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February
15, 2003 saw the biggest anti-war and anti-imperialist movement
in world history. As many as 15 million people marched in
more than 600 cities against the war. It was unprecedented
as a one-day, coordinated, international mass mobilization.
The
mass movement did not stop the war. But it did have a huge
impact. In Canada – with 250,000 on the streets of
Montreal, 80,000 in Toronto and tens of thousands more across
the country – the mass mobilization forced the Liberal
government to, reluctantly, refuse to openly back Bush's
war.
It
was a fantastic achievement to keep Canada from openly backing
the US. But when the US thanked its friends for supporting
the war, Canada was near the top! So desperate are the Liberals
to cozy up to George Bush, that in spite of massive anti-war
sentiment at home, they ponied up ships for the Persian
Gulf, and sent troops to Afghanistan to free up US troops
for use in the war on Iraq.
The
10,000 Iraqis and 600 coalition soldiers who had died as
of the end of 2003 did not die to bring Iraq freedom. They
died for oil, corporate profit and imperial power. The US
– the world's biggest recovery – has seen massive
job losses since the end of the 1990s. That job crisis is
now heading north. The bankruptcy of Stelco shows that thousands
of jobs are on the line.
War
and economic crisis are linked. In a world run by the corporations,
the only "solution" to economic difficulties is
to pry open new markets or protect new ones by force of
arms. This "solution" puts the lives of milions
at risk.
Socialists
have another solution. We need to rid the world of the private
pursuit of profit which is leading to crisis, wars and repression.
We need to replace it with a world run by workers and the
poor – on the basis of the greatest possible democracy.
We need socialism from below.
To
get there we will need to support every struggle against
war, every struggle for jobs – and fight against the
oppression which divides workers one from the other. There
can be no socialism without women's liberation, no socialism
without a war against racism, no socialism without full
equality for lesbians and gay men. There can be no socialism
without respect for the rights of oppressed nations. Palestine's
fight for freedom, the fight for self-determination of First
Nations, the long fight of the Québécois for
national rights – these are all central to the struggle
for socialism.
This
site is an introduction to the International Socailists
(IS). It is only a reflection of what we do on the ground.
As a revolutionary organization we organize activity up
and down the country. Whether it is raising solidarity for
workers on strike, building campaigns against racism, or
organizing local meetings to address current political issues,
you will find details here.
The
real battle for ideas and the living struggle for socialism
does not take place on the internet but in the lives and
experience of workers - why not get organized in that fight
and join us today?
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