Against the Stream

On Tuesday, Donald Trump and the Republicans lost both the House and the Senate in a crushing midterm defeat. Less than two years after he was sworn in, seemingly all-powerful, the dream of Trumpism has been shattered in the minds of millions.In this episode of Against the Stream, Victor Murray is joined by Fred Weston to look at what lies behind the result. Texas now has a Democrat in every statewide office. Kansas elected its first Democratic senator in 94 years. In Dearborn, where Trump won in 2024, Abdul El-Sayed took 82 per cent on his way to becoming the first Muslim senator. Young voters swung 32 points, and a third of them now call themselves democratic socialists.The reason is simple. Trump promised the best jobs and the biggest paychecks. Instead, manufacturing jobs are disappearing, prices are up almost 7 per cent since he took office, and the share of national income going to wages is the lowest on record.But this was a vote against Trump, not for the Democrats. They remain deeply unpopular, and whoever wins in 2028 will inherit a $40 trillion debt, an AI bubble on the verge of bursting and enormous pressure to make workers pay. With 60 per cent of Americans saying they would support a third party, the conditions are maturing for a real break with the two-party system.New episodes of Against the Stream every Thursday at 6pm GMT on YouTube.📖 Recommended reading 📖America Can’t Afford an AI Recession - The Atlantichttps://www.theatlantic.com/technology/2026/11/ai-data-center-spending-economy/689237/‘Nobody’s listening’: 5 things Americans told me about the economy that Washington needs to hear | CNN Businesshttps://edition.cnn.com/2026/11/01/economy/americans-midterm-personal-economicsThe meaning of Donald Trump: a Marxist analysishttps://marxist.com/the-meaning-of-donald-trump-a-marxist-analysis.htmCommunism vs Common sense – White House Instagramhttps://www.instagram.com/whitehouse/reel/DfS_leZRBzf/⏱️ Timestamps ⏱️0:00 Midterm election results15:15 Why Trump lost35:05 The splintering of MAGA45:03 Can the Democrats deliver?51:23 The DSA and the case for a third party1:03:03 America’s coming class struggle🫵 Join the Revolutionary Communist International: https://marxist.com/join-us.htm 📚 Marxist literature: https://wellred-books.com/🎧 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/68nGNHz5lB8UZXICGIDMva?si=682ef70551644443 📱 Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/against-the-stream/id1777793987 📸 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/revcomintern/💬 Twitter: https://x.com/revcomintern/

In this episode of Against the Stream, Victor Murray is joined by Ben Curry of the International Secretariat of the Revolutionary Communist International to look at three elections of the past week.In Brazil, Flávio Bolsonaro led the first round, with the markets banking on a win. Then the youth took the campaign out of the hands of the official parties. A million marched in São Paulo, close to two million in Rio, and Lula went from 45 per cent to 52 in the second round. Now, Bolsonaro has fled to Miami. Many of the young people who came out were not fighting for Lula, but saw the necessity of using the election as a means to strike a blow against the right. On the streets, the hammer and sickles were everywhere. Openly communist Jones Manoel was elected the most-voted federal deputy in Pernambuco, and thousands have applied to join the RCI’s Brazilian section in a matter of weeks.Similarly in Serbia, the radical mood on the streets were brought into the ballot box, where the student list born out of the mass movement after the Novi Sad canopy collapse won more than half the vote, ending Aleksandar Vučić’s twelve years in power. In Israel the last week also saw an election, the character of which was the polar opposite. Here the contest was between the far right and the further right, with both sides competing over who could most effectively ethnically cleanse the Palestinian people, exposing the myth of a “liberal” Zionism once and for all.New episodes of Against the Stream every Thursday at 6pm GMT on YouTube.📖 Recommended reading 📖Engels, The Origin of the Family, Private Property and the Statehttps://www.marxists.org/archive/marx/works/1884/origin-family/ The RCI’s manifestohttps://marxist.com/manifesto-of-the-revolutionary-communist-international.htm Financial Times – Lula’s stunning comeback meets fiscal realityhttps://www.ft.com/content/79785581-88c2-49a9-a109-9d5ccafc3c7d?syn-25a6b1a6=1 Financial Times Serbia’s students should take a leaf out of Magyar’s bookhttps://www.ft.com/content/43f5c6af-5b1f-4995-9263-b7882013cb99 +972 Magazine 50 shades of right: An Israeli election primerhttps://www.972mag.com/israeli-election-primer-2026-netanyahu-eisenkot/ ⏱️ Timestamps ⏱️0:00 Introduction3:55 Brazil38:17 Serbia52:08 Israel🫵 Join the Revolutionary Communist International: https://marxist.com/join-us.htm 📚 Marxist literature: https://wellred-books.com/🎧 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/68nGNHz5lB8UZXICGIDMva?si=682ef70551644443 📱 Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/against-the-stream/id1777793987 📸 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/revcomintern/💬 Twitter: https://x.com/revcomintern/

The times we are living in are anything but ordinary. In the last twelve months alone, more than 57 countries have seen significant anti-government protests. Right now, France is at the centre of the storm.On Saturday 17 October, hundreds of thousands took to the streets in the biggest day yet of the movement against education cuts. The state answered with more than 19,000 stun grenades in a single day.Peaceful marches were ambushed, minors were rounded up, and one young student lost an eye. Sunday evening Macron went on television and refused to resign, making the movement’s goal crystal clear: he and his government have to go.In this episode of Against the Stream, Victor Murray is joined by Jorge Martín of the International Secretariat of the Revolutionary Communist International to discuss where the movement goes from here.They look at the curfews, protest bans and attacks on La France Insoumise that show the real face of bourgeois democracy, why the government has nothing to offer with borrowing costs at their highest since 2002, and why the CGT has been forced to call for a general strike on 5 November. With general strikes also called in Spain and Italy, and mass movements from Brazil and Colombia to Indonesia and India, the stage is set for a much wider wave of struggle.But one thing is still missing: a revolutionary leadership capable of taking the movement to victory. Building it is the task of the hour.New episodes of Against the Stream every Thursday at 6pm GMT on YouTube.📖 Recommended reading 📖France: 17 October mobilisations put revolution on the agendahttps://marxist.com/france-17-october-mobilisations-put-revolution-on-the-agenda.htmThe Civil War in Francehttps://www.marxists.org/archive/marx/iwma/documents/1871/commune-may30.htm⏱️ Timestamps ⏱️0:00 France on the brink2:44 October 17: who provoked the violence?12:15 The road to a general strike21:52 Hypocrisy of the ruling class28:28 The deep crisis of French capitalism33:20 A global wave of revolt47:17 The missing factor: revolutionary leadership🫵 Join the Revolutionary Communist International: https://marxist.com/join-us.htm 📚 Marxist literature: https://wellred-books.com/🎧 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/68nGNHz5lB8UZXICGIDMva?si=682ef70551644443 📱 Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/against-the-stream/id1777793987 📸 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/revcomintern/💬 Twitter: https://x.com/revcomintern/

Europe is the weak link of world capitalism. From Madrid to Paris to Berlin, young people and workers are on the move.In this special episode of Against the Stream, we talk to comrades of the Revolutionary Communist International on the ground in Spain, France, and Germany about what’s happening, and about the huge potential for building the forces of communism.Today’s youth have grown up with nothing but war and crisis. As Marx explained, it’s the real conditions of society that shape consciousness. So it’s no surprise that many are reaching revolutionary conclusions on their own.Class questions are coming to the fore everywhere. A decade ago, protests were often framed as calls for ‘more democracy’, or for voting in a different government. Those illusions are gone. On the streets of Spain, tens of thousands are chanting ‘Esto es lucha de clases, no podemos hacer las paces’ [this is class struggle, we cannot make peace] and ‘Los invasores son los inversores’ [the invaders are the investors].Whilst the causes of these youth-led movements vary from country to country, the same host of issues are present everywhere: militarism, racism, police violence, housing, Palestine, and the climate crisis. Together they’re feeding a revolutionary mood across the continent.Europe’s rulers have no way out. With inflation rising and governments buried in debt, they can’t keep the economy stable without provoking social and political upheaval. Years of austerity, decay, and inequality have built up the pressure, and now it’s bursting out.New episodes of Against the Stream every Thursday at 6pm London time on YouTube.📖 Recommended reading 📖France: 17 October – towards a revolutionary crisis?https://marxist.com/france-17-october...Una semana después, ¿a dónde va la huelga general?https://www.comunistasrevolucionarios...Red October: revolutionary communists are connecting on the groundhttps://marxist.com/red-october-revol...⏱️ Timestamps ⏱️0:00 Intro3:45 Spain24:25 France56:26 Germany🫵 Join the Revolutionary Communist International: https://marxist.com/join-us.htm 📚 Marxist literature: https://wellred-books.com/🎧 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/68nGNHz... 📱 Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast... 📸 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/revcomintern/💬 Twitter: https://x.com/revcomintern/

Occupations; general strikes; riot police tear-gassing school students. The streets of Madrid and Paris have exploded in revolt. Hundreds of thousands of youth and workers have risen up – against unbearable housing costs in Spain and an education system gutted by austerity in France.In this episode of Against the Stream, Victor Murray is joined by Josh Holroyd of the International Secretariat of the Revolutionary Communist International to discuss what these movements signify, and how they can win.In Spain, the spark was the eviction of Maria Carmen Abascal, an 87-year-old woman in a wheelchair who had lived in the same Madrid flat for 70 years, forced out by a vulture fund that wanted to raise her rent from €400 to €2,600. She died this week. More than a thousand tents now fill the Puerta del Sol. The renters’ union is demanding the expropriation of corporate landlords, and polls show majority support for a general strike – even among Vox voters.In France, the biggest high school student movement in the country's history has been met with tear gas and stun grenades. Students and teachers have had enough of underfunded schools – with classes of 40 pupils, in crumbling buildings, in 40-degree heat. Talk of a new May '68 is everywhere.As we have long forecast, this is not a reactionary period. It is the opening of a revolutionary one. But communists must be armed with the lessons of the past. Victor and Josh look back at what the revolution of May ‘68 achieved, why it was defeated, and what communists need to do now. New episodes of Against the Stream every Thursday at 6pm London time on YouTube.📖 Recommended reading 📖Spain: Sánchez calls early elections – the streets demand a general strikehttps://marxist.com/spain-sanchez-calls-early-elections-the-streets-demand-a-general-strike.htmFrance: a decisive week – with echoes of May ’68https://marxist.com/france-a-decisive-week-with-echoes-of-may-68.htm[Podcast] The world economy faces perfect stormhttps://marxist.com/podcast-the-world-economy-faces-perfect-storm.htmFrench high school protests: The risk of a united front of discontent, Le Mondehttps://www.lemonde.fr/en/opinion/article/2026/10/05/french-high-school-protests-the-risk-of-a-united-front-of-discontent_6758264_23.html⏱️ Timestamps ⏱️0:00 Introduction4:54 The eviction of Maricarmen14:59 Sánchez's gamble24:21 How the movement cut across the right wing38:01 France: the biggest school student movement in French history49:44 The lessons of May '681:18:21 What should communists do?🫵 Join the Revolutionary Communist International: https://marxist.com/join-us.htm 📚 Marxist literature: https://wellred-books.com/📱 Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/against-the-stream/id1777793987 📸 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/revcomintern/💬 Twitter: https://x.com/revcomintern/