During the current pandemic, the modern world has had to adapt the way it operates. Ranging from face-to-face meetings moving towards online meetings, interviews taking place online to dance classes from home, we find a way to live under lockdown. However these are only the superficial changes experienced during the health emergency. But are all changes during COVID a sign of well-placed government concern and progress? Or are some designed to weaken the small protections we have left?

The world is reeling from the brutal reality of Covid-19. It has killed hundreds of thousands of poor and marginalised people, changed daily life as we know it, and brought the fragile world capitalist economy to its knees. But the effects of stay-at-home orders, while necessary for the health of people, has brought about disturbing realities for victims of domestic abuse whose lives and well-being have been put in greater danger.

The eradication of poverty has been a principal goal of the Communist movement from its inception. Of course, victory over poverty is not the only objective of the Communist movement. It aims to achieve a classless society in which every person is empowered to lead a creative and fulfilling life. The world has changed markedly in the one hundred and fifty plus years that have transpired since the publication of the Communist Manifesto, but the scourges of poverty, inequality and exploitation remain.