Without understanding the particular plight of trans women, only a blunted and partial view of gender is possible. And without a systemic view of gender, political solutions to that plight will be equally limited.
Archive | 2017
Militarism and monopoly capitalism
Why are so many modern capitalist societies addicted to militarism? On the one hand, these societies are intensely growth oriented and expansionist. On the other hand, militarism is a convenient way of absorbing economic surplus and thereby countering the stagnationist propensity of monopoly capitalism.
Venezuela sees “historic” turnout in National Constituent Assembly elections
Speaking from the Plaza Bolivar in Caracas shortly after the CNE announcement, President Nicolas Maduro hailed the large vote total as indicative of the new body’s legitimacy.
Land grabs and uneven development in Cambodia
The global labor arbitrage means the only competitive “advantage” available to most countries is forcing workers to accept slave wages and environmental standards low enough to lure in multinationals. If the population resists, the only means available to diffuse it is brutal repression.
Trump is not the Venezuelan supreme court
The US Empire consists of allied governments like Canada, private media companies and prominent NGOs who all share its delusion that it is entitled to decide which government is a “dictatorship” that “must go”. It is a truly formidable and lethal system of misinformation. Leftists should always have done more to challenge the US Empire […]
Trump just delivered the most chilling speech of his presidency
Trump sent a message to Latinos in America — both unauthorized immigrants who are liable to be arrested by ICE at any time and might be falsely accused of gang membership in the process, and legal immigrants and citizens who nonetheless might “look like a gang member” to the wrong person based on the color […]
Did the Koch family buy a piece of the University of Utah to ‘balance’ a Marxist faculty?
Koch and the countering of Marxian and Keynesian econoimcs at the University of Utah.
Trump and the christian fascists
Donald Trump’s ideological vacuum, the more he is isolated and attacked, is being filled by the Christian right. This Christianized fascism, with its network of megachurches, schools, universities and law schools and its vast radio and television empire, is a potent ally for a beleaguered White House.
The crisis in Venezuela and the left
The media keep silent about the violence of the Venezuelan opposition and the prevailing repression by the right-wing governments of Latin America. The Right’s strategy of an institutional coup faces serious limits, but the Left must address this new threat, supporting anti-imperialist decisions and making a distinction between the capitalist boycott and the government’s ineffectiveness.
The Momentum video that has divided opinion
I just don’t get why Jeremy Corbyn is so popular.
New Google algorithm restricts access to left-wing, progressive web sites
The company said in a blog post that the central purpose of the change to its search algorithm was to give the search giant greater control in identifying content deemed objectionable by its guidelines. It declared that it had “improved our evaluation methods and made algorithmic updates” in order “to surface more authoritative content.”
Trump hits Venezuela with new sanctions as CIA chief plugs intervention
The Trump government’s latest sanctions against Caracas come just two days after Venezuelan Foreign Minister Samuel Moncada publicly revealed that the US Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) was working alongside governments in Mexico and Colombia to topple the Maduro government.
Fighting for Okinawa
Our story though, is much more than three short paragraphs in a textbook. It is a story about a people’s determination for sovereignty in the face of imperialism, resilience in midst of colonization, and perseverance for peace as survivors of war. Our story is urgent and it is a call for global action in the […]
Militant particularism and ecosocialism
Marx showed how history was materially transformed through a series of contradictions toward greater complexity, but held out the promise of one particular class representing the universal interests of humanity, if activated within objective conditions by political agency. The problem today is that cyclical and conjunctural crises that have propelled capitalism to hegemonic global reach […]
Unions fight inequality
The decline in unionization is one of the most important factors promoting the concentration of income at the upper end of the income distribution. The statement may not surprise you, but the fact that this was the conclusion of an IMF study of the causes of inequality might.
US debates sanctions on Nicaragua for backing Venezuela
The United States Committee on Foreign Relations is due to discuss the bill known as the Nicaraguan Investment Conditionality Act of 2017, or Nica Act on Thursday. It seeks to add conditions to the provision of aid from international financial institutions to the country.
In retrospect: Das Kapital
The book’s impact on economics, politics and current affairs has been formidable, and aspects of Marx’s thinking have permeated areas of scientific research as disparate as robotics and evolutionary theory.
Does David Roediger disagree with Ellen Meiksins Wood?
How does race relate to class in capitalism? Is it intrinsic and essential to the reproduction of capital, or merely an accidental feature of particular capitals? In this recent essay by Richard Seymour, and originally published on his Patreon, Seymour considers a debate within Marxism on the relationship between class, race and capitalism.
Drone warfare: The death of precision
With Obama’s “precision ethos” behind us and the “Trump doctrine” ahead. Neither is perfect, but latter with the priority for percision gone, is much more dangerous.
Boy Scouts Jamboree compared to Hitler Youth Rally after Trump’s speech
The president spoke to 24,000 Scouts ranging in age from 12 to 18, as eight presidents have before him. Unlike previous presidents, however, Trump appeared to view the event as an opportunity to slam his political opponents and the news media, call for “loyalty,” and rail against the “cesspool” of Washington, D.C., as the audience […]
