We republish here an interview from Upside Down World with Mark Meinster of the United Electrical Workers union in Chicago which was directly involved in the occupation of the Republic Windows and Doors factory in December. It is significant that the union president in the factory has been politicised and inspired by a visit to Inveval in Venezuela, the factory that was occupied by its workers, later nationalised and is being run under workers' control, and where the Revolutionary Marxist Current plays a leading role.
Barack Obama has been sworn in as America's 44th president. Now that the electoral dust has settled, many are already disappointed with Obama and his cabinet picks. Nonetheless, he enjoys astonishing approval ratings of over 80 percent. But this only means that the reaction to the inevitable disappointment will be that much more explosive.
Less than a week after Obama’s electoral win, and when “change” was still the battle cry of many of his supporters, the Wall Street Journal ran a piece entitled “Obama builds ties to Chicago School.” As many are no doubt aware, the “Chicago School” refers to the notorious Chicago School of Economics, known for touting free markets, so-called “free trade,” and for being fiercely opposed to any democratic oversight of market activities.