By The System we mean Capitalism. This recent and unnatural system of social relationships, which pits capitalists against the mass of humanity, is hurtling to its destruction. Its lurching career toward what will come after transforms all aspects of society and nature rapidly and relentlessly. Capitalism, and all its institutions, including the state, are unviable, even in the short run. Not only are they inherently crisis-prone and unstable, they are destroying the ecological fabric of the planet. They cannot be reformed and must be replaced. We would like to see an institution of genuine socialism, run via organs of direct social power such as workplace and neighborhood councils. We think that the movement that changes society should prefigure the new society in its structure and methods.

The most profound theorist of genuine socialism was Karl Marx. He was the first to develop a rational critique of capitalism, and the discoverer of the secret source of capitalist profit, surplus value. A great scholar, artist and humanitarian, Marx has continued, through his writings, to threaten vested power to the present day. As a result his work has been either suppressed, vilified or wildly distorted by ideologues of capital, including those of totalitarian state-capitalist nations such as the Soviet Union and the People's Republic of China. Marx has been successfully smeared by claims that he is somehow responsible for the monstrous atrocities of "actually existing socialism."

In fact his writings are formally and concretely the antithesis of all forms of capitalism and capitalist ideology. They are a powerful source of illumination of this highly opaque system of social relationships, to which we unapologetically look for assistance in our efforts to understand the beast and bring it down. We reject the jargon-laden and in-grown discourse of academic "Marxism," however, as did Marx himself (see banner above). "Marxism" today in almost all of its forms, academic or political party, is a distortion of the man's work. There is no better way ahead than to undertake one's own close reading of his works themselves.

The events of September 11, 2001 opened a new window into the inner workings of the System. A clandestine dimension of control over governmental structures was exposed, which in its resources and executive capacities rivals the visible structures of governments and corporations, and fully deserves to be considered a fundamental aspect of the System. This hidden zone shadows the visible competition between capitalist powers and attempts at long-term planning to which most revolutionary critics of capital still restrict their analysis. One of its most critical functions is to enable and expedite the most violent forms of class war: wars of aggression abroad and domestically, and construction of totalitarian state powers. These are projects that are hard to advance through normal, visible channels, which have been abandoned increasingly by an ever-more-desperate ruling class. We strongly feel the examination of the workings of capitalism must be deepened, and we will continue to make forays into this domain.