Tag: Socialism

  • There Will Be Reading and Singing and Dancing Even in the Darkest Times

    A Red Books Day event at the May Day Bookstore in Delhi (India), 2024. It is nearly impossible to think of joy while Israel continues its genocidal violence against Palestinians and while the terrible war escalates in the eastern flank of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). Tens of thousands of people have been […]

  • Is There a Future for the Left?

    …the Left narrative, no matter how accurate and intellectually powerful it may be, cannot expect to catch the imagination of the citizenry without including a vision for a real alternative future. Moreover, working-class institutions need to be reinstituted for the enhancement of class consciousness and authentic socialist parties need to be rediscovered for the Left […]

  • Paradise: A Dystopian Anti-Capitalist Gem

    ​The 2023 German film Paradise went virtually unnoticed by commentators on the socialist left. Yet, it is amongst the best dystopian anti-capitalist films produced in the decade. The film follows the life of Max, an employee of Aeon, a company that buys life years from the poor to give them to the rich. Yes, you […]

  • Why I Believe What I Believe About the Chinese Revolution

    Why I Believe What I Believe About the Chinese Revolution

    Liu Hongjie (China), Skyline, 2021. Late last year, a colleague sent me a letter decrying some of my writings about China, notably the last newsletter of 2023. This newsletter is my response to him. ** The situation in China is the cause of a great deal of consternation amongst the left. I am glad you have raised the […]

  • Contrasting Strategies of the US and China

    Xi Jinping: “It is unrealistic for one side to remodel the other… the planet Earth is big enough for the two countries to succeed.”   Joe Biden: “We will not leave our future vulnerable to the whims of those who do not share our vision.” In the latest salvo preparing the US for confrontation with China, […]

  • In Search of Kindness

    Now is the season when priests proclaim, “Peace on earth, goodwill towards men” and mainstream media soothe us with stories and images of kindness. But why do peace and goodwill remain just dreams? Why is kindness so rare in the world today? Why is it limited to the personal sphere? Why is the wider world […]

  • The Ugly Face of Anti-Communism

    Since the Russian revolution, the founding of the Communist International, and the organization of a revolutionary party “of a new type” in nearly every country, Communist and Workers Parties have been in the sights of every country’s bourgeoisie. In nearly all countries, the bourgeoisie, its political parties, its media, and its other henchmen have sought […]

  • The Intimate Embrace Between Liberalism and the Far Right

    The Intimate Embrace Between Liberalism and the Far Right

    For Comrade N. Sankaraiah (1922–2023) One of the curiosities of our time is that the far right is quite comfortable with the established institutions of liberal democracy. There are instances here and there of disgruntled political leaders who refuse to accept their defeat at the ballot box (such as Donald Trump and Jair Bolsonaro) and […]

  • An Overdue Look at the Environmental Crisis

    “When I use a word,” Humpty Dumpty said in rather a scornful tone, “it means just what I choose it to mean — neither more nor less.” “The question is,” said Alice, ‘whether you can make words mean so many different things.” “The question is,” said Humpty Dumpty, “which is to be master — that’s […]

  • Postliberalism: A Dangerous “New” Conservatism

    Postliberalism: A Dangerous “New” Conservatism

    In Wilhelm von Humboldt’s book The Limits of State Action (1792), one of the most thoughtful expressions of classical liberalism, these passages appear: The true end of Man… is the highest and most harmonious development of his powers to a complete and consistent whole. Freedom is the first and indispensable condition which the possibility of […]

Generated by Feedzy