A System in Decay

Abstract

The main theme of this issue is the general crisis of a capitalist system in deep decay, which is increasingly threatening all life on the planet on multiple fronts. In our lead article, ‘Capitalism in decay- dimensions of the crisis’ John Molyneux offers an overview of the main elements of the crisis – economic, health, geopolitical and ecological – and explores how they intersect and reinforce each other. He warns of the serious political dangers deriving from this interaction but argues it also offers major opportunities for socialists if they move to take them. Other articles which relate to this theme are Eddie Conlon’s timely analysis of the cost of living crisis in Ireland and the fightback against it, Camilla Fitzsimons’ analysis of the continuing importance of the issue of reproductive rights in the light of the US Supreme Court’s reactionary ruling on Roe v Wade, and Maurice Coakley’s examination of some of the wider implications of the Ukraine War