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1. Is there life after capitalism? Yes, I think there is not only life after capitalism…but a menagerie of sorts – so the question becomes, which post-capitalist life do we want. For example, there was the life after capitalism endured in the Soviet Union, and, somewhat differently, in Yugoslavia, Poland, and so on. Read more…
The last pages of a calendar remind us that life is fleeting. All we have at any moment is the present, filtered with memory. Meanwhile, music — capable of powerfully evoking what’s past but not quite gone — can be a catalyst for transcending what has been. “Music is a higher revelation than philosophy,” Ludwig Read more…
There are so many things wrong with this story. On October 11th a photograph was transmitted by the Associated Press that featured a bomb on he deck on the USS Enterprise flight deck stationed in the Arabian Sea. An unidentified sailor had scribbled graffito on the bomb that read: “HIGH JACK THIS FAGS.” Within hours Read more…
The AFL-CIO’s uncritical support of the government’s war in Afghanistan and sham “war on terrorism” has disappointed, if not disillusioned, many activists, including progressive labor activists. For some radicals and progressives, the organized labor movement is seen as the most important social grouping in the country. As the late Saul Alinsky put it in Reveille Read more…
Two days after September 11 my grandaughter Crystal, a college student, found her teacher’s jingoism too much to swallow. “These attacks are the chickens come home to roost!” she said to the class. “Now we get the chance to know what it’s like for those people in the world who get bombed by our country!” Read more…
Random security checks. That’s what they’re called anyway: those extra bag searches and body scans being done at airports across the U.S., presumably to deter a new round of terrorist attacks. On each flight, a handful of passengers are pulled aside and given additional scrutiny, despite having gone through souped-up metal detectors and having their Read more…
If there’s one phrase I could do with hearing less of during 2002, it’s “civil society”. I’m not alone. Many of my friends, community activists and organisers in a number of countries also cringe at the ritualized, ubiquitous usage of the phrase. We shudder at the thought that we might be mistaken for being part Read more…
Since it began 15 months ago the Palestinian Intifada has had little to show for itself politically, despite the remarkable fortitude of a militarily occupied, unarmed, poorly led, and still dispossessed people that has defied the pitiless ravages of Israel’s war machine. In the United States, the government and, with a handful of exceptions, the Read more…
Four years ago, as Asia struggled with an economic crisis, many observers blamed “crony capitalism.” Wealthy businessmen in Asia didn’t bother to tell investors the truth about their assets, their liabilities or their profits; the aura of invincibility that came from their political connections was enough. Only when a financial crisis came along did people Read more…
There are so many things wrong with this story. On October 11th a photograph was transmitted by the Associated Press that featured a bomb on he deck on the USS Enterprise flight deck stationed in the Arabian Sea. An unidentified sailor had scribbled graffito on the bomb that read: “HIGH JACK THIS FAGS.” Within hours Read more…
Environmentalism as an argument has been comprehensively won. As a practice it is all but extinct. Just as people in Britain have united around the demand for effective public transport, car sales have broken all records. Yesterday the superstore chain Sainsbury’s announced a six per cent increase in sales: the number of its customers is Read more…
Random security checks. That’s what they’re called anyway: those extra bag searches and body scans being done at airports across the U.S., presumably to deter a new round of terrorist attacks. On each flight, a handful of passengers are pulled aside and given additional scrutiny, despite having gone through souped-up metal detectors and having their Read more…
The punitive action executed by Israel at the weekend in the Gaza Strip, and in particular the mass demolition of homes in Rafah on Thursday morning, constitute a war crime. There is no other way to describe and define the collective punishment of hundreds of innocent civilians who have been left utterly destitute.
Monday, January 14, 2002 The punitive action executed by Israel at the weekend in the Gaza Strip, and in particular the mass demolition of homes in Rafah on Thursday morning, constitute a war crime. There is no other way to describe and define the collective punishment of hundreds of innocent civilians who have been Read more…
Tony Blair’s heroic peacemaking is not as it seems. Take the Middle East. When Blair welcomed Yasser Arafat to Downing Street following 11 September, it was widely reported that Britain was backing justice for the Palestinians. Editorialists drew a favourable comparison with the bellicose Bush administration. Indeed, the promotion of Blair as the steadying influence Read more…
Tony Blair’s heroic peacemaking is not as it seems. Take the Middle East. When Blair welcomed Yasser Arafat to Downing Street following 11 September, it was widely reported that Britain was backing justice for the Palestinians. Editorialists drew a favourable comparison with the bellicose Bush administration. Indeed, the promotion of Blair as the steadying influence Read more…
‘The single greatest threat to the multilateral trade system is the absence of public support.’ Thus spoke Charlene Barshefsky, Clinton’s U.S. trade representative, in the run-up to the 1999 WTO summit in Seattle. Elite state-corporate interests sweet-talk, bludgeon, or simply circumvent the public to get their way. The general public are to be regarded as Read more…
Pacifica’s struggle is in a new phase, about to take a big leap forward. Countless activists have pursued diverse strategies and have resisted recriminations and have now finally overcome reactionary obstacles. A majority progressive interim board is in place. What can one say – hooray! The interim board chair, holding office for fifteen months until Read more…
A Difficulty Criticizing Third World States For a leftist from the third world, living in the first world, there is a certain difficulty in criticizing the administration of a third world country, like India or Pakistan. First, such criticism abounds in the mainstream, and there isn’t really a need to present scathing criticisms of corruption Read more…
“EVERYTHING HAS CHANGED. NOTHING HAS CHANGED.” I cannot say how many times I’ve heard that sentiment expressed by leftists since September 11. We all know it. The elites’ aspirations are exactly the same as before. They have found a way to use September 11 to their advantage, to accelerate already-held plans for increased global hegemony Read more…
Until it imploded last October, Enron — long known as End-Run by its critics — was often described as just another aggressive corporation eager to expand its portfolio and open routes into new markets, albeit sometimes with “strong arm” tactics. The implication in most press reports was that, so long as consumers and shareholders came Read more…
The chiefs of the three big parties in Israel – the Likud, the Labor Party and the army – were sitting on the stage. They were frustrated. They knew already that they had not succeeded in selling the great show that they had prepared with so much effort: the capture of a ship loaded with Read more…
Since our birth in 1776 and Israel”s rebirth in 1948, the two nations have had some important thngs in common. Most important for present purposes is that in both countries most of their peoples — if never all — have seen their nation’s birth as an historic act of heroism; and have seen their nation Read more…
Pacifica’s struggle is in a new phase, about to take a big leap forward. Countless activists have pursued diverse strategies and have resisted recriminations and have now finally overcome reactionary obstacles. A majority progressive interim board is in place. What can one say – hooray! The interim board chair, holding office for fifteen months until Read more…
Here’s a riddle: What is the difference between Tony Soprano and the International Monetary Fund? Answer: Nothing, except that Tony and his Mafia pals, who extort and impoverish a handful of people in New Jersey, are a television creation. The IMF, on the other hand, does this to hundreds of millions in the real world. Read more…
I went to a war last night, and for two and half hour had my adrenaline pumped and my patriotic heart strings tugged by U.S. soldiers in battle, bravely tracking down and trying to capture the enemy. No it wasn’t Osama, because the movie which felt like it might have taken place in the Read more…
The response to Professor Noam Chomsky’s visit to Pakistan in November 2001 was too overwhelming for words. Chomsky is known to be a crowd-puller in the United States and elsewhere — his talks being heard typically by standing-room-only audiences. Hence it was not strange that his planned visit should send a wave of excitement among Read more…
The Fifth Afghan War, now slowly coming to a close, has changed the rules of international engagements. The Bush doctrine against terrorism stated that the US or any aggrieved party would retaliate for acts of terror not only against those who perpetuate the violence, but also against those who harbor terrorists. In other words, the Read more…
In Russia no one trusts banks or the rouble, and as a result, people usually conceal envelopes stuffed with hundred-dollar bills on shelves between books or in wardrobes between sheets. From this January, however, a new mysterious currency — the euro — will enter circulation. Maybe we should all convert all our savings into euros Read more…
Chomsky’s ‘9-11’ Powerful Antidote to Conventional Wisdom, Cowardice How about a quick quiz on "terrorism"? What is the only nation ever found guilty of this crime by the World Court? If you answered the United States, you’re right. The US earned this dubious distinction in the World Court for its relentless activities against the revolutionary Read more…
Since our birth in 1776 and Israel”s rebirth in 1948, the two nations have had some important thngs in common. Most important for present purposes is that in both countries most of their peoples — if never all — have seen their nation’s birth as an historic act of heroism; and have seen their nation Read more…
As the totalitarianism rustles continue to rise across the American landscape sowing intolerance, more and more progressive voices are being targeted. Danny Glover is the latest. The world-renown actor, philanthropist, political organizer, and human rights activist, is the latest quarry of the forces of “patriotic” fanaticism. Extremism and prevarication, charges leveled at Osama bin Laden Read more…
At various time in my teaching career — more than ever since Sept. 11 — I have been advised by faculty colleagues that I should avoid being “too political” in the classroom. To the degree that the advice is simply pragmatic — avoid being political to avoid being criticized — I can understand it. But Read more…