Open class struggle is every capitalist ruler’s nightmare. As long as poor working people suffer in silence, business can continue as usual. Heads of state can go on pushing the buttons and pulling the levers of power according to plan with little interference from below. There is a point in time, however, when the legions […]
Geography Archives: United States
Bailout Costs $8.5 Trillion: Interview with Nomi Prins
The Real News: The 800 billion announced Tuesday and 7.76 trillion from the Bloomberg estimate add up to $8.56 trillion or $26,500 for every man, woman, or child in the United States. We spoke to journalist and author Nomi Prins about where these trillions might come from. Nomi Prins: . . . All of […]
Colombia in Economic Crisis: Interview with Forrest Hylton
Zaa Nkweta: With Colombia in the midst of economic crisis, highlighted by the fall of several pyramid schemes, Colombia President Álvaro Uribe has vowed to stamp out corruption, arresting 52 employees and declaring the state of emergency. I spoke to Forrest Hylton about the actions that the Colombian government has undertaken. Forrest Hylton: Uribe is […]
A Big Caravan to Washington? The Auto Crisis: Management, Labor, and the Struggle for the Future
The crisis in the auto industry is about many things: the possible collapse of GM, Detroit gas guzzlers, auto emission standards, the environment, and the need for mass transportation, among others. But as became clear this last week, at the center of it all is the struggle between management and the workers, that is, between […]
US Citizen Diplomats Arrive in Iran, Invited by Ahmadinejad
In an effort to establish peaceful diplomacy with the government and people of Iran, and to model for the new Obama administration the power of cooperative good will, three highly regarded American peace makers have ventured to Iran. CodePink cofounders, Jodie Evans and Medea Benjamin, along with former Army Colonel and decorated Foreign Service […]
Guantánamo Justice after Seven Years
Since the Bush administration began transporting men and boys to Guantánamo Bay in January 2002, it has tried to prevent them from presenting their cases before a neutral federal judge. Indeed, the naval base was turned into a prison camp precisely to keep the detainees away from impartial courts. The government argued that federal […]
Celebrate People’s History and Build Popular Power on January 20, 2009
An Open Letter to Those Seeking to Build a World from Below, in Which Many Worlds Are Possible We call on all anarchists, horizontalists, autonomists, anti-capitalists, anti-authoritarians, and others organizing a world from below to bring our best creative spirits to the project of a “Celebrate People’s History and Build Popular Power” bloc on January […]
The Meeting with Hu Jintao
I did not want to talk a lot, but he obliged me to expand on things; I asked some questions and, basically, listened to him. His words recounted the feats of the Chinese people in the last 10 months. Heavy and unseasonal snowfall, an earthquake that devastated surface areas equivalent to three times the size […]
The Unapologetic Case for Gay Marriage
In the face of mass protests to roll back the recent anti-gay marriage election ballot measures, especially California’s Proposition 8, some leftists are a bit queasy. Why, they ask, should radicals be so adamant about defending the right of gays and lesbians to enter into an institution that is decidedly mainstream and tied to the […]
Who Will Stop the Settlers? Noise But No Action from US over Family’s Eviction
The middle-of-the-night eviction last week of an elderly Palestinian couple from their home in East Jerusalem to make way for Jewish settlers is a demonstration of Israeli intent towards a future peace deal with the Palestinians. Abu Dhabi TV, 10 November 2008 Mohammed and Fawziya Kurd are now on the street, living in a tent, […]
What’s to Be Done about the Auto Industry?
The U.S. Congress will vote this week on what to do about the America’s Big Three automakers — Chrysler, Ford, and GM. GM teeters on the brink of bankruptcy and is screaming for help. The Bush administration does not want to give more than the$25 billion it has already promised to develop more fuel-efficient cars. […]
Oil Prices and Venezuela’s Economy
Introduction The Venezuelan economy has grown more than 94 percent since the current expansion began in the second quarter of 2003.1 The overwhelming bulk of this growth has been in the non-oil sector.2 Throughout most of these five and a half years of unprecedented growth, the economy has often been characterized as an “oil boom […]
“The Americans Have Failed”: An Interview with Nawaf al-Moussawi
With Barack Obama, the US could improve its position in the Middle East. Lebanon’s Hezbollah believes that an attack on Iran is unlikely. Nawaf al-Moussawi is Deputy Secretary and a member of the Politburo of Hezbollah in Lebanon. Al-Moussawi, a Doctor of Philosophy, is Hezbollah’s spokesman for international relations. Mr. al-Moussawi, does the election of […]
South America: Recession Can Be Avoided
Can South America escape the wrath of the economic and financial storms that have their epicenter in the United States? Since the financial meltdown began in mid-September, the bond markets of most of the region (Brazil, Argentina, Colombia, Venezuela) have been hit, as well as most of their stock markets and a number of currencies. […]
India: Fighting Fascism
Last month, the New Delhi-based human rights group Anhad, along with some 90 other organizations, held a two-day national convention on the theme, ‘Countering Fascism: Defending the Idea of India’. It was attended by scores of social activists from various parts of the country. Predictably, it received hardly any mention in the so-called ‘mainstream’ […]
Cats, Dogs, and Creationism: On Intelligent Design and the Left
“The criticism of religion is the prerequisite of all criticism.” — Karl Marx, Introduction to A Contribution to the Critique of Hegel’s Philosophy of Right With all due respect to cats and dogs, I don’t expect them to ever understand the laws that govern planetary motion. Does this prove the existence of God? Of course […]
An Open Letter to President-elect Barack Hussein Obama
Dear President-elect Obama, Members of the American Iranian Friendship Committee (AIFC) congratulate you on your glorious victory that was felt and admired especially by common men, women and children of all races and economic status in the United States and around the world. Tuesday, November 4, 2008 is a date that will live in […]
Election of Barack Obama: The People’s Victory? Or the Elite’s?
Barack Obama has won. What happens when what appears to be the people’s victory is also the victory of the economic elite? Where is that convergence of interests located? And how long can such a coincidence of interest last? What are the tasks of the left and the social movements in the face of the […]
Obama’s Economic Advisors: Will Well-tested Enemies of Africa Prevail?
One of Barack Obama’s leading advisors has done more damage to Africa, its economies and its people than anyone I can think of in world history, including even Cecil John Rhodes. That charge may surprise readers, but hear me out. His name is Paul Volcker, and although he is relatively unknown around the world, the […]
I Hope
Will Obama prove, at the helm of government, that his threats of war against Iran and Pakistan were only words, broadcast to seduce difficult ears during the election campaign? I hope. And I hope he will not fall, even for a moment, for the temptation to repeat the exploits of George W. Bush. After all, […]
