In Defence of Marxism

Marxist.com supporters from Edinburgh as well as Glasgow, London, Cambridge, Birmingham, Newcastle, Cambridge and Liverpool joined protesters at the Make Poverty History march today. Their aim was to put forward the ideas of Marxism as the way to end capitalism – the real cause of poverty nowadays. They did not attend the demonstration with empty hands but with a sizeable arsenal of Socialist literature. In spite of all the attempts on the part of the organisers to keep the demonstration free from any kind of politics a lot of people showed interest in the material that was on display. One of the most striking examples was a ten-year-old boy who came along to the stall with his mum and bought two pamphlets by Lenin and a copy of the Marxist monthly Socialist Appeal. His mum reckoned that this hobby cost her "a fortune" in books. He has not been the only young person to approach the stall. Yet, he was the youngest. Tens of trade unionists have also bought our books as well and chatted with our people about different issues including the war in Iraq, trade unions and the Labour Party, and the revolution in Latin America. Some local supporters had the initiative to sell rolls to hungry demonstrators to raise finances for the Fighting Fund.

Several books written by Trotsky, Lenin and Marx were sold as well as some authored by the editor of this website, Alan Woods, and also Ted Grant. 130 copies of the Marxist monthly Socialist Appeal were also sold. Today's demonstration showed again that far from being dead – as the pundits of capitalism want us to think – the ideas of revolutionary Socialism are more alive than ever.