BOOK REVIEW-THE PHILOSOPHER IN THE VALLEY

 Written by: Alex M and Duncan B on 31 March 2026

 

Duncan B.

The Philosopher in the Valley. Alex Karp, Palantir and the Rise of the Surveillance State is written by Michael Steinberger, a contributing writer for the New York Times Magazine. The book tells the story of the rise of the software company Palantir and its co-founder and CEO, Alex Karp. 

Palantir Technologies started as a company that specialized in data analytics. Its software could sift through enormous quantities of data to identify connections and trends which human analysts would need days or months to find.

Palantir was started in 2003 by co-founder Peter Thiel in the wake of the Al-Qaeda attacks on the US on September 1, 2001. Thiel believed that Palantir’s purpose was to help the American government combat terrorism. Palantir was partly financed by the CIA’s venture capital arm In-Q-Tel to the tune of $1.25 million. Later, Palantir went on to develop a software programme which met the CIA’s requirements, which they subsequently purchased.

In 2004 Thiel invited Karp to join Palantir, and Karp soon became CEO. He said that Palantir’s mission was to defend the West and liberal democracy.

Prospective employees had to believe in the company’s mission. Anyone who was fussy about helping to kill terrorists or work with the US government had no chance of being hired.

Karp was concerned with the privacy and civil liberties aspects of the surveillance technology that Palantir was building. The problem was that the end users of Palantir’s programmes did not share this commitment. For example, there were cases of Palantir’s programmes being used by police departments to amass vast amounts of information about millions of people, with the risk of racial profiling of coloured people. 

In 2016, Palantir sued the US army for excluding Palantir from submitting a bid to build a new data analysis system for the army. Palantir won the case and gained several contracts from the US military. 

There were allegations that Palantir got these contracts thanks to Peter Thiel’s support for Trump in the 2016 election. Thiel became a strong supporter of Trump and donated $1.25 million to Trump’s election campaign. At that time, Karp was still a Democrat supporter, although later he swung around to support Trump. The US Customs and Immigration Enforcement (ICE) was one of the government departments awarded contracts to Palantir for use of its technology in ICE’s crack-down on alleged illegal immigrants.

Previously, Palantir had not been involved in the development of AI systems, remaining a data analytics company. In 2017 the Pentagon started a programme called Project Maven, which aimed to bring AI and machine learning to the battlefield. Originally, Google was awarded the $10 million contract to build this system. Due to objections by thousands of Google employees, the company pulled out of the contract. Palantir took over the contract and made Project Maven a reality. Maven helped the US provide the Ukraine forces with vital information which allowed them to destroy Russian forces invading Ukraine.

At the start of the Covid pandemic Palantir developed software which the US and other governments used to fight the disease. It enabled governments to bring together all the data necessary to track the spread of the disease, collect data on testing and hospitalization and coordinate the distribution of vaccines and other critical supplies.

This use of Palantir’s systems in the fight against Covid shows that computer technology and AI can benefit humanity. It is the use of Palantir’s programmes by the US government agencies, the US military and by the Israeli government in its war on the people of Palestine that show that in the wrong hands this technology is used to spy on the people and suppress their struggles.

Control must be in the hands of the people, not the likes of Musk, Altman, Bezos, Zuckerberg, Karp, Thiel and the other tech billionaires. 
                                                       *******************
Alex M:

What is really striking when you read biographies such as this one is the hubris that Tech billionaires like Karp almost invariably possess. Along with figures such as Elon Musk, Peter Thiel, Mark Zuckerberg and others, Karp is not lacking in self-regard. Having come from a family which considered themselves ‘progressive’ (his father is Jewish and his mother is African American and they saw themselves as politically liberal in the U.S. sense), Karp continues to identify as ‘progressive’ even though he supported Trump in the last presidential election. In addition, as Duncan B has pointed out above Karp’s supposed progressivism has not stopped him or Palantir actively seeking and gaining contracts with the CIA and the Pentagon among others. Aside from some hand-wringing about privacy, Karp has not been bothered too much about Palantir’s involvement with the U.S. and Israeli militaries and intelligence agencies. He rationalizes this by claiming that Palantir is part of the fight to maintain the values of liberal democracy and the dominance of the West.

As a child, Karp was diagnosed with dyslexia which, with help, he was able to overcome and he became a diligent student. So much so that he completed his undergraduate tertiary studies at Haverford College, majoring in philosophy (hence the title of the book) and then opted to go to Stanford University to complete a graduate Law degree. It was at Stanford in the late 1980s, early 1990s that he met Peter Thiel and established a friendship that would see them re-connect years later. After completing his Law studies at Stanford, Karp decided to do a PhD in Germany having little to no German language skills. Taking an intensive German language course Karp was able to quickly become fluent in German which was necessary because Karp’s PhD thesis not only required him to read German texts, but he also wrote it in German; no mean feat for a non-native speaker of German and one who had had dyslexia early in life. Karp completed his PhD in 2002. His PhD thesis examined the bitterness of many Germans over being held accountable for the Holocaust and being reminded constantly about it. Steinberger states that: “In essence, the dissertation was a study of in-groups, out-groups, and the rhetoric of fascism.” (Steinberger, p.53)

By now Karp was in his mid-thirties and not inclined to pursue a career in academia. He re-connected with Thiel and eventually Thiel offered Karp the position of CEO of his Silicon Valley start-up company Palantir in 2004. What makes this appointment stand out is the fact that Karp has no background in computer science (nor for that matter does Thiel). Karp quickly showed that he was adept at promoting and selling Palantir’s products as well as being renowned for his eccentric manner.

Karp is also abrasive when it comes to excoriating rival big tech companies. As Duncan B pointed out above thousands of Google employees objected to Google’s involvement in Project Maven, causing the company to withdraw from the project in 2018. Palantir stepped in and took up the contract. Karp wrote an op-ed published in the Washington Post in September 2019 taking Google and the rest of Silicon Valley to task for betraying the U.S. military” and by extension, American democracy”. (Steinberger, p.168) 

Palantir’s involvement with Project Maven marks the start of Palantir’s direct engagement with AI. Karp made it clear in a conversation with Steinberger in 2019 that he considered that Project Maven was the Manhattan Project of the 21st century because as with the atomic bomb, “the country that gained a military edge with AI would ‘determine the world order tomorrow’”. (Steinberger, p.169) Karp contrasted the West with China which for Karp and Thiel stands as the very antithesis of so-called Western values and liberal democracy and therefore AI must be used in the military forces of the U.S. and selected allies such as the Israelis, to stave off the challenge coming from China.

Palantir, and by extension Alex Karp and Peter Thiel, represent the moral, political and social bankruptcy that lies at the heart of contemporary U.S imperialism.

Control of software that may be of some benefit to humanity must be wrested from the hands of Tech billionaires, and governments such as those in the United States; the consequences of not doing so will be dire for the world’s working people.

 

Teachers say “Time to fight!”

Written by: Alice M. on 27 March 2026

 

(Photo supplied)

Teachers say "Time to Fight!

With many years of being sold out by Labor governments more teachers and parents know that they must rely on their own united mass struggle on the ground, not on parliamentary parties.

After years of deteriorating pay and working conditions, along with cuts in government spending on public education, 40,000 Victorian state school teachers, education support staff and principals drew a line in the sand and took strike action on 24 March. Over 40,000 withdrew their labour, closing down more than 500 schools across the state.  It was the first teachers’ strike in 13 years and the biggest Australian Education Union (AEU) strike in Victorian history.

In a show of solidarity, over 35,000 defiant AEU members clad in red union T-shirts, rallied outside the Victorian Trades Hall and marched to state parliament, demanding a  35% pay increase over 4 years, improved working conditions and more funding for public education.

After 9 months of phony negotiations with an arrogant state Labor government offering a miserable 17% pay increase over 3 years with no improvement in working conditions, AEU Victorian Branch members said they’d had enough, with 98% voting members supporting protected strike action.

Victoria already has the lowest funded state school funding and the lowest paid teachers nationally.  Victorian state schools are chronically underfunded and understaffed. The state governments’ 17% pay increase offer will worsen the existing chronic staffing and workload crisis in the state school system with teachers leaving in droves.  The rising cost of living crisis and worsening working conditions will drive even more teachers out of state schools and out of teaching which they love.

In 2022 union leadership agreed to a measly 2% pay increase which led to over 1,000 members resigning from the union in protest.  In 2023 teachers and parents were further outraged to learn that the Labor government secretly cut $2.4 billion from state schools funding.

Teachers mobilising for the fight 
In 2024 AEU members voted in new leadership promising industrial action, including strikes.  The new union leadership began engaging members in drafting their next log of claims (EBA), and mobilising members to fight for better pay, conditions and proper funding for public education.  The new leadership took the teachers’ campaign to parents and communities, forging broader alliances.

Many former members rejoined the union and more teachers joined for the first time. In some schools AEU membership grew to 100%.  In many schools, in the weeks before the strike, thousands of AEU members wore their union T-shirts.

The state Labor government, used to dealing with a compliant union and smugly taking for granted teachers’ dedication to public education, the strike announcement sent them into panic.  The government called on retired and casual teachers to scab on their fellow teachers.  It tried to sow divisions amongst AEU members by offering lower pay to education support staff, and tried to divide and antagonise the wider community against striking AEU members.

But the Labor government’s attempts to isolate and divide striking workers and weaken their union only backfired.  Instead, their divisive tactics galvanised solidarity between teachers and education support staff, and strengthened community support for the striking teachers and their union.   Parents Victoria, the state’s peak parents’ organisation came out in support of the strike, saying it supported “the principle behind the strike”, and that the Victorian state teachers’ relatively low wages was a serious threat to quality education in government schools. 

After years of acquiescing to the Labor government, more teachers and the union are angry, feeling betrayed and used by Labor.

Teachers and parents unite
This time the union mobilised its members and engaged more broadly with the community in a common fight for better pay and conditions for teachers, and better funding for state schools.

Justin Mullaly, the newly elected President of AEU Victoria, told members, “There is a strong sense that we need to fight the Labor government, that there can’t be any cosy settlements, and that we will fight them just as hard as we will fight a Liberal government.”

The Labor government’s only ally was the bosses’ Australian Industry Group Victoria complaining and threatening that the strike would keep parents away from work and disrupt $billions profit making for the bosses.

At the core of this struggle is the clash between the needs and demands of working people and the capitalist ruling class.   Under capitalism public education is always underfunded. Capitalism funds public education only as far as it requires minimally educated and obedient working class in the production and extraction of profit, an education system that maintains the power of the profiteering capitalist class. On the other side are teachers, students and working class parents fighting for public education that prioritises the needs of working people for secure livelihoods, and empowers the people as agents of change for a better world, an education system that nurtures the builders of a society that looks after the people and the environment.

Just like the LNP, the ALP is a party of capitalism serving the needs of monopoly capitalism. In a socialist society, run by workers and working people, the education system will serve the collective wellbeing of all working people.

The magnificent strike by AEU members relying on the combined power of their own and community strength has inspired many. 

 

The Ever-Increasing Foreign Ownership of Australian Agriculture

Written by: Duncan B. on 22 March 2026

 

The foreign takeover of Australia’s farmland, water and the supply chain linking farmers to consumers continues.

The Register of Foreign Ownership of Australian Assets report for 2024-25 shows that the total area of land in Australia with a component of foreign control increased in the past year from 49.12 million to 50.26 hectares as at June 30 last year. This is an increase from 12.7% of foreign-controlled land in 2023-24 to 13% in 2024-25. (Much of the land controlled by foreign interests is land leased from state or territory governments.)

The Northern Territory has the highest proportion of foreign-controlled land with 14.75 million ha or 27.8%. Tasmania comes next with 362,000 ha or 24%. The UK, China, Canada and the US are the four biggest holders of land in Australia, although Canada has the biggest share of investments in Australian agriculture measured by value.

The story is the same with water. Foreign ownership of Australian water entitlements in 2024-25 increased to over 5000GL, about 13% of the total. Canada, the US, the UK and China are the four biggest holders of Australian water, with Canada controlling 1066GL.

The supply chain which moves agricultural products from the farm gate to the consumer is also heavily foreign dominated. The dairy processing industry recently saw even greater concentration of ownership in foreign hands with the sale by New Zealand processor Fonterra of its Australian operations to French-owned Lactalis.

This leaves Lactalis and the Canadian-owned Saputo as the two major foreign players in Australian dairy processing. Bega, Norco and Bulla, plus some smaller operators are still Australian-owned.

The meat industry in Australia is dominated by Brazilian-owned JBS, and Teys Australia which is owned by the US company Cargill. Other foreign-owned companies are Chinese-owned Kilcoy Global Foods, Japan-owned NH Foods Australia, Bindaree Food Group which is 51% Hong Kong owned and Minerva Foods Australia/Australian Lamb Company which is a joint venture between Brazil-owned Minerva and the Saudi Agriculture and Livestock Investment Company.

JBS and Cargill also control a large slice of Australia’s beef feedlots where cattle are fed on grain instead of grazing in paddocks. JBS leases extensive feedlot operations from Australian company Rural Funds Group. Teys Australia has its own feedlots in Victoria, New South Wales and Queensland. The Japanese company NH Foods Australia also has its own feedlots in Australia. Having their own feedlots enables the meat companies to secure their supply of cattle, manage risk and tighten their hold on the market through vertical integration.

Other foreign companies have interests in various areas of Australian agriculture such as Canadian-owned PSP’s investments in cotton farms and the cotton gins where the cotton is processed.

Australian workers, whether in the cities or the country, and farmers must unite to oppose the continuing take-over of Australia’s agriculture by foreign companies.

Learn from the revolutionary spirit of Comrade Zheng Huilu

 Written by: Xiang Guanqi on 22 March 2026

 

(Comrade Zhang Huilu - photo supplied)

We have received news of the death of a respected Chinese proletarian revolutionary, Comrade Zheng Huilu, and have sent his comrades our condolences. We provide a brief introduction to Comrade Zheng and the keynote speech at his memorial service by Comrade Xiang Guanqi – eds.

 

Brief Introduction of Comrade Zheng Huilu

Comrade Zheng Huilu was born in 1956. He was a worker at the Luoyang Mining Machinery Plant. The Luoyang Mining Machinery Plant was one of the 156 key industrial and mining projects during China's First Five-Year Plan. During the arduous pioneering years, Comrade Zheng Huilu worked tirelessly on the front lines of production, innovating production techniques alongside his fellow workers, and was repeatedly awarded the title of "Model Worker." He was laid off during the privatization reforms of state-owned enterprises in the 1990s, losing his worker status and all sources of income. Comrade Zheng Huilu long propagated Marxism-Leninism-Maoism, promoted the superiority of socialist public ownership, and led workers in a resolute struggle against the traitorous clique of revisionism with Chinese characteristics. He was detained and sentenced by the authorities multiple times. Due to a lack of income, Comrade Zheng Huilu suffered from illness without effective treatment. He persisted in the struggle despite his illness for a long time, his health deteriorated, and he passed away on the evening of March 9, 2026, at the age of 70.

Comrade Xiang Guanqi's speech

Today, March 18th, is the day the heroes of the Paris Commune bravely seized power through an armed uprising. This day was designated a revolutionary holiday for the proletariat during the lifetime of Marx and Engels. Every year on this day, workers around the world take to the streets to commemorate the revolutionary martyrs, learn from them, and declare to the old capitalist world that although the heroes of the Paris Commune have fallen, the revolutionary cause of the proletariat has not fallen, and the sons and daughters of the Paris Commune heroes will inherit the revolutionary principles of the Paris Commune and carry the proletarian communist revolution through to the end.

Where there is struggle, there will be sacrifice; the fruits of revolutionary victory have always been nurtured and cultivated by the blood of martyrs. Since the Paris Commune, for over a century, countless heroic sons and daughters of the proletariat have sacrificed their lives for the happiness of future generations, both during the revolutionary journey and amidst gunfire. They fell bravely, but it was their sacrifice that brought about social progress. Therefore, they deserve to be forever remembered and commemorated by the living. Today, another dear comrade and comrade-in-arms has fallen—Comrade Zheng Huilu.

Comrade Zheng Huilu has passed away forever. Today, we bid farewell to Comrade Huilu with heavy hearts.

In his famous speech "Serve the People" in remembrance of Comrade Zhang Side, Chairman Mao said, "Everyone must die, but the meaning of death varies. The ancient Chinese writer Sima Qian said, 'Death is inevitable for everyone, but its weight can be heavier than Mount Tai or lighter than a feather.' To die for the people's interests is heavier than Mount Tai; to die for the fascists, for those who exploit and oppress the people, is lighter than a feather. Comrade Zhang Side died for the people's interests; his death is heavier than Mount Tai." (Selected Works of Mao Zedong, Vol. 3, p. 954.) Chairman Mao's words can be applied to all revolutionary martyrs, and today, they can also be fully applied to Comrade Zheng Huilu. Comrade Zheng Huilu died for the people's interests; his death is heavier than Mount Tai.

Moreover, we should also recognize that Comrade Zheng Huilu was a new hero of the times, emerging in a new historical era and a new class struggle. As we have witnessed firsthand, Comrade Zheng Huilu stepped forward and fought and sacrificed for the people's interests under the even more arduous and difficult historical conditions of revisionism coming to power, capitalist restoration, and the implementation of a fascist bourgeois dictatorship. This makes his sacrifice all the more commendable and further highlights his nobility and greatness!

Comrade Zheng Huilu was Chairman Mao's loyal and outstanding student and fighter! He was a shining representative of the contemporary Chinese working class! He was a shining representative of the true Communists of contemporary China! He was a shining representative of the proletarian revolutionary fighters who bravely devoted themselves to the socialist re-revolution in contemporary China!

For 50 years since revisionism came to power, Comrade Zheng Huilu has fought for 50 years. Whether at the Luoyang Mining Machinery Plant, at Zhouwangcheng Square in Luoyang, or throughout the country, wherever there was struggle, there was Comrade Zheng Huilu. I was fortunate enough to fight alongside Comrade Huilu. He was ill and poor, but he always fought bravely on the front lines. This moved us all and became a role model for us all.

At this moment, as Comrade Zheng Huilu departs from us forever, we feel even more deeply that we must learn from and inherit his revolutionary spirit. Revolution, any revolution, especially a proletarian socialist revolution, always unfolds in the form of a mass movement. Without a mass movement, there is no revolution; and to unleash the revolutionary storm of a mass movement, it requires the masses to rise up and take revolutionary action. Merely talking and being a mere armchair revolutionary will not ignite a mass revolutionary movement. The Internationale sings "Arise!", the National Anthem sings "Arise!", and Chairman Mao taught us that rebellion is justified. Once the masses rise up, things become easier. All of this repeatedly affirms the truth of the proletarian socialist revolution. Comrade Zheng Huilu is a shining example standing before our broad masses of working people, a shining example of someone who devoted himself to the struggle against revisionism and restoration through concrete actions! Everyone often recites a quote from our revolutionary mentor: "Without revolutionary theory, there will be no revolutionary movement." However, let us not forget that revolutionary theory alone is still insufficient for a revolutionary movement. Only when the masses grasp revolutionary theory and are determined to put it into practice will there be a revolutionary movement. The exemplary significance of Comrade Zheng Huilu lies precisely here. Comrade Zheng Huilu had faith and theory, but more importantly, he never detached himself from the real struggle, always devoting himself wholeheartedly and selflessly to it. He consistently followed Chairman Mao's instructions, taking class struggle and the struggle over the political line as the guiding principles, drawing a clear line between himself and the "saving and protecting" faction that "only opposed corrupt officials, not the emperor," and bravely standing on the front line of class struggle. Therefore, he suffered the most severe persecution under the fascist dictatorship! He fought to his last breath in poverty and illness. As we mourn Comrade Zheng Huilu today, the most important and unforgettable thing is to learn from and inherit his spirit of truly engaging in class struggle, striving to launch a revolutionary storm across the country as soon as possible against the bureaucratic monopoly capitalism that practices fascist bourgeois dictatorship. Following Chairman Mao's line and strategy, we must bombard the bourgeois headquarters, seize back the power usurped by the bourgeoisie within the Party, and comfort Chairman Mao and the revolutionary martyrs, including Comrade Zheng Huilu, with the great victory of the Chinese socialist re-revolution.

Comrade Zheng Huilu left us with a tragic heart, not living to see the day of victory. As his comrades and comrades-in-arms, while deeply mourning him, we must seriously consider how we should take the red flag of revolution from his hands and continue the struggle. Moreover, we must first consider why, for so long, we have not been able to defeat the bureaucratic monopoly capitalism that practices fascist bourgeois dictatorship, or even achieve a large-scale victory across the country.

Workers' struggles in Australia intensify - make the rich pay

Written by: Ned K. on 20 March 2026

 

(Two days after this was taken and diesel is up to $3 per litre.  Photo supplied)

The US imperialist war of aggression in the Middle East is impacting on workers' lives in Australia. The most obvious impact is the rising price of fuel which in turn is leading to rising prices of everyday goods. 

The Reserve Bank chipped in by lifting interest rates to 4.1% which the big four Banks seized as an opportunity for squeezing workers even more by raising their interest rates to about 6.5%. 

The Albanese Government’s automatic reaction to support Trump's war on Iran is coming back to bite them, with Treasurer Chalmers telegraphing a tough budget (for working people) in May and language similar to Keating's "the recession we had to have".

Alarm bells are ringing in the ACTU as they realize that to maintain credibility with union members, they will have to put up a show at the Fair Work Commission for an "above inflation" wage rise at the National Wage Case held in April- May. The ACTU have put out an online request for union members to express their view about the need for an "above inflation" wage rise to apply in minimum rates Awards from 1 July 2026.

Workers who are employed under Enterprise Agreements continue to use the very limited "protected industrial action" provisions of the Fair Work Act to win real wage increases. In recent weeks this has included strike action by hundreds of Casino workers at Crown Casino and action by Queensland public sector workers against attempts by the Queensland Government to cut wages.

In the pipeline, workers in dairy food manufacturing are getting organized to protect and extend incomes by aligning Enterprise Agreement expiring dates so they can unite as an industry through a multi-employer agreement. BHP workers most of whom are FIFO workers will be "greeting" the new BHP CEO with united action to ensure real wage increases.

The working class will always find a way to resist attempts by imperialism and its parliamentary governments to make workers take a hit for imperialism's economic crises exacerbated by imperialist wars. 

 

ICOR Statement: The U.S.’s Murderous Oil Embargo Against Cuba

Written by: ICOR on 20 March 2026

 

(Cubans rally to defend national sovereignty.   Source: Granma)

Even as revolutionaries around the world are currently focused on monitoring and fighting the bloody war of aggression waged by the U.S. and Israel against Iran, they must not lose sight of the grave situation in Cuba. 

Through a Trump executive order, the U.S. has imposed a total blockade on oil supplies and is threatening any country that attempts to supply oil to Cuba with heavy punitive tariffs.

 

This provocation continues the long history of aggression and blockades that U.S. imperialism has waged since the victory of the revolution in 1959. But now this has been formalized within the framework of the National Security Strategy with the “Trump Corollary”, immediately following its announcement in the criminal attack on Venezuela on January 3. It resulted in more than 100 deaths and the kidnapping of President Nicolás Maduro and his wife, Congresswoman Cilia Flores.

 

This attack has blockaded Venezuela and placed its oil under imperialist control, preventing it from continuing supplies to Cuba.

 

U.S. imperialism under the government of the fascist Trump is shifting from a trade war to what it calls “enforcing peace through violence.” In doing so, it intervenes in sovereign states and ultimately intensifies the oppression of peoples and threatens them, particularly in Latin America and the Caribbean, which it regards as a key region in the struggle for supremacy with China. Conflicts and flashpoints are increasing worldwide. This is part of the intensification of inter-imperialist contradictions in the struggle for hegemony. Capitalism, in its imperialist stage, can no longer exist without aggression and war.

In light of this grave situation of new restrictions that Cuba is facing—which have already led to a humanitarian crisis affecting not only production and transportation but also the health of the population—the greatest active solidarity from the international working class and the peoples of the world is required.

 

For we are confronting fascism in the U.S. itself and in an increasing number of countries, and the dangers of a new world war are intensifying.

 

Long live internationalist solidarity!

The Cuban people are not alone!

Yankees out of Latin America and the Middle East!

No to fascism and No to imperialist war!

Against capitalist-imperialist barbarism—let us intensify the struggle for socialism!

 

An addendum to the Monroe Doctrine, which states that the U.S. will prevent non-hemispheric competitors—particularly China and Russia—from owning or controlling strategically significant assets such as ports, telecommunications networks, energy facilities, raw materials, and resources in the Western Hemisphere.

 

Status of the signatories 19.03.2026. Further signatures possible. Current list of signatories at www.icor.info:

1. PCPCI   Parti Communiste Proletarien de Côte d'Ivoire (Proletarian Communist Party of Ivory Coast)

2. ORC   Organisation Révolutionnaire du Congo (Revolutionary Organization of Congo), Democratic Republic of the Congo

3. UPC-Manidem   Union des Populations du Cameroun - Manifeste National pour l’Instauration de la Démocratie (Union of Populations of Cameroon - National Manifesto for the Establishment of Democracy)

4. CPSA (ML)   Communist Party of South Africa (Marxist-Leninist)

5. PCT   Parti Comuniste du Togo (Communist Party of Togo)

6. NCP (Mashal)   Nepal Communist Party (Mashal)

7. RUFN   Revolutionary United Front of Nepal

8. CPA/ML   Communist Party of Australia (Marxist-Leninist)

9. БКП   Българска Комунистическа Партия (Bulgarian Communist Party)

10. PR-ByH   Partija Rada - ByH (Party of Labor - Bosnia and Herzegovina)

11. MLPD   Marxistisch-Leninistische Partei Deutschlands (Marxist-Leninist Party of Germany)

12. UPML   Union Prolétarienne Marxiste-Léniniste (Marxist-Leninist Proletarian Union), France

13. BP (NK-T)   Bolşevik Parti (Kuzey Kürdistan-Türkiye) (Bolshevik Party (North Kurdistan-Turkey))

14. KOL   Kommunistische Organisation Luxemburg (Communist Organization of Luxemburg)

15. RM   Rode Morgen (Red Dawn), Netherlands

16. UMLP   União Marxista-Leninista Portuguesa (Portuguese Marxist-Leninist Union)

17. MLGS   Marxistisch-Leninistische Gruppe Schweiz (Marxist-Leninist Group of Switzerland)

18. TKP-ML   Türkiye Komünist Partisi – Marksist-Leninist (Communist Party of Turkey – Marxist-Leninist)

19. PCP (independiente)   Partido Comunista Paraguayo (independiente) (Paraguayan  Communist Party (independent))

20. PC (ML)   Partido Comunista (Marxista Leninista) (Communist Party (Marxist-Leninist)), Dominican Republic

21. PCR-U   Partido Comunista Revolucionario del Uruguay (Revolutionary Communist Party of Uruguay)

22. SUCI (C)   Socialist Unity Center of India (Communist)

23. Chinese Communists (MLM)   Chinese Communists (Marxist Leninist Maoist)

Reflections on the movement to oppose the war against Iran

Written by: Louisa L, and Nick G. on 22 March 2026

 

(NSW rally against Iran war - photo supplied)

US imperialism is the greatest enemy of the world’s peoples. We hail the heroic Iranian people in their struggle to defeat it. A second enemy, acting in concert with US imperialism, is Israeli Zionism. Netanyahu and others in the Zionist leadership are openly committed to the goal of Greater Israel, which includes expansion into and occupation of parts or all of Jordan, Syria, Lebanon, Saudi Arabia, Iraq and Kuwait. 

The Iranian government and military, and Hezbollah in Lebanon, have inflicted huge blows on both aggressors in the face of horrific carnage. Palestinians have not been defeated. Despite the carnage, neither Hamas nor the two main Palestinian liberation fronts have been destroyed; Hezbollah still exists and is fighting back, and the Houthis remain a potentially powerful player.

On January 17, when large numbers of Iranians had taken to the streets to protest the regime, and were bloodily suppressed, we released a statement that “supports the right of the Iranian people to rebel against the country’s theocratic dictatorship”.

We said: “We support the demands of the progressive elements: 
 
• Oppose any foreign interference in Iran, especially from US and Israel  
• Oppose the Islamic Republic of Iran 
• Defend imprisoned politicians and stop the killings”

The attacks launched by the US imperialists and the Israeli Zionists on February 28 represented a qualitative change in the Iranian situation, and hence in our demands.

The second slogan, “Oppose the Islamic Republic of Iran” was no longer appropriate. Not only was there no organised force within Iran capable of defeating it following the February 28 US-Israeli aggression, but the main task now was also the defeat of that aggression. The Iranian people still have their own independent and just demands which would strengthen the masses and the united front within Iran and the diaspora. They must determine the best way forward in a complex situation.

Heal divisions within the diaspora

Several weeks ago, an Iranian anti-imperialist protest outside the US embassy in Sydney was drowned out by a counter demonstration shouting their love and thanks to Trump and the US.  Israel’s flags were carried by some.

Divisions within the diaspora grew as others also previously imprisoned and tortured in Iran have made clear the key principal contradiction is with the US imperialist regime’s attacks on Iran.  

Reality has made clear there can be no talk at this time of overthrowing the Iranian government which is standing firm against US and Zionist bombardment, as it had previously done with its support for the Palestinians and Lebanon.

On Saturday 14th March a protest organised by the Sydney Anti-AUKUS coalition, the MC demanded an Iranian flag be removed. Rightly, that demand was refused. An Iranian woman who denounced the repressive actions of the Iranian government was drowned out, the microphone removed, and a sea of Iranian flags were raised, alongside placards of Ayatollah Khamenei. Contradictory emotions and demands within the diaspora are to be expected. There must be unity around opposition to imperialism and Zionism and opposing views accommodated and respected. A thousand-strong march spontaneously took to the streets chanting an end to US imperialism, declaring support for Iran, for Palestine, for Lebanon.

In the leadup to the US/Israel attacks some communists, leftists and women activists whose family or themselves had been tortured and imprisoned in Iran, called for the overthrow of the Iranian government alongside opposition to US imperialism. In speeches and in writing, our party had shown sympathy with them.  

US imperialism motivated by rivalry with Russia and China

(NSW rally against Iran war - photo supplied)

The assassination of Iran’s leader, Ayatollah Khamenei, after the US unilaterally ended peace negotiations, is yet another US war crime among millions across the world since World War Two and even earlier.

A crony capitalist US President, who enriches himself and his family directly from government decisions, escalates the US imperialist rampage around the world. 

US imperialism has its own reasons for acting in concert with the Zionist mass murderer Netanyahu. It aims to weaken the influence of rival imperialisms, Russian and Chinese, in the Middle East and specifically in Iran, a full member of BRICS. 

So arrogant are Trump’s mobsters, they made minimal attempts to prepare the ground for the attack with lies and deceit. They quickly dumped the pretence they were liberating the Iranian people. Their disgusting enjoyment of the war, their trashing of rules of war, limited though they are, and sinking of a non-combatant Iranian Navy vessel and abandonment of drowning sailors has alarmed many in the Australian military, particularly in the navy.

Then came denials, and proclaimed ignorance in the face of mass murder of school children.

The US ruling class is divided, with only the military corporations, oil industry and Trump’s CR cronies fully on side. His director of the US National Counterterrorism Centre, Joe Kent, resigned several days ago, saying that “Iran posed no imminent threat to our nation, and it is clear that we started this war due to pressure from Israel and its powerful American lobby.” A day or so later, Tulsi Gabbard, the Director of National Intelligence prepared a written statement for a US Senate hearing which said Iran's nuclear enrichment program had been "obliterated" in 2025 strikes, and that the regime had not resumed enrichment activities. 

Trump’s actions have continued to undermine worldwide US alliances with Europe and NATO and much of the rest of the world. 

Iran’s justified retaliation against US military bases in neighbouring countries, has shown the danger of allowing the 750 US bases worldwide, with around 40 in Australia, to operate. We demand removal of those targets from our soil.

The US seems incapable of winning this war. Our party and its spokespeople rightly say we must fight US imperialism here. The period of despondency that followed the Zionist counter attack after the Bondi terrorist attack is being cast aside. 

More and more people understand the cost of living crisis is exacerbated by this war, that it's leading to recession and even an economic depression. Even rationing of some critical commodities seems likely. 

Most Australians can currently cope, but the scale of price rises is shocking. A significant and growing section of our peoples cannot pay the rent or mortgages, or feed and clothe their families. They cannot afford petrol to travel to and from work. Public education and health are undermined. 

We also demand an end to price gouging. We target the giant corporations that control our economy.

While the Federal Government promises to maintain military spending, which has zero to do with defending this country or its peoples, it promises cuts to spending. Where else can these cuts come from, but the basic needs of the people? 

In struggle, we must deepen people’s understanding of what US imperialism means for Australia and its peoples. It’s urgent. 

Our Party places its trust in the masses of the Australian people of all races, ages and religions. Our task is to build the struggle. Serve the People. 

Cut military spending! Remove US military bases. End US domination of Australia.

 

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Book Review: If Anyone Builds It, Everyone Dies: The Case Against Superintelligent AI by Eliezer Yudkowsky and Nate Soares

Written by: Alex M and Duncan B on 13 March 2026

 

The tech billionaires, Musk, Altmann and others are locked in a race to build Artificial General Intelligence, otherwise known as Superintelligent AI. These are machines that surpass human brainpower. So far no one has got there yet. With the current rate of development of AI, and the billions of dollars being thrown at AI, it may not be long until Superintelligent AI is a reality.

There is a spectrum of views about Superintelligent AI. Its promoters say that Superintelligent AI is wonderful and will save humanity. Its opponents take the “Doomsday view” that Superintelligent AI will destroy humanity. 

The authors of this book, Eliezer Yudkowsky and Nate Soares are both firmly in the “Doomsday” camp. They were both involved in working to develop Superintelligent AI until they came to realise the dangers it poses. 

They could not put their fears any more bluntly than in the introduction to the book when they say “If any company or group anywhere on the planet, builds an artificial superintelligence using anything remotely like current techniques, based on anything remotely like the present understanding of AI, then everyone, everywhere on earth will die.

We may laugh at this prediction. The authors paint scenarios of how   Superintelligent AI could start thinking for itself and escape human control and eventually wipe out humans. 

This may seem far- fetched, but when we look at the character of the people like Musk who are developing Superintelligent AI, in a USA run by Trump, we can’t have any confidence that they will care about the consequences of Superintelligent AI, as long as they are the first to build it. 

Last year we reviewed Empire of AI, which told how people like Sam Altman brushed aside the concerns about the safety of AI which the safety teams of their companies raised. The attitude was “be first in the race for AI and sort the bugs and problems out later.”

The authors are adamant that joint international action must be taken to shut down all attempts to build Superintelligent AI everywhere in the world. They want the great powers of the US, UK, Russia and China to take the lead in preventing the development of Superintelligent AI. 

We can’t see this happening. No country will want to be left behind in the AI race. We have also seen how Trump, egged on by the tech billionaires, reacts to attempts by any country to impose any sort of controls on AI. This is seen as an attack on American sovereignty, and Trump threatens retaliation against any country which tries to regulate the tech billionaires.

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Duncan B has admirably summed up the central thesis of Yudkowsky’s and Soares’s book. The book has attracted quite a bit of attention because the authors are relentless in hammering home their doomsday scenario. That is, the development of Superintelligent AI will be apocalyptic for humanity. 

It is interesting that quite a number of people appear to have been swayed by Yudkowsky’s and Soares’s arguments in the book, if the endorsements on the book’s fly are any indication. The reason why I point this out is that their arguments are not well handled, relying on assertion and a number of analogies and hypothetical scenarios that reinforce their message but do not necessarily persuade a more skeptical/critical person. Being disturbed about the doom-laden viewpoint and not entirely convinced by how the two writers set out their ‘stall’, so to speak, I sought out online reviews of If Anyone Builds It… and found one particular review which really got to grips with the book’s inadequacies.

Will Macaskill writing in a post on his Substack site ‘Both/And’ reviewing If Anyone Builds It… gets stuck in straight away: 

I thought that “If anyone builds it, everyone dies”, by Eliezer Yudkowsky and Nate Soares, was disappointing, relying on weak arguments around the evolution analogy, an implicit assumption of a future discontinuity in AI progress, conflation of ‘misalignment’ with ‘catastrophic misalignment’. I think that their positive proposal is not good .

I had hoped to read a Yudkowsky-Soares worldview that has had meaningful updates in light of the latest developments in ML and AI safety, and that has meaningfully engaged with the scrutiny their older arguments received. I did not get that. (1)

Macaskill criticizes the use made of evolution as an analogy for the development of Superintelligent AI by Yudkowsky and Soares. While there is some merit in using evolution as an explanatory tool to help laypeople understand how the training of AI works, there are problems with the analogy. One of the problems Macaskill highlights is the fact ‘that evolution wasn’t trying, in any meaningful sense, to produce beings that maximise inclusive genetic fitness in off distribution environments. But we will be doing the equivalent of that!’ Here Macaskill is referring to the drive to produce Superintelligent AI, where tech companies are actively trying to bring into being this product. The analogy thus falls down.

Turning now to the discontinuity in AI progress that Macaskill identifies in If Anyone Builds It… In their book, Yudkowsky and Soares posit a hypothetical scenario where there is a sudden overnight leap in intelligence which comes about when AI is used extensively to develop Superintelligent AI. Such an overnight leap in capacity will necessarily mean it will be too late for humanity to ‘align’ the new AGI to human values. Macaskill argues that the discontinuity in AI progress exemplified here overstates the rapidity of the process of development which may be very fast but not as a ‘sudden, sharp, large leap…’ 

Aligning Superintelligent AI to human values for Yudkowsky and Soares is an impossibility and therefore we must stop any attempts to build it. Macaskill argues that their views on the alignment question are flawed. Yudkowsky and Soares at times conflate ‘imperfect alignment’ (where the AI doesn’t always try to do what the developer/user intended it to do), with ‘catastrophic misalignment’ (where the AI tries hard to disempower all humanity, insofar as it has the opportunity). For Macaskill here is another example of Yudkowsky’s and Soares’s tendency to invoke the ‘discontinuous jump to godlike capabilities idea’ which is a feature of their approach in the book.

It is useful to highlight Macaskill’s critique of If Anyone Builds It… because it validates both what myself and Duncan B initially thought about the book. It is not well argued; relies on some flawed analogies and assertions; and offers up a possible solution which as Duncan B suggested above is not likely to ever be implemented.

The development of Superintelligent AI, like AI in general is in the hands of predominantly US based tech billionaires. They have a massive vested interest in pushing these products down our throats, which have caused and will continue to cause job losses across the globe. Other pernicious effects have arisen, such as deep fake porn, scams, heightened surveillance, and the targeting and killing of civilians in conflict zones. Now there is the possibility of the end of humanity courtesy of artificial superintelligence. As Nick Estes so eloquently put it when recently referring to the morass engulfing the US in the light of the Epstein scandal, and which I argue also holds for the current AI era, we are witnessing ‘… the moral pathology of capitalism in its decadent phase and the morbid symptoms of imperial decline.’ (2)

The only solution remains socialist revolution.

(1) https://willmacaskill.substack.com/p/a-short-review-of-if-anyone-builds accessed 10 March 2026

(2) https://nickestes.substack.com/morbid-symptoms  accessed 7 March 2026