Uploaded March 2026 | Updated September 2026, 3 weeks ago
Spectre of Communism – the theoretical podcast of the RCI – kicks off a new season by exploring one of the most fundamental and important topics of today: imperialism 💵
First explained by Vladimir Lenin in his 1916 book of the same name, imperialism has come to define the past century. From countless wars to the economic dominance of giant monopolies, it has destroyed the lives of billions of people 🦅
Much has changed since Lenin put pen to paper, but the core ideas and developments he described remain as relevant as ever. In fact, the parasitic features of imperialism have only become more pronounced, with monopolisation and the concentration of capital reaching truly obscene levels 📈
Today, three asset management firms – BlackRock, Vanguard, and State Street – control over $22 trillion in assets and hold major stakes in 88% of S&P 500 companies. The world's richest 1% own more wealth than 95% of humanity, while developing countries pay $487 billion to foreign lenders every single year. Meanwhile, the number of wars and conflicts is at its highest since the Second World War, as rivalry between the major imperialist powers intensifies 🧨
In this episode, Joe Attard is joined by Jorge Martín, leading member of the RCI, to discuss why understanding imperialism is a prerequisite for fighting it ✊
📖 SOURCES AND READING 📖
➡️ Imperialism: The Highest Stage of Capitalism, wellred-books.com/imperialism-the-highest-stage-of-capitalism
➡️ The network of global corporate control, arxiv.org/abs/1107.5728
➡️ World’s top 1% own more wealth than 95% of humanity, as “the shadow of global oligarchy hangs over UN General Assembly,” says Oxfam, oxfam.org/en/press-releases/worlds-top-1-own-more-wealth-95-humanity-shadow-global-oligarchy-hangs-over-un
➡️ How asset managers like BlackRock took over the world, blogs.lse.ac.uk/lsereviewofbooks/2025/06/16/how-asset-managers-like-blackrock-took-over-the-world-vulture-capitalism-extract-grace-blakeley
➡️ Direct Investment by Country and Industry, bea.gov/data/intl-trade-investment/direct-investment-country-and-industry
➡️ Marxism and the Struggle Against Imperialism: Third World in Crisis, marxist.com/marxism-struggle-imperialism250698.htm
➡️ Countries with the largest gross domestic product (GDP) in 2025, statista.com/statistics/268173/countries-with-the-largest-gross-domestic-product-gdp
➡️ Imperialism today and the character of Russia and China, marxist.com/imperialism-today-and-the-character-of-russia-and-china.htm
➡️ Developing countries face record-high public debt burdens, unctad.org/news/developing-countries-face-record-high-public-debt-burdens-now-time-reform
➡️ Putting debt-strapped countries on a sustainable path, blogs.worldbank.org/en/voices/putting-debt-strapped-countries-on-a-sustainable-path
➡️ Which countries owe the IMF the most money in 2025?, aljazeera.com/news/2025/10/16/which-countries-owe-the-imf-the-most-money-in-2025
➡️ There Is Only One Sphere of Influence: Why America Can Project Power With Little Constraint—and Its Rivals Cannot, foreignaffairs.com/united-states/there-only-one-sphere-influence
➡️ How Pharma and Its Consultants Abuse the Patent System, i-mak.org/2025/03/25/how-pharma-and-its-consultants-abuse-the-patent-system
➡️ Pandemics, profiteering and big pharma: how capitalism plagues public health, marxist.com/pandemics-profiteering-and-big-pharma-how-capitalism-plagues-public-health.htm
➡️ Drugs companies putting profits before millions of people's lives, marxist.com/drugs-companies-profits-hiv150301.htm
➡️ The World's 15 Biggest Landowners, businessinsider.com/worlds-biggest-landowners-2011-3
➡️ National Security Strategy of the United States of America, whitehouse.gov/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/2025-National-Security-Strategy.pdf
⏱️ TIMESTAMPS ⏱️
0:00 Introduction
2:10 Why and how Lenin wrote ‘Imperialism’
6:30 The definition of imperialism
11:00 Prefaces
13:00 Ch 1-2: The predominance of monopolies
25:47 Ch 3-4: Finance capital and export of capital
44:37 Ch 5-6: The (re)division of the world
59:00 Is China imperialist?
1:04:40 Debt = theft
1:12:17 Ch 7: Imperialism as a special stage of capitalism
1:22:04 Ch 8: Parasitism and decay of capitalism
1:35:15 Ch 9-10: The place of imperialism in history
1:46:13 The struggle against imperialism
🌐 LINKS 🌐
✊ Join the Revolutionary Communist International: marxist.com/join-us.htm
🎧 Spotify: open.spotify.com/show/68nGNHz5lB8UZXICGIDMva?si=682ef70551644443
📱 Apple Podcasts: podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/against-the-stream/id1777793987
📸 Instagram: instagram.com/revcomintern
💬 Twitter: https://x.com/revcomintern/
Spectre of Communism – the theoretical podcast of the RCI – kicks off a new season by exploring one of the most fundamental and important topics of today: imperialism 💵
First explained by Vladimir Lenin in his 1916 book of the same name, imperialism has come to define the past century. From countless wars to the economic dominance of giant monopolies, it has destroyed the lives of billions of people 🦅
Much has changed since Lenin put pen to paper, but the core ideas and developments he described remain as relevant as ever. In fact, the parasitic features of imperialism have only become more pronounced, with monopolisation and the concentration of capital reaching truly obscene levels 📈
Today, three asset management firms – BlackRock, Vanguard, and State Street – control over $22 trillion in assets and hold major stakes in 88% of S&P 500 companies. The world's richest 1% own more wealth than 95% of humanity, while developing countries pay $487 billion to foreign lenders every single year. Meanwhile, the number of wars and conflicts is at its highest since the Second World War, as rivalry between the major imperialist powers intensifies 🧨
In this episode, Joe Attard is joined by Jorge Martín, leading member of the RCI, to discuss why understanding imperialism is a prerequisite for fighting it ✊
📖 SOURCES AND READING 📖
➡️ Imperialism: The Highest Stage of Capitalism, wellred-books.com/imperialism-the-highest-stage-of-capitalism
➡️ The network of global corporate control, arxiv.org/abs/1107.5728
➡️ World’s top 1% own more wealth than 95% of humanity, as “the shadow of global oligarchy hangs over UN General Assembly,” says Oxfam, oxfam.org/en/press-releases/worlds-top-1-own-more-wealth-95-humanity-shadow-global-oligarchy-hangs-over-un
➡️ How asset managers like BlackRock took over the world, blogs.lse.ac.uk/lsereviewofbooks/2025/06/16/how-asset-managers-like-blackrock-took-over-the-world-vulture-capitalism-extract-grace-blakeley
➡️ Direct Investment by Country and Industry, bea.gov/data/intl-trade-investment/direct-investment-country-and-industry
➡️ Marxism and the Struggle Against Imperialism: Third World in Crisis, marxist.com/marxism-struggle-imperialism250698.htm
➡️ Countries with the largest gross domestic product (GDP) in 2025, statista.com/statistics/268173/countries-with-the-largest-gross-domestic-product-gdp
➡️ Imperialism today and the character of Russia and China, marxist.com/imperialism-today-and-the-character-of-russia-and-china.htm
➡️ Developing countries face record-high public debt burdens, unctad.org/news/developing-countries-face-record-high-public-debt-burdens-now-time-reform
➡️ Putting debt-strapped countries on a sustainable path, blogs.worldbank.org/en/voices/putting-debt-strapped-countries-on-a-sustainable-path
➡️ Which countries owe the IMF the most money in 2025?, aljazeera.com/news/2025/10/16/which-countries-owe-the-imf-the-most-money-in-2025
➡️ There Is Only One Sphere of Influence: Why America Can Project Power With Little Constraint—and Its Rivals Cannot, foreignaffairs.com/united-states/there-only-one-sphere-influence
➡️ How Pharma and Its Consultants Abuse the Patent System, i-mak.org/2025/03/25/how-pharma-and-its-consultants-abuse-the-patent-system
➡️ Pandemics, profiteering and big pharma: how capitalism plagues public health, marxist.com/pandemics-profiteering-and-big-pharma-how-capitalism-plagues-public-health.htm
➡️ Drugs companies putting profits before millions of people's lives, marxist.com/drugs-companies-profits-hiv150301.htm
➡️ The World's 15 Biggest Landowners, businessinsider.com/worlds-biggest-landowners-2011-3
➡️ National Security Strategy of the United States of America, whitehouse.gov/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/2025-National-Security-Strategy.pdf
⏱️ TIMESTAMPS ⏱️
0:00 Introduction
2:10 Why and how Lenin wrote ‘Imperialism’
6:30 The definition of imperialism
11:00 Prefaces
13:00 Ch 1-2: The predominance of monopolies
25:47 Ch 3-4: Finance capital and export of capital
44:37 Ch 5-6: The (re)division of the world
59:00 Is China imperialist?
1:04:40 Debt = theft
1:12:17 Ch 7: Imperialism as a special stage of capitalism
1:22:04 Ch 8: Parasitism and decay of capitalism
1:35:15 Ch 9-10: The place of imperialism in history
1:46:13 The struggle against imperialism
🌐 LINKS 🌐
✊ Join the Revolutionary Communist International: marxist.com/join-us.htm
🎧 Spotify: open.spotify.com/show/68nGNHz5lB8UZXICGIDMva?si=682ef70551644443
📱 Apple Podcasts: podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/against-the-stream/id1777793987
📸 Instagram: instagram.com/revcomintern
💬 Twitter: https://x.com/revcomintern/
