The world is in crisis: wars, climate catastrophe, youth unemployment and the rising cost of living. Meanwhile, the big-business billionaires only get richer.
Millions of young people despair at the prospect of our futures being torn up and thrown away, while the powerful elites compete for evermore power and profits.
But we won’t accept that. That’s why we will be joining the international youth walkouts on 20 November, together with over 20 other youth organisations across Europe.
We are fighting for our futures. Billionaire-funded politicians like Nigel Farage want to divide workers and young people – encouraging us to point fingers at each other rather than the big-business capitalists whose interests this rotten system serves.
Instead, young people across Europe will be taking united action together. Socialist Students will be building for the biggest possible walkouts and raising the need to take the wealth and power out of the hands of the capitalist bosses – so it can be put to use to meet the needs of all.
This September, almost 300,000 18-year-olds will enter the student housing market. Most of them will be making the first steps, praying a degree can secure them a stable job, into a spiral of debt which will follow them through decades of their working lives.
Putting themselves on average £50,000 in the red, students will hope against hope that they can cover their expenses whilst succeeding in full-time higher education. As young people suffer, Paragon Bank found that 91% of uni landlords reported positive returns – the highest of any sector. This has come by bumping rents up by 60% over the last decade, whilst cutting costs and leaving young people in cramped, mouldy houses.
On dozens of campuses around the UK, Socialist Students is already leading the way in putting forward what is needed to end market misery and housing hell at university. We are fighting alongside community activists and trade unionists for rent controls to cap rents and enforce decent standards, for a mass council house building programme, for living student grants not loans, and for fully funded, free education for all.
Rent strikes
At the beginning of the 2020s, a national wave of rent strikes erupted – and things have only got worse since. New struggles will come as the crisis of the profit-based capitalist system progresses.
It is clear that Burnham’s crumbs won’t offer any way out for young people under the thumb of the cost-of-living crisis. Socialist Party members will be taking part in Socialist Students activity at freshers fairs around the country, making the case that we need a party which will.
On 20 November we are planning to stamp our mark on our futures, fighting for affordable, safe housing and decent jobs – not more money for their wars. Fight for our futures!
In college, I was told that you could afford to go to university, no matter your personal background. And that loan repayment was merely an extra ‘tax’, that would be offset by the higher-paying job opportunities that a degree could offer.
I wasn’t told that in 2023, the loan repayment threshold had lowered from £29,000 to £25,000. Meaning that the annual amount repaid jumped from roughly £50 to £453, on an average graduate salary.
Recent headlines around loans being ‘missold’ point at the crushing reality of fees and debt faced by ambitious young students, with no other choice but to bite the bullet.
The system hasn’t always worked this way. In 1977, student fees were funded entirely by government, with a modest maintenance grant too!
This funding system was threatened under Margaret Thatcher’s Tory government. But due to the backlash from students, nothing changed until 1998.
Then, Tony Blair’s Labour government introduced an upfront fee of £1,000 a year. Labour tripled tuition fees in the 2000s.
And the Tory-Lib Dem coalition tripled fees again in 2012. Annual tuition fees are set to rise to over £10,000 next year.
While some have the ability to pay, the reality for many students is that tuition fees are unaffordable. A typical working-class student has parents unable to provide maintenance support. With most loan money going on rent, we’re forced to pick up a part-time job alongside full-time university, affecting our studies.
Graduates are rarely able to pay off the £50,000 in debt. Instead, many pay until it is written off after 40 years!
The loan system is a failed, predatory, capitalist solution to the higher education funding crisis. Further increases to student fees are completely unaffordable, and do nothing to address uni budget deficits.
Courses are being cut, staff laid off, and our universities continue to tumble down international rankings. Socialist Students calls to end the market-based fee model, and for a free, fully funded higher education system.
On 20 November 2026, Socialist Students will be joining over 20 other youth organisations across Europe, walking out of classes to say: ‘Fight for our futures, not their wars!’
Can you collect names of fellow students who can build for the biggest possible walkout where you are?
2) Build Socialist Students at your campus, college or school
Socialist Students is a democratic nationwide socialist organisation which has groups active in over 50 schools, colleges and universities. In September 2025 it organised youth walkouts against the state visit of Donald Trump. Groups discuss socialist ideas, and put them into practice, fighting for decent services, against oppression and for socialist change.
On 14-15 November, days ahead of the N20 international youth walkout, over 1,000 socialist activists will come together in London for a weekend of discussion and electric Saturday night rally.
What role for direct action in the struggle for socialism? Are the Greens the type of party we need to transform the world? Does AI mean the end of the working class? They are some of the 30 discussion workshops taking place.
Freshers and school students tickets from £5.
Reports from Freshers so far
Cambridge college students support fight for jobs and future
Philip Hodgson, Social Action Society, Hills Road College
The newly formed Social Action Society at Hills Road College in Cambridge, with the help of Socialist Students, held a campaign stall to build awareness for the 20 November youth strikes, and to circulate flyers on topics such as youth unemployment. Our group has affiliated to Socialist Students.
The response was positive, with students from Hills Road and neighbouring colleges expressing interest in collective action. People were keen to hear about the international strike, and what it has to do with them as UK college students.
The issue of youth unemployment particularly resonated with people. Increasingly, sixth-form students are in need of jobs to cope with upcoming university tuition fees and student housing. This was reflected in people’s choice of leaflets.
This stall, along with one inside the college premises, has meant our student society has quadrupled in membership. Young people are interested in learning about broader plans to protest our current system, and also uniting with likeminded individuals to enact change.
As a society with socialist ties and a unanimous anti-war stance, we hope to keep up momentum for these goals throughout the academic year. We look forward to hearing about other societies across the country doing the same.
Salford uni – money for education not war
Socialist Students kicked off freshers with a series of campaign stalls and events across the Salford campus. We met students and staff with diverse views – anarchists, communists, Labour and Reform supporters.
But almost everybody agreed that things are not working for working-class people, and that trade unions are essential to the fightback.
People agreed with ‘Funding, Not Fees’. The government is boosting military budgets. Meanwhile, unis face course cuts and closures.
Students thought that having multiple military stalls over the week was wrong. And that working-class people shouldn’t be forced to risk their lives in wars that serve the interests of the capitalist class.
21 people came to our first Socialist Students meeting centred around how we can fight the rise of the far right. But it developed into a much wider conversation on how working-class people are too often pushed into the military.
We are the first political society at Salford in 25 years. There is a huge appetite for political discussion and debate.
Five people attending our meeting were studying military apprenticeship courses. One said: “Why can’t we have discussions like this in the army?”
There’s a desire to fight back against the far right and super-rich, for nationalising energy and water under democratic workers’ control, and the socialist transformation of society.
Fin Cozens-Stott, Salford Socialist Students
Leicester socialist youth meeting: Fight for our future, not their wars
Alanah Carey-Peacher, Leicester Socialist Students
We hosted a public meeting on the struggles youth face today, and what the world that we are inheriting could look like.
We have known the climate crisis to be imminent for decades, yet the capitalist class and their politicians in charge have sat on their hands, and continued to let greed override need.
Now we see consistently worse weather, especially in the most poverty-stricken places on the planet. The extreme heat in the UK this summer is set to become the ‘new norm’.
One individual at the meeting stated that it feels like ‘what is the use in trying, when the places we all know and love could become unliveable in our lifetimes’. The bare necessities and amenities – which we all require to live a fulfilled life – are becoming harder to obtain.
There is a youth unemployment crisis. We are expected to have far more experience for a job than is possible!
We’ve paid through our teeth for our education. Yet it appears to count towards very little, despite costing us and our families a lot of debt.
Many young people have little choice but to opt for precarious job opportunities, such as zero-hour contracts. The capitalist class want us in this type of work, so it’s harder for us to unionise and fight for better conditions.
When we rely on the welfare state because of unemployment or poverty pay, the Labour government cuts benefits and threatens to take them away. It’s worsened by dodgy, invasive ‘review processes’ that claim we’re ‘fit’.
The cherry on top – increasing war and military spending – an immense toll on the working class. Increasing militarisation across Europe has sparked students to walk out on 20 November.
We’re demanding our governments fund education and our futures, instead of funding destruction. It’s more important than ever for the working class and young people to stand up.
Southampton college students struggling to cope
Nick Chaffey, Southampton Socialist students Organiser
While discussing with groups of students and staff at Southampton City College about the problems they face not in education, planning for a future came up – securing jobs, coping with the dangers of city life, and rising knife crime.
Staff explained how keen students are, signing up for apprenticeships, but finding it difficult to get an employer to take them on. Why doesn’t the council step in and offer training in construction, so we have a ‘direct works’ team to refurbish the 600 empty council homes that could dent the waiting list?
Southampton Labour council closed all its youth centres in 2012. Socialist’s fought those cuts, and we warned the council the impact it would have.
Young people should have access to safe activity and support. With a guaranteed job, training, or place in education, young people would have a genuine future.
Most weeks over the summer we’ve held a city centre campaign stall in the afternoon, before our we meet. We chat with young people who gather there after school and college finishes.
This week was better than ever. Young people from two other colleges, and one of the local unis, signed up for the 20 November walkout.
All had different reasons. Young people are angry.
We spoke to two young women who had grown up in care, recognising that their families could have stayed together if they had been given support at the time, when life was falling apart. Two young school students wanted to know how they could organise the walkout.
We explained how students had responded over climate change, with the huge school strikes. The key is get organised, and hold regular meetings.
Begin a discussion on the issues facing young people, and how the walkout can attract greater numbers, pressuring councils and governments into making concessions to the needs of young people.
Already, some who have signed up want to come to our meetings and hear more. Events are pushing young people to conclude they need to get active and fight for their future.
Greenwich students back working-class unity against racism and far right
Sofia Pandolfi, South London Socialist Students organiser
Socialist Students campaigned outside the welcome fair at the University of Greenwich Avery Hill campus, discussing with students the need to build a political voice on campus, and be part of the international youth strike on 20 November to fight for our future. 20 students signed up to know more about and join Socialist Students.
A few students who took leaflets said they did not consider themselves ‘political’. Despite claiming not to know about politics, they did understand from their experiences of worrying over getting a job, the extremely high cost of living, the travel expense of commuting to university, and the debt they’ll graduate with – the crises that young people face today.
We explained why the education and unemployment crisis we’re experiencing is a product of a system that prioritises profit, and invests in war over our future. Joining Socialist Students means fighting against cuts to our education and public services, funding our needs rather than increasing university tuition fees, and for a socialist transformation of society that can offer students and young people better opportunities and a real future.
Students expressed anger towards the far right, and worry over the threat of Reform. They were interested in the need to build unity amongst young and working-class people to fight back against the division and racism fuelled by the far right.
Brighton college students want to fight back
Callum Joyce, Brighton Socialist Students Organiser
We visited Brighton Met College to build support for the international youth walkouts on 20 November. One student remembered us from last year, when we were campaigning at the same college for walkouts against the state visit of US president Donald Trump to the UK.
We leafleted students during their lunch break. We had good discussions – they wanted to talk about the education funding crisis, what we thought about the Green Party, and the government’s plans to increase military spending.
We are revisiting the college every week. We arm students, who are looking to fight back, with a campaign and a strategy that they can use to do so.
We will invite university students that we meet at the freshers’ fairs to come join us campaigning at the college. For a lot of students, this is their first time discussing the idea of political activity. We hope it will be the basis for building a fighting student organisation here, and at other schools and colleges around Brighton.
As an immediate next step, we are organising a student protest on 25 September in solidarity with German school students, who are walking out against militarisation on that day – a launchpad for the Europe-wide action on 20 November.
Birmingham City Uni – angry about lack of jobs and education cuts
Nick Hart, Birmingham Socialist Students organiser
On the first day of welcome week, Birmingham City University Socialist Students got an excellent response. Both students and the public were angry at the lack of job opportunities for graduates, and universities prioritising the bottom line over quality of teaching.
One student walking past, stopped, took a leaflet, removed his earbuds, and told us he was just that minute listening to an audiobook of ‘What Is To Be Done’ by leader of the Russian Revolution Lenin.
Bristol youth looking for an alternative
Clint Hatcher, Bristol North Socialist Students Organiser
Our first campaign stall of this educational year was packed with students wanting to find out more on how they can organise in the college, and build towards the 20 November student walkouts. We’re hoping an informal meeting will take place after our next stall, with students wanting to find out more about setting up a Socialist Students society in their college.
The crisis of capitalism is apparent now more than ever for young people. Socialist’s can point to these issues, and put forward a programme to fight against rampant militarism and austerity.
As we enter the new educational year, all kinds of students are desperately seeking an alternative to the broken system they will inherit.
Since the start of September, the US has carried out further bombing on Iran. A recent strike hit a residential building and a wedding ceremony, killing four people and injuring more than 60. This isn’t an isolated incident, but an increasingly regular occurrence in the era of war which we live in today. The ongoing slaughter in Gaza is another stark example, so too the brutal attacks on Palestinians in the West Bank, and the many casualties in the Russia-Ukraine war.
In Gaza, hundreds of people have been killed this year, despite the so-called ‘ceasefire’. On top of this, Itamar Ben-Gvir, Israel’s minister of national security, demonstrated the cold callousness that capitalist politicians are capable of when he posted an AI-generated video on social media, depicting Palestinians being transported on a conveyor belt into a detention camp, alongside the caption ‘We promised – we delivered!’
Young people today are entering adulthood in a world characterised by instability and increasing wars. At the same time, the climate crisis is only getting worse, driving disasters such as the dreadful flooding in Nepal. In Britain, bus drivers have been forced to take strike action to win action over extreme working temperatures. Rents have also reached unsustainably high levels, with many young people unable to afford to move out of their parents’ houses, and with the idea of owning their own home growing increasingly out of reach.
These crises are not separate. They are symptoms of a system that puts profit above everything else, and therefore at the expense of everything else.
Climate change, war and division are all a result of the reckless destruction of the capitalist system. Therefore, we must fight for an alternative.
That is why Socialist Students is working with a growing number of youth organisations across Europe to build for a coordinated day of student walkouts and youth strikes on 20 November. We want to make it clear that we won’t stand for capitalist chaos, and are fighting internationally for our futures, not their wars.
Join the international youth strike on 20 November
Tom Gibson, Yorkshire Socialist Students
August saw thousands of students walk out of schools, colleges and universities in Australia against the reactionary right-populist politician Pauline Hanson.
Hanson uses dog-whistle politics against minority communities, particularly the Muslim and trans communities, while portraying herself as the only alternative to the establishment’s hated two-party system; a familiar pattern.
Despite a recent rise in the polls, she is very unpopular with younger Australians, the majority of whom are repulsed by her reactionary social views and anti-working class economic policies.
The walkouts were organised by the National Union of Students in response to increasingly repulsive rhetoric from Hanson, and took place all across Australia. Thousands turned out, despite the ‘Labor’ government condemning the protests, summing up how the so-called ‘progressive’ capitalist politicians view actual resistance to far-right politics. This criticism did not deter the students, nor did Hanson’s asinine comments about the students’ action being funded by China.
On 20 November, students internationally will be walking out, protesting against the symptoms of the capitalist system: war, inequality, bigotry and climate disaster. Socialist Students is building for walkouts in Britain to be as big as possible.
The walkouts in Australia are yet another inspiring example of youth taking action worldwide.
Young people were curious about how they can change the world on our Socialist Students stall outside Capital City College in Hackney.
The principle came out and said: “You aren’t going to get very far with your activism, they don’t care about politics”. This was after two staff members said they supported the youth strike on 20 November.
Many young people took leaflets, asking how they could take action against war and climate change. The issues of unemployment and low pay came up too.
A couple of students asked if we were going to be here next week, so we could discuss further about the youth strike and socialist ideas. One passerby took a leaflet, and said he was going to give it to his daughter.
Young people are ready to fight back. We need to build student unions to discuss these ideas and a socialist alternative in schools, colleges and universities. If you’re interested, join Socialist Students, and alongside 20 other organisations across Europe, start building for the international youth strike on 20 November.
Preston
Penelope Dawber, Preston Socialist Students
Socialist Students has done three campaign stalls at Cardinal Newman College in the last week. We have handed out over 400 leaflets in support of the 20 November international youth strike.
Several students have already scanned the QR code and given us their numbers, so they can get involved. We’ll return soon to help grow the movement amongst college students even more.
Wolverhampton
Josie Shelley, Black Country Socialist Students
Even students who saw themselves as ‘non-political’ agreed with our ideas on fighting for education, jobs, housing, and services – especially on the struggles they will face as young adults.
We had a lot of interest in our campaign stall outside Wolverhampton College. It was the first day of term, so the atmosphere was lively.
We gave out loads of leaflets, and also sold our Socialist paper. All in all a very positive response.
Many young people growing up today are rightfully recognising that the capitalist system cannot offer us a future. In 2021, polling from the pro-free-market think tank the Institute of Economic Affairs showed that 78% of 16-to-34-year-olds blamed capitalism for Britain’s housing crisis, and 67% said they would prefer to live under a socialist economic system.
And this should come as no surprise. For young people today, the world often feels as if it is moving in only one direction – and that direction is not a positive one. With the rapid shifts and compounding crises of this era, it can feel like the living conditions of millions across the world are deteriorating day by day.
The genocidal war on the Palestinians – waged at the behest of the Israeli regime and backed by Western capitalist powers – has left a lasting imprint on an entire generation. Outraged, many young people have turned to mass protest, joining university campus encampments and the massive weekend demonstrations across the country.
The US-Israel war on Iran typifies this era of capitalist crisis. Despite overwhelming global opposition to the war – especially among young people – Donald Trump, serving as the naked face of declining US imperialism, attempts to shore up the interests of American capitalism abroad. By doing so, this war continues to trigger severe economic shocks and crises, doing nothing for the interests of workers and young people alike in America.
Because of the global nature of capitalism, even if Britain is not directly involved in the war against Iran, its consequences will be felt here, too. The British housing crisis has only worsened since 2021, and there are now over one million young people not in education, employment, or training (NEET).
And how does the tiny capitalist elite try and stay in their position? They promote divisive ideas to try and hide who the real enemy is – the super-rich. The disgusting rhetoric of the likes of Trump, Farage and more as they seek to protect their rich mates has spurred us into action. We have protested against racism, transphobia, sexism and more.
All of this is occurring while the world is on fire – and not just politically. We have witnessed devastating wildfires across Europe, even as capitalist politicians like Trump deny the reality of climate change. We can see that politicians are liars who do not rule on their behalf. It is the billionaires controlling the oil industry, AI, and Big Tech whom Trump and his ilk seek to defend.
This explains the wave of youth protests and revolts worldwide. Whether it is the 55,000-strong school strikes against militarisation in Germany or the recent ‘cockroach’ movement in India, young people are increasingly understanding that capitalism offers nothing but war and austerity for them, while offering wealth and prosperity for the ruling class.
Young people and students have no choice but to get organised. Capitalism has proven that it offers us no future. This is why I am joining the international youth walkouts on 20 November, organised by various youth organisations across Europe, including Socialist Students in England and Wales. These November walkouts provide a vital opportunity for young people to express our discontent and anger. Fighting for our futures requires organisation, which is why Socialist Students is campaigning to make 20 November as large as possible. We believe that socialist change is the solution to war, climate chaos, and unemployment.
We will be organising both before and after 20 November to help provide the leadership needed in this age of capitalist decay. We want 20 November to be a first step towards building an international youth movement to fight for a socialist future. Join us.
Joe Woolfall, Liverpool Socialist Students
Walking out…
…to fight climate change
The world is burning. We can see it burning on TV. We can see it burning outside our homes this summer.
What is being done? In November, world leaders will meet again, this time at the COP31 climate conference in Turkey.
But every year, nothing is done, and climate change gets worse. These world leaders all defend a capitalist system that is about putting short-term profit first.
Oil giants Shell and BP have just recently doubled their profits. Even new Labour ‘change’ prime minister Andy Burnham is thinking of expanding North Sea drilling.
On the basis of capitalism, we don’t have a future. But workers are fighting back.
The Fire Brigades Union has just beaten service cuts in Kent – saving jobs, engines, and stations.
Bus drivers in Unite the Union, where I live in north London, are striking against the unbearably hot conditions they work in all day. On the picket line, one driver showed us 48°C in their cab!
If workers are fighting back, we need to fight back too. Young people will be walking out to fight for a future free from climate catastrophe.
Because there is an alternative. Socialist Students says the big polluters and big business needs to be democratically nationalised. With socialist change we can meet the needs of our society, people, and planet.
Paul Ilkley, Enfield
…for high-quality, free education
Over one million young people aged 16-24 years old in the UK are NEET, meaning ‘not in education, employment, or training.’ One tenth of these are university graduates. The capitalists have been scratching their heads as to what the reason might be; everything from smartphones to mental health diagnoses have been thrown out as suggestions.
What they won’t consider, however, is the gutting of the education sector that has taken place over the last 20 years at their own hands.
The National Education Union (NEU) warns that there will be a £630 million real-terms cut to school funding in the coming year. As much as the Burnham government pays lip service to the importance of apprenticeships and technical skills, without funding these subjects will have to be dropped by schools.
University students are not only being fleeced by ever-increasing student loans, but they are paying for a worse product as university services keep getting shut down. The University of Gloucestershire, in my area, is currently selling off one of its campuses, which includes an extensive library. The staff are not taking this lying down, however – earlier this year they went on strike for fair pay, not having had a real-terms pay-rise in 17 years.
Compare these cuts to Labour’s proposed £15 billion increase on military spending, a number which the Tories say isn’t high enough! Worse yet, a ‘Defence Universities Alliance’ has been set up by the Ministry of Defence, which aims to ‘build the highly skilled workforce needed to support the UK’s future defence capability.’
It is clear that the capitalist class doesn’t care to invest in our education, and young people need to join the fightback against them to make our voices heard.
I’m building walkouts to fight for a future which has high-quality free education for all, fully funded and democratically controlled so its not big companies like in the defence industry calling the tune.
Billy Jones, Gloucester
…against the cost-of-living crisis
Like everyone in the country, young people today are facing soaring food prices amid the worsening cost-of-living crisis. Even for those that have found work, inconsistent hours and low pay mean that the bulk of our income goes on the basic essentials.
As a full-time student in part-time work, maintaining a healthy, balanced diet is a constant struggle. Quality ingredients are expensive and time-consuming to prepare, not to mention a long bus journey away. I often find myself defaulting to a diet of baked beans, meal deals and frozen pizza.
Supermarkets continue to rake in huge profits, with Tesco reporting an increase of 8.5% over the course of 2025. Food prices have risen in turn by roughly 38% since 2020. Anger over this surge prompted the Labour government to suggest a voluntary price caps on essentials, which was predictably met with frenzied resistance from the bosses.
Our food security is being undermined on multiple fronts. Domestic food production has taken a hit, with wheat yields falling by over 10% due to the extreme heat and widespread droughts.
Internationally, Trump’s war on Iran and the resulting closure of the strait of Hormuz has cut off an essential trade route for both fertiliser and food. Ukraine, crucial for global food production, has cut grain export forecasts by 12% due to Russian attacks on seaports.
Production costs will continue to rise, being passed on to consumers in order to maintain the profits of billionaire shareholders.
For those not born into wealth, this country has nothing to offer besides a failing welfare system, unstable work and skyrocketing prices on essentials, disproportionately affecting young people. While we can barely afford to put food on the table, the wealthy are diverting billions to fight their wars. It’s time to take our future into our own hands and take the wealth off the super-rich. Walk out on 20 November!
Daniel Bassey, York Socialist Students
…for real jobs
Young working-class people today face an unprecedented situation where our living standards are lower than that of the previous generation.
Record levels of youth unemployment (16.4%) paint a grim image for prospects for young people leaving education. This stat doesn’t even show the full image, many young people also find themselves in exploitative zero-hours contracts. We are the majority of zero-hour workers overall. Despite the promise to ban zero-hours contracts, the Labour government is still dragging its feet (see page 10).
We need decent jobs and decent pay. The money being poured into military spending could be put to use on things we actually need. Socially useful jobs fixing our crumbling infrastructure would be a start.
Thomas Butler, Liverpool Socialist Students
Get organised and fight for socialism
To fight for our futures, and all the reasons to walk out, we can’t do it on our own – we need to get organised. Socialist Students have groups at universities, colleges and schools across the country. We are campaigning and want to build the types of organisation we need: campaigning, democratic, and linked up with others across the country.
For those of us at school or college, that might mean building a fighting student union. A student union is a group of students who discuss the issues affecting them and collectively take action to change things.
This means democratically discussing and deciding what issue to campaign on and what actions to take collectively to do so.
Student unions could call for an end to repressive measures, like unfair uniform policies. Demand affordable prices for canteen meals and school trips. Support education staff when they take strike action. Protest against racism, sexism and all attacks on young people.
The first step could be calling a meeting, either at a break in the canteen or after school in a local café. You can then discuss with your classmates about the next steps, like organising a campaign stall and how to start building support for the 20 November walkouts.
To fight for our futures we need to fight for socialism
Capitalism puts the interests of a tiny few and their short-term profits above the expense of our futures. As capitalism goes further into crisis, our living standards are on the chopping block. We need to organise for a socialist alternative.
Under socialism, the working class, which makes society function, would take control of the vast wealth and resources, and democratically plan what we produce and how it is distributed for the needs of us all, rather than what makes the most profit for the super-rich.
This means we could make sure that everyone’s needs are met, with high-quality genuinely affordable council housing, free public transport and so much more.
Scrolling online, we see the horror taking place in our world.
From the onslaught on Gaza to devastating wars in Ukraine and Iran. Climate chaos, pollution in our rivers, fire and extreme heat. As our planet spirals into chaos, companies that sell weapons or pollute our planet make record profits, at the expense of our future.
There’s little support for our mental health, made worse by repressive measures in schools and colleges, such as the locking of toilets or isolation, treating us like we’re prisoners, when we should be learning. Underfunding means lack of support, fewer specialist teachers, our school dinners becoming lower quality and unaffordable, fewer school trips and broken facilities that go for months without being fixed.
Outside of school and college, the high cost of living means we have to pay more and more for stationery, transport and food. Our youth spaces are being closed, and leisure centres costing more has meant we have little to do.
But it doesn’t have to be like this.
The super-rich have their political parties, media and organisations to further their interests. Workers have trade unions where they discuss issues and take collective action to increase their living standards. If others can organise, why can’t we?
We need campaigning student unions in our schools and colleges, where we meet with our classmates and take action over the issues that affect us. Individually we can be angry but collectively we can take action.
We also need to organise against the profit-first capitalist system. Capitalism’s main incentive is to create as much profit as possible at the expense of our futures. We need a socialist society where working-class people collectively run society for the needs of all and the environment rather than the super-rich.
This is why Socialist Students in this country is a part of international youth walkouts on Friday 20 November. Socialist Students calls on school, college and university students to walk out of their institutions on 20 November to send a message that we will fight for our futures, against this capitalist system.
There are over 20 organisations across Europe involved in the international youth strikes. Those in Germany led a strike of over 50,000 school students walking out against conscription earlier in the year, and in Italy there have been tens of thousands of students taking action annually. This time we can be part of it. There are many issues affecting our future, the point is to take action on 20 November to change it!
Socialist Students – which organised walkouts of school, college and university students last September in protest against Donald Trump’s state visit to the UK – is one of twenty European youth and student organisations planning action.
The International Youth Strike has been launched by a coalition of anti-war youth and student organisations from ten European countries, including the UK. The coalition includes youth and student sections of political parties, national students’ unions, independent socialist youth organisations and anti-war campaign groups.
The ‘strike’ is being organised in response to what the coalition describes as a historic acceleration of militarisation across Europe. As governments commit hundreds of billions of euros to military spending, organisers argue that young people’s futures are being sacrificed to finance preparations for war.
Organisers have pointed to this summer’s European wildfires as burning evidence for why young people need to get organised and take action for their futures. 20 November was the date chosen for the International Youth Strike, as the final scheduled day of this year’s UN Climate Change Conference (COP31) in Turkey – a day that many young people will see as yet another ‘talking shop’ while governments gear up for war.
Socialist Students was one of the organisations present at an assembly held in Cologne in June, where the aim for an international youth strike on 20 November was initially agreed.
Socialist Students national secretary, Adam Gillman, said: “By building the international youth walkouts this autumn, we hope to be part of building an international youth movement for socialism, not the war and permanent crisis that capitalism means for young people’s futures. We have been inspired by the example of students fighting against the threat of conscription in Germany, and want to strengthen and spread the youth fightback to Britain.”
Socialist Students members will be out building for 20 November over the rest of this summer – putting up posters, giving out leaflets and calling public youth meetings in towns and cities across the UK – in preparation for the start of the new term in September.
