7, 2022
“Every state in which private ownership of the land and means of production exists, in which capital dominates, however democratic it may be, is a capitalist state, a machine used by the capitalists to keep the working class and the poor peasants in subjection.” — Vladimir I. Lenin
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by Yanis Iqbal
Writer, Dandelion Salad
Aligarh, India
May 15, 2022
The contemporary neoliberal system is fundamentally unjust. It is filled with blood-sucking billionaires whose entire existence of grotesque opulence is structurally predicated on the continual exploitation of the working class – a powerful force in whose hands lie the productive powers of humanity.
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by Yanis Iqbal
Writer, Dandelion Salad
Aligarh, India
Originally published May 4, 2021
May 1, 2022
In 1889, Clara Zetkin wrote: “Wherever busy folk are drudging under the yoke of capitalism, the organised working men and women will demonstrate on May Day for the idea of their social emancipation.” In today’s world, the murderous claws of oppression have dug deeper into the flesh of humanity. The globalization of capital, establishment of post-Fordist economic arrangements of flexible specialization, financialization of the accumulation process and neo-colonial strangulation of the Global South have led to a barbaric situation. Amid this generalized chaos, May 1 acts as a blazing streak, inviting the wretched of the earth to reflect intensively on their own history of joy, tenacious resistance, collective courage and strong solidarity.
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by Yanis Iqbal
Writer, Dandelion Salad
Aligarh, India
March 27, 2022
On March 21, 2022, Gilbert Achcar – a Professor at SOAS University of London – published a note on the Russia-Ukraine conflict, openly wishing for a North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) victory. He enthusiastically expressed his support for Western arms deliveries to Ukraine and Western sanctions against Russia, which not only impact the well-being of the Russian people by blocking access to imported items but also plunder economic resources via the seizure of assets belonging to the sanctioned country. Achcar explained his full-blown pro-NATO advocacy by making vague references to “Russian imperialism”, which he considers to be worse than Western imperialism. Again, this judgement, too, is left unexplained; it is only garnished with a useless analogy pompously proclaiming the West’s “vassalization” of Ukraine to be “incomparably preferable” to Russia’s “enserfment” of the country.
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by Yanis Iqbal
Writer, Dandelion Salad
Aligarh, India
February 12, 2022
Under the neoliberal accumulation regime, a shift takes place in the internal dynamics of the educational system. Insofar as public education is either privatized or forced to operate along competitive lines through budgetary cuts, not only does the labour power of those who are the products of the education system remain a commodity, but also the knowledge itself that goes into the production of this commodity becomes a commodity. Education becomes, in other words, a process for the production of a commodity (the labour-power of those who receive education) by means of a commodity (the knowledge they receive).
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by Yanis Iqbal
Writer, Dandelion Salad
Aligarh, India
January 12, 2022
Under neoliberal capitalism, the commodification of education has accelerated. Before the establishment of the current accumulation regime, the educational sector was predominantly controlled by an interventionist state, committed to countercyclical macroeconomic management. The labour process of teaching within a state-owned domain followed the general pattern of any other production process. According to Michael Heinrich, such a general form – which is independent of any social determinations – comprises a distinction “among functional activity (labour), the object of labour (which is modified by labour), and the means of labour (the tools with which this process of modification is made possible) as elements of the labour process.”
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by Yanis Iqbal
Writer, Dandelion Salad
Aligarh, India
August 3, 2021
Capitalism is deeply unjust. It is a system under which labour power has itself become a commodity and is bought and sold on the market like any other object of exchange. A condition of neo-slavery like this has been historically presupposed by the concentration of ownership of means of production in the hands of a minority class and the consequent emergence of a propertyless class for whom the sale of their power has been their only source of livelihood.
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by Yanis Iqbal
Writer, Dandelion Salad
Aligarh, India
July 15, 2021
Since June 11, 2021, protests have been taking place in Cuba. USA’s imperialist Mafiosos have laid their vulturine eyes on these events, sensationalizing the demonstrations as evidences of the Cuban people’s disillusionment with their revolutionary government. Jake Sullivan, the US national security advisor, was quick to pose as a full-blown freedom fighter, saying: “The U.S. supports freedom of expression and assembly across Cuba, and would strongly condemn any violence or targeting of peaceful protesters who are exercising their universal rights.”
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by Yanis Iqbal
Writer, Dandelion Salad
Aligarh, India
July 12, 2021
The 1697 Treaty of Ryswick legalized French control over the western third of the island of Hispaniola – a Spanish asset – under the name of Saint-Domingue. The colony proved to be a valuable spigot of wealth. In 1789, Saint-Domingue supplied two-thirds of the overseas trade of France and was the greatest individual market for the European slave trade. It was a greater source of income for its owners than the whole of Britain’s thirteen North American colonies combined. The labour of half-a-million slaves propped up the dazzling opulence of the French commercial bourgeoisie, and formed the hidden foundations of cities like Bordeaux, Nantes, and Marseille. In August 1791, after two years of the French Revolution and its ripple effects in Saint-Domingue, the slaves revolted.
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by Yanis Iqbal
Writer, Dandelion Salad
Aligarh, India
June 14, 2021
The 2021 summit of the Group of Seven (G7) – lasting from June 11 to 13 – was held at Cornwall, a south-west England holiday destination. Bland globalism and insipid liberalism dominated the agenda on both pandemic and climate change. “Carbis Bay Declaration”– intended as a statement on the health situation – asserted that the “G7 is uniquely well-placed to lead global efforts in pandemic prevention – the group is home to two-thirds of the world’s pharmaceutical market and the four coronavirus vaccines licensed for use in the UK were all developed in G7 nations (the UK, US and Germany).” The concentration of medical resources in a few rich nations is not a thing to be proud of. In fact, this monopolist pattern has manifested itself in vaccine imperialism – the unequal distribution of COVID-19 vaccines on economic lines. Instead of facilitating a substantive dialogue over the suspension of intellectual property rights related to COVID-19, G7 nations have been content to make measly donation pledges, treating the poorer nations as passive subjects of philanthropy.
Image by Tysasi via Flickr
by Yanis Iqbal
Writer, Dandelion Salad
Aligarh, India
May 4, 2021
In 1889, Clara Zetkin wrote: “Wherever busy folk are drudging under the yoke of capitalism, the organised working men and women will demonstrate on May Day for the idea of their social emancipation.” In today’s world, the murderous claws of oppression have dug deeper into the flesh of humanity. The globalization of capital, establishment of post-Fordist economic arrangements of flexible specialization, financialization of the accumulation process and neo-colonial strangulation of the Global South have led to a barbaric situation. Amid this generalized chaos, May 1 acts as a blazing streak, inviting the wretched of the earth to reflect intensively on their own history of joy, tenacious resistance, collective courage and strong solidarity.
Screenshot by Dandelion Salad via Flickr
by Yanis Iqbal
Writer, Dandelion Salad
Aligarh, India
March 29, 2021
On 27 March, 2021, US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken released a press statement wherein he said:
“The United States is deeply concerned by growing signs of anti-democratic behavior and the politicization of the legal system in Bolivia in light of the recent arrest and pre-trial imprisonment of former interim government officials.”
Screenshot by Dandelion Salad via Flickr
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by Yanis Iqbal
Writer, Dandelion Salad
Aligarh, India
February 12, 2021
Since January 4, 2021, student protests have been going on in Turkey. At Bogazici University in Istanbul, rectors are elected through free and fair elections by faculties. The only time in the institution’s history when these democratic processes were suspended was in the aftermath of the 1980 coup d’état. In today’s time, it is again being done.
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by Yanis Iqbal
Writer, Dandelion Salad
Aligarh, India
January 13, 2021
Secretary-General of the United Nations (UN) António Guterres tweeted on January 3: “Vaccine nationalism is not only unfair, it is self-defeating. No country will be safe … until all countries are safe.”
Image by Chris Beckett via Flickr
by Yanis Iqbal
Writer, Dandelion Salad
Aligarh, India
January 1, 2021
On 25 December, 2020, Israel bombed Gaza for six continuous hours as much of the world celebrated Christmas. A children’s hospital, a rehabilitation center for people with disabilities, a mosque, as well as private residences, were damaged. A six-year-old girl and a young man were injured, and much of the targeted region lost water and electricity. A fire broke out at the location of the airstrike as the firefighters worked all night to douse the fire in the Israeli assault that took place an hour after midnight.
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