In US capitalism’s greatest financial crisis since the 1930s Depression, status-quo ideology swirls. The goal is to keep this crisis under control, to prevent it from challenging capitalism itself. One method is to keep public debate from raising the issue of whether and how class changes — basic economic system changes — might be the […]
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The Poverty of 21st Century Progressivism
“The West is living through an economic and social crisis so unprecedented in its tempo, so complex in its effects, that there are many who do not know that it is taking place.” — Michael Harrington, The Next Left (1987) The nationalization of American International […]
The Truth Suffers in Human Rights Watch Report on Venezuela
On September 18, 2008 Human Rights Watch released a report entitled “Venezuela: Rights Suffer Under Chávez.” The report contains biases and inaccuracies, and wrongly purports that human rights guarantees are lacking or not properly enforced in Venezuela. In addition, while criticizing Venezuela’s human rights in the political context, it fails to mention the […]
Elegy
Elegy is a fitting title for Spanish director Isabel Coixet’s recent adaptation of the short novel by Philip Roth, The Dying Animal. It is a pensive lament for its principal character, who sadly is never fully realized in this work. The film follows the life of sixty-something David Kepesh (Ben Kingsley), a professor and critic […]
Bolivia: Indigenous Government Defies US-backed Fascists
Relative calm has returned to Bolivia following a three-week offensive of violence and terrorism launched by the US-backed right-wing opposition denounced by Bolivian President Evo Morales as a “civil coup.” This campaign of terror, centered on the four resource-rich eastern departments (Santa Cruz, Pando, Beni, and Tarija) known as the media luna (half moon), was […]
SA and Zimbabwe Politicos Join Global Financiers in Self-Destruction
The past week has been a wild roller-coaster ride in and out of Southern African ruling-party politics, down the troughs of world capitalism, and up the peaks of radical social activism. Glancing around the region and world from those peaks, we can see quite a way further than usual. Looking first to South Africa, Saturday’s […]
Crisis of Capitalism and the Left
A new crisis of capitalism, in the style of 1929. The theories of casino capitalism are confirmed. The US government contradicts itself again and heavily intervenes, demonstrating that its confidence in the market isn’t as great as its propaganda displayed. Neoliberal capitalism spills its guts, and the theories of the Left — Keynesian or anti-capitalist […]
The Financial Meltdown Continues
Virtually the only certainty in the current financial situation is that there will be more problems ahead. Those who controlled the levers of economic and financial policy neglected their greatest responsibility, which was to ensure an orderly financial market and prevent exactly the sort of collapse that we are now seeing. This was a policy […]
The New World Geopolitical Order: End of Act I
It would be a mistake to underestimate the importance of the agreement on September 8 between Nicolas Sarkozy of France in his capacity as current president of the European Union (EU) and Dmitri Medvedev, President of Russia. It marks the definitive end of Act I of the new world geopolitical order. What was decided? The […]
Luis Bilbao: For the United States, the Key Is Bolivia
If the United States manages to unleash a civil war in Bolivia, the plan is to extend it throughout the region and to resort to massive and extensive use of violence to regain ground, said Luis Bilbao, director of Revista América XXI, in an interview with Ernesto Villegas (via satellite) for the VTV program “Mediodías […]
Third World: Is Another Debt Crisis in the Offing?
While taking a significant toll on public revenues,1 repayment of the public debt has, since 2004, ceased to be a major concern for most middle-revenue countries and for raw material-exporting countries in general. In fact the majority of governments of these countries are having no trouble finding loans at historically low interest rates. However, the […]
Laurel, Mississippi
The graphic above is based on David Bacon, “Workers Overcome Divisions after Mississippi Raid,” TruthOut, 8 September 2008. For information on how to support the workers in Laurel, go to . Andy Pollack blogs at . | | Print
The Making of the 2008 Koshi Disaster
Analytical Monthly Review, published in Kharagpur, West Bengal, India, is a sister edition of Monthly Review. Its September 2008 issue features the following editorial. — Ed. We know that the immediate future holds the certainty of severe climate change, and an ever increasing strain on not only the much publicised issue of reserves of […]
In Support of Cuba
Our country is facing a dramatic situation. We have suffered the wrath of two powerful hurricanes, Gustav and Ike, in just eight days. These natural disasters have seriously affected food production and essential sectors of the economy throughout the country. Although very few human lives were lost, a massive amount of houses, schools and […]
Candlelight Vigil in Tehran on September 21st, International Day of Peace
The Tehran Peace Museum and the Society for Chemical Weapons Victims Support (SCWVS) are planning a candlelight vigil at 19:00 local time (10:30 EST) on September 21 to commemorate the UN-designated International Day of Peace. The organized event is a historic first in Iran, where tensions with the United States are causing serious anxiety. On […]
The Machine Gun and the Meeting Table: Bolivian Crisis in a New South America
On Monday, September 15, Bolivian President Evo Morales arrived in Santiago, Chile for an emergency meeting of Latin American leaders that convened to seek a resolution to the recent conflict in Bolivia. Upon his arrival, Morales said, “I have come here to explain to the presidents of South America the civic coup d’etat by Governors […]
Dealing with Iran’s Not-So-Irrational Leadership
Nothing expresses the widening gap between the mind frames of the Iranian ruling elite and their Western counterparts more than the headlines in their respective newspapers. The American media, above all, have unilaterally resolved the intelligence questions over Iran’s nuclear program. The New York Times leads the pack with articles and even editorials that […]
Before the Gathering Storm
Patrick Buchanan, Churchill, Hitler, and the Unnecessary War, New York, 2008. Patrick Buchanan’s Churchill, Hitler, and the Unnecessary War is an uncompromising attack on the US ruling class and its course in the world from 1917 to the present. He says that US foreign policy today is “headed inexorably for an American Dienbienphu” (p. 423). […]
The Great Rehearsal
September 17-25 www.greatrehearsal.org 1968 was a world revolution. From Mexico City to Tokyo, Paris to Prague, Columbia University to Berkeley, it was a revolutionary event that at once failed and transformed the world. The process it put into place continues today. 1968, the long ’68, altered fundamental balances of power and set the stage […]
Bolivia Crisis Worsens as Emergency Summit Is Held
Forrest Hylton: The US is being shut out as the South American regional body tries to solve crisis on its own. The ongoing conflict in Bolivia saw at least 30 people killed on the weekend, as the opposition clashed with government forces. The opposition headed by wealthy landowners have vowed to make Bolivia ungovernable. Martial […]
