10th October 2026
It was 16 years ago this month that the first blogspot appeared on this site, you can go back in time to read it here if you wish https://avantipopulo.co.uk/archive-2010/
This however, will be the last post on this site, although Avanti Populo will still be available on Facebook so check out the ongoing story there.
In many respects the world has changed considerably in the past 16 years. Britain is no longer part of the European Union; Reform UK has emerged as a serious challenge to the Tories on the right wing of British politics; the Covid pandemic swept the world; the climate emergency has grown sharper and more urgent. Prime Ministers and Presidents have come and gone, and in the case of Trump, returned.
In other respects however, much remains the same. Neoliberal economic orthodoxy still dominates Western economies. The US remains determined to assert its hegemony across the Western Hemisphere and the Middle East, while not losing sight of the growing strength of China. NATO expansion and encirclement of Russia has precipitated the war in Ukraine. The long held antipathy of both Israel and the US towards Iran has culminated in the aggression against the dictatorship in the Islamic Republic. Israeli oppression and denial of the basic rights of the Palestinian people, including genocide in Gaza, continues. The US illegal blockade of Cuba is condemned annually at the United Nations but remains, while the kidnapping of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro adds a new dimension to the way US foreign policy is conducted.
Nevertheless, resistance continues, in working class communities on a whole range of issues regarding health, housing and jobs. At a national level resistance to the rise of the right wing and the drive to war grows, as the Stop the War Coalition, the Together Alliance and CND amongst others show. International solidarity remains strong with Cuba Solidarity Campaign, CODIR, Palestine Solidarity Campaign and Liberation amongst a host of organisations committed to the struggle for human rights across the world.
Climate activism, women’s rights campaigns, opposition to racism are all features of the ongoing battle to build a world in which the hopes, dreams and aspirations of the many defeat the greed, sense of entitlement and warmongering of the few.
The unifying factor in the multitude of fronts on which the struggle is conducted is the fight for socialism, the ultimate replacement of capitalism as a system with one that meets the needs of the people, rather then the profits of the privileged.
The contribution of blogs like this is modest to say the least. United mass action by the working class behind a programme committed to the advance towards socialism will ultimately determine the future. Hopefully the contributions on these pages have been able to shine some light in the darkness. From here onwards, make sure to check out the facebook page https://www.facebook.com/avanti.populo
