David O'Connell

The UK Conservative Party is the most successful political party in human history. Its sudden collapse signifies a fundamental shift in class relations. The landed gentry (still beholden to feudal notions of duty) are losing out to totalitarian capitalists - two factions it used to hold together.

I should say, allegedly

The island of Capri, where Emperor Tiberius spent much of his later rule in seclusion, engaging in debauchery so profound it influenced the course of history itself

Italy is beautiful too

For all interested, applications are now open for the Global Labour University Engage South Africa course 2026, at Witts University in Johannesburg.

Find more details below, or feel free to each out to me for more information.

Call for Abstracts - 2026 GLU International Conference. Look forward to seeing many of you there!

More information about the conference can be found on the conference website:
global-labour-university.org/events/glu-c...

Towards the cooperative commonwealth!

One wonders what the radicals of the eighteenth century like Paine or Blake would make of the fact that, in our time, most Popes have proved to be more progressive than most presidents of the United States

It was an honour to work on this survey, and write on what role the GLU alumni could play in the wider labour movement ✊🏻

Fairbnb.coop - sustainable flats, B&B, rooms, bnb and vacation rentals The co-op and sustainable vacation rental platform that gives back 50% of its revenues to support a local community project of your choice.

A cooperative alternative, FairBnB, which is not only democratic but returns 50% of its profits to the communities in which it operates.

I've personally used it when traveling around Europe, and highly recommend it to others.

fairbnb.coop

Switzerland isn't ugly

I like Corbyn (and voted for him twice), but he presents himself as a sort of atheist Anglican Vicar. His message isn't about power, it's about 'niceness' - playing into all the worst stereotypes of a lefty.

Socialism is not when magic grandpa spends lots of money.

It's about workers' control.

"The gentry must come down, and the poor shall wear the crown"

- Published in "the Levellers' Standard", 1649

Cooperative AI | Platform Cooperativism Consortium Seats are limited and filling up fast—register now to guarantee your spot! As AI reshapes our worlds, who decides its future—and who gets left behind? Welcome to Cooperative AI…

The Platform Coop Consortium is building a movement focused on transparency and common ownership of the platform economy. Their next conference is coming up in Nov, and I highly recommend getting involved - especially trade unionists less familiar with tech/coops.

See you in Istanbul ✊🏻

Let me check with them! (And please charge your phone 😅)

The Drivers Cooperative

Taxi drivers and trade unionists in NYC set up a cooperative worker-owned alternative to Uber and Lyft. It pays its drivers a higher faire while charging customers less, built on the principles of democracy and ownership.

If you're in NYC, please support them, use the app or recommend to others ✊🏻

One of the best cures for burnout is not rest but victory. Seeing that the left can win, and having had a part in achieving it, is the biggest morale boost.

Abstract "big picture" goals are usually unobtainable and therefore demoralizing. Try to set up campaigns with a beginning middle and end.

YouTube video by Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung Which strategic choices do Trade Unions have to (re-)gain power?

For any trade union strategists out there, I'd highly recommend looking at the 'Power Resources Approach', partly developed by the FES. If you're unfamiliar, here's a concise overview;

youtu.be/B3zRCVs7tXM?...

It was a pleasure to speak at the Global Labour University Alumni Workshop this weekend, exploring how our network of over 1,000 labour scholars from around the world can play a pivotal role in strengthening organized labour and democracy

"Wrong in principle, and tactically self-destructive. When we move to the arena of violence, the most brutal guys win – that’s the worst outcome (and, incidentally, it’s not us). The right response is to use the opportunity for education and exposure, not to give a gift to the hard right" Chomsky

Labour is entitled to all it creates

Union membership continues to fall, in the UK and globally.

Will unions accept defeat and linger on as bureaucractic managers of a declining status quo? Or take a pragmatic and transformative view of trade unionism as the movement for industrial democracy?

"The great appear great because we are on our knees. Let us rise!" - Jim Larkin 🇮🇪 🚩

Invisible Rivals A multidisciplinary view of how our competitive and cooperative natures make us humanFor centuries, people have argued about whether humans are moral animals—good or bad, cooperative or competitive, a...

"Our cultural core is not whether we fish or hunt or forage to subsist, but how our norms permit some people to hold power over others. If you want to understand a society, including your own, look at how people are exploited."

Profit is unpaid wages.

In case any of you are in marketing.

Interrupting my YouTube video with your ad actively makes me hate your company and want to avoid buying from it.

The problem with centrist pundits like Rory Stuart is that they can't conceptualize politics outside of the establishment system.

They just don't get the role militant mass movements played in shaping democracy and winning substantive gains for working people.

This is a fatal liberal blind spot.

'Dancing with the Devil': Unite Condemned For Invite to Reform's Anti-Trade Union Mayor Andrea Jenkyns Leading union criticised for reaching out to anti-trade union politician and Nigel Farage ally Andrea Jenkyns, despite her anti-worker stances

Unite invited a far-right, anti-union politician from Reform UK to speak at a rally in Grimsby against the closure of a refinery.

Let's be clear: Reform wants to crush trade unions utterly and annihilate workers' rights, creating an even greater tyranny of the bosses.

They are not our friends.

The prize for the greatest trade union name of all time belongs to:

The International Association of Marble, Slate and Stone Polishers, Rubbers and Sawyers, Tile and Marble Setters' Helpers and Marble Mosaic and Terrazzo Workers' Helpers (IAMSSPRSTMSHMMTWH)

Incredible.

Couldn't it work though?