2025 opens in true capitalist fashion with horrific mass fires in Los Angeles in the Palisades, a liberal Prime Minister resigns, and the Tik Tok ban forcing millions of Americans to flee to Red Book where they interact with actual Chinese citizens dispelling many misconceptions the working class of both countries had about each other.

Closing song: "If They Come in the Morning (No Time for Love) by The Men of No Property. 2004 Smithsonian Folkways Recordings / 1977 Paredon Records

The Canadian postal worker strike was busted, the NALC fights on for a VOTE NO campaign, the Amazon workers strike, and 500 Starbucks Stores walk off the job. What a week its been for class struggle and what a way to end 2024! We end off with a discussion on the class nature of Starbucks baristas. Are they proletarian heroes or petty bourgeois parasites? (Spoiler alert they are workers who deserve a union). The ACP once again launched the barista discourse because they hate starbucks workers for some reason and distort Marx to fit their narrow and bigoted worldview.

Audio from Status Coup News https://youtu.be/8103Zq_kBaM?t=1047 Episode cover art (David Ryder / Bloomberg via Getty Images)

https://www.marxistworker.ca/articles/interview-with-steve-wexler

https://www.marxist.ca/article/postal-workers-strike-union-leadership-smothers-defiance

https://labornotes.org/2024/12/amazon-workers-launch-largest-strike-yet-it-doesnt-feel-job-should-be-legal

Assad is an anti-communist murderous horrendous dictator and he has been overthrown by US backed Al-Qaeda and ISIS forces. There is nothing to celebrate. There are no progressive rebel forces in this situation, and things will go from bad to worse in Syria. Everywhere the US sticks its greedy claws things always get worse, to keep the Arab world divided and facilitate US imperialism and must be opposed in every situation.

The main topic of the program is the right wing pearl clutching over the death of UnitedHealth CEO Brian Thompson, and the arrest of suspected killer and thirst trap Luigi Mangione, a man with very confused politics. Nonetheless this killing has inspired a renewed hatred of the US healthcare system, a universal feeling across the divide and ever a reminder of the science of class struggle: not right vs left but the working class against the bourgeoise. This is also an example of the limitations of individual terrorism, it is no substitute for class struggle.

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Interested in joining a reading group? Send us an email at theleftoppositionpodcast@gmail.com

Welcome to newcomer Ben as we cover some international news going on in the last couple of weeks as the president of South Korea institutes marshall law, attempts a coup and is resisted by the working class, followed by Assad's imminent deposition and ousting in Syria followed by Ukraine's inevitable surrender as it remains to be seen if Ukraine will be carved up as world capitalism divides and redivides national boundaries. Lastly we cover assassinated CEO of United Health, and what it means for the working class in the fight for universal healthcare.

Closing folk song by Joe Devito Songs on TikTok

Sources for this week's episode:

https://marxist.com/south-korea-yoon-suk-yeol-s-desperate-martial-law-defeated-within-hours.htm

https://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2024/12/04/bzst-d04.html

https://marxist.com/an-angry-old-man-a-deranged-ukrainian-and-world-war-iii.htm

Revolutionary optimism fills this episode as Aaron visits the picket line of the Canadian Union of Postal Workers, striking for better pay, benefits and pension as their comrades in the US NALC fight to vote NO on a garbage deal on their wages. Solidarity knows no international boundaries as the CUPW workers send their greetings to their brothers, sisters and siblings at the NALC.

Contribute to the picket line pizza fund! Check out our Patreon, subscribe to the Twitch channel, or if you're in Canada listening to this: CUPW picket lines need pizza, coffee, and wood for the burn barrels. Anything helps!

No matter who won this week, Democrat victories and losses are not our losses. The boys take some time to reflect on what the re-election of Donald Trump means and a further reminder of the task of socialists is going forward. If anything this election serves as a confirmation the Democrats are enemies of the working class and we can not rely on them for change. Just know history is full of people with a lot less than what the American working class has, and fought back against gargantuan enemies and prevailed. Never lose hope! We take some time at the end of the episode to check out where Communists did win, with the A"C"P's own renowned deadbeat father and embezzler of socialist orgs Christopher Helali elected to Vermont's Orange County High Bailiff.

Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/c/TheLeftOP/posts

Last episode before the end of democracy! We look at the Young Turks definition of fascism, AOC's comments regarding resistance to fascism, just the usual Dem crap. Alternatively we get into why conservative humor is not only not funny but just generally bad, and we take a blast from the past with a classic Haz clip where he got tricked into a street fight that ended in the most Haz way possible, and we close the program with "Love Me I'm a Liberal!" This coming Tuesday night 730pm EST, November 5th we will be streaming the election LIVE on https://twitch.tv/marxistarchaeologist

It is your support that makes the show possible. Check us out on Patreon https://www.patreon.com/c/TheLeftOP/posts

Love Me, I'm a Liberal (2024 Version by omniahegazy)

https://www.instagram.com/reel/DBtuEQPJTzt/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link

https://firebrand.red/2024/10/everything-you-hate-isnt-fascism/

https://communistusa.org/is-kamala-harris-one-of-us-a-reply-to-shawn-fain/

It's that time folks! Every four years we are told to elect Democrats to prevent GOP from winning, and its the most important election of our lives. The US election is days away and we wanted to explore the options given to us as socialists. Will voting Democrats make it easier to organize the working class and radical politics? What about a 3rd party candidate? Is participating in American democracy even viable or is it a Sisyphean task?

Here are a few articles that caught our eyes

https://independentsocialistgroup.org/2024/09/04/why-the-working-class-should-vote-for-jill-stein-and-cornel-west/

https://socialistworker.org/2016/04/26/elections-and-the-marxist-tradition

https://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2024/10/16/rwry-o16.html

https://communistusa.org/class-war-2024-the-tasks-of-communists-in-the-coming-election/

Don't forget to message us to join our reading group every Tuesday night at 730 EST. This week we are reading Chapter 4 of Lenin's What is to be Done

If we get to 20 patrons Doug will read and review a book by the ACP: "Why We Need American Marxism".

Fixed audio glitch that had 30 seconds of silence near the beginning.