Occupy Wall Street protesters on the Brooklyn Bridge on October 1, 2011. (Photo: JSsocal) The Occupy Movement and the Politics of Educated Hope Friday, 18 May 2012 14:46By Henry A. Giroux, Truthout | Op-Ed “To be truly radical is to make hope possible rather than despair inevitable.” -Raymond Williams American society has lost its claim on democracy. One indication of [...]
Russia’s “Jurassic Capitalism” Pt.2 Part 2 of Aleksandr Buzgalin’s presentation on the Russian economy Go to story | Go to homepage Socialist Hollande wins French presidency Al Jazeera: Francois Hollande has been elected president of France, the country’s first Socialist leader in nearly two decades. Go to story | Go to homepage The Promise What you have [...]
Vladimir Putin was sworn in as President of Russia again, with a personal mandate of harnessing the resource potenial of Russia’s far eastern territories (Photo by Junko Kimura/Getty Images) [GALLO/GETTY] Moscow, Russia - Vladimir Putin – the apex of a highly personalised system – is back as President of Russia. Forget about a velvet [...]
“A new fascism promises security from the terror of crime. All that is required is that we take away the criminals‘ rights-which, of course, are our own. Out of our desperation and fear we begin to feel a sense of security from the new totalitarian state.” Gerry Spence, lawyer and author, [...]
Fidel and Katiuska Blanco, during the book’s launch in Havana. Fidel Castro has some very useful stories to tell BUENOS AIRES,— The historic leader of the Cuban Revolution, Fidel Castro has stories to tell that could be very useful in the future, according to writer and [...]
That both conservatives and reformists have faced defeat characterises Iran‘s domestic politics [AFP] Cambridge, United Kingdom - One way of assessing what the Occupy Wall Street (OWS) movement is capable of is to examine whether its adversaries have a chance of being defeated. OWS has generated a great deal of debate since its inception as a [...]
“The propaganda system allows the U.S. Leadership to commit crimes without limit and with no suggestion of misbehavior or criminality; in fact, major war criminals like Henry Kissinger appear regularly on TV to comment on the crimes of the derivative butchers.” - Edward S. Herman, political economist and author The quote above simply shows [...]
Ever since this site started what has been suggested in the strongest possible terms is that Bob Brown is the only representative of decency and dignity in Australian politics. This is despite anarchist leanings from ikners.com that suggests quite strongly that politicians are little better than leeches feasting on whatever they [...]
Transcend Self-Interest opednews.com There seems to be a growing acceptance of the notion that we each are free independent individuals and as a consequence we not only can, but also should, order life in society accordingly. Being free independent individuals necessarily means people can freely do as they please or more specifically [...]
In the last 24-48 hours there have benn more than 70 posts added to this site. Click on “Older Entries” at the bottom of this page if you wish to see more posts
The Corporate Media Crisis: Everything Old Is New Again Saturday, 31 March 2012 00:00By Robert Jensen, Litwin Books | Book Excerpt (Image: Jared Rodriguez / Truthout)These days, there’s one political point on which one can usually get consensus: Mainstream journalists are failing. In common parlance, most everyone “hates the media.” But there is little agreement on why journalism [...]
Gated Intellectuals and Ignorance in Political Life: Toward a Borderless Pedagogy in the Occupy Movement Tuesday 20 March 2012 by: Henry A. Giroux, Truthout | Op-Ed Former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum, third from right, a candidate for the Republican presidential nomination, speaks during a rally at the Venetian Club in Rockford, Illinois, March [...]
“Without general elections, without unrestricted freedom of press and assembly, without a free struggle of opinion, life dies out in every public institution, becomes a mere semblance of life, in which only the bureaucracy remains as the active element. Public life gradually falls asleep, a few dozen party leaders of inexhaustible energy [...]
Heavy pollution surrounds the China Central TV building (right) in Beijing on 18 January, 2012. Photograph: Ed Jones/AFP/Getty Images China‘s challenges: political change, pollution and protest Leading commentators outline the problems – and opportunities – ahead for Beijing Share8 reddit this guardian.co.uk, Sunday 18 March 2012 19.30 GMT Article history Politics People are getting more and more [...]
Review: 23 Things They Don’t Tell You About Capitalism Sat, 03/03/2012 – 16:23 — Anarcho Printer-friendly versionHa-Joon Chang, while an economist, is not of the mainstream neo-classical brand. This becomes very obvious reading his extremely useful book 23 Things They Don’t Tell You About Capitalism. It also becomes very clear that Chang is [...]
The consistent anarchist, then, should be a socialist, but a socialist of a particular sort. He will not only oppose alienated and specialized labor and look forward to the appropriation of capital by the whole body of workers, but he will also insist that this appropriation be direct, not exercised [...]
In the United Kingdom, organised labour groups boast over six million members [EPA] London, United Kingdom - Organised labour is by far the biggest social movement in Britain, with more than six million members. But, as the author and journalist Owen Jones noted last week, “the political and media establishment treat them as though they have [...]
“The general public are viewed as no more than ignorant and meddlesome outsiders, a bewildered herd. And it’s the responsible men who have to make decisions and to protect society from the trampling and rage of the bewildered herd. Now since it’s a democracy they – the herd, that is – [...]
Lessons from Greece on democracy and debt-bondage BY DAVID MCNALLY | FEBRUARY 28, 2012 It is a truism to say that democracy began with the Greeks — less so to say that it originated in popular rebellion against debt and debt-bondage. Yet, with the Greek people ensnared once more in the vice-grip [...]
George Orwell (Eric Blair) was a towering figure when there was a drastic shortage of people that could be relied on, but that is probably a universal position. However, a close reading of most of what he said was full of very accurate predictions, from purely political matters to saying that people would [...]
In a little over 2 years the number of posts at this site has passed 9,000. I hope that this material has given you or led you to more material to conduct your own independent assessment of happenings around the world. The fact that my own thoughts [...]
“In a time of universal deceit – telling the truth is a revolutionary act.” -George Orwell “All the war-propaganda, all the screaming and lies and hatred, comes invariably from people who are not fighting.” - George Orwell
The Hollow Democracy Thursday, January 5th, 2012 Maybe they’re trying to remind us that democracy isn’t merely a matter of casting that little vote once every Leap Year — but, far, far more significantly, it’s about getting that right to vote in the first place, keeping that right, and having it [...]
Photo: Joint Task Force Guantanamo Unexpected Road Block to Afghanistan Peace: Gitmo By Spencer Ackerman Email Author Photo: Joint Task Force Guantanamo Negotiating a peace deal with the Taliban after 10 years of war in Afghanistan is hard enough. But the stalemated politics of the Guantanamo Bay detention facility risk effectively killing the negotiations before they [...]
. You do not have to be a Nobel Laureate in some form of Social Science to realise that the world system of authority and capitalism is facing, if not the end of its time, then at least a severe period of public dislike. The simple fact that the vast majority have virtually everything they have and have produced stolen by the elites who then [...]
Each occupation is an attempt to be outside the ‘Spectacle‘, even as the Spectacle ‘encircles them, flatters them and tries to assimilate what they are doing and render it safe’ [GALLO/GETTY] In the years after the World War II, the US and Western Europe saw unprecedented rates of sustained economic growth. Food and accommodation were [...]
Obama and Labor Friends Without Benefits By David Macaray Obama and Labor Friends Without Benefits What this article discusses is not a uniquely US happening. The Labour movement in many instances and countries has broken down into tokenist [...]
Recovering from Authoritarian Simpatico Syndrome (ASS): “Because the Cops Don’t Need You and Man They Expect the Same” by Phil Rockstroh Witnessing the acts and utterances of Republican presidential candidates can be regarded as a helpful psychological exercise, a type of “exposure therapy” involving the development of methods used to bear the presence of unbearable people [...]
Tahrir Square is almost a refugee camp for those in Egypt‘s marginalised classes [GALLO/GETTY] On Thursday, this column was going to be titled “Egypt’s last dance?” to indicate the fear felt by many artists I know at the seemingly inevitable rise of “Islamists” to political dominance in Egypt. On Friday, I had decided to change [...]
Scott Horton Interviews Steve Horn and Allen Ruff Scott Horton, November 29, 2011 Print This | Share This | Comment | Antiwar Forum Steve Horn and Allen Ruff discuss their two-part article at Truth-Out, “How Private Warmongers and the US Military Infiltrated American Universities;” how the allies of empire (from neoconservatives to liberal hawks) united to promote “Grand [...]
By James Petras We live in a time of dynamic, regressive, regime changes. A period in which major political transformations and the dramatic roll back of a half century of socio-economic legislation are accelerated by a prolonged and deepening economic crises and a world-wide financier led offensive. This essay explores major ongoing regime changes that [...]
Australia has always been a truly racist nation. The level of hatred in this country for people of different races or ethnicity or whatever name you wish to use is extreme. Despite attempts to promote what is referred to as multiculturalism there has always been a steady, unrelenting stream of race hatred in this country, [...]
The Tenfold Path to Guts, Solidarity and the Defeat of the Corporate Elite Wednesday 11 May 2011 by: Bruce E. Levine, Truthout | Author Essay Many Americans know that the United States is not a democracy but a “corporatocracy,” in which we are ruled by a partnership of giant corporations, the [...]
The Militarization of Pakistanâ s Economy Shahrukh Rafi Khan: The Militaryâ s dominant role in Pakistanâ s politics supported by its economic power Go to story | Go to homepage Occupy Wall Street Declares Goldman Sachs Guilty General Assembly holds mock trial and journalist Chris Hedges reads indictment accusing Goldman Sachs of financial crimes against humanity [...]
Aung San Suu Kyi. Photograph: Soe Than Win/AFP/Getty Images Aung San Suu Kyi braced for return to Burmese politics Change in constitution allows National League for Democracy to contest parliamentary seats in December byelections reddit this Joseph Allchin in Rangoon guardian.co.uk, Sunday 13 November 2011 16.59 GMT Article history Aung San Suu Kyi appears on the [...]
How Anti-Authoritarians Can Transcend their Sense of Hopelessness and Fight Back LIKE THIS ARTICLE ? Critical thinking anti-authoritarians see the enormity of the military-industrial complex, the energy-industrial complex and the financial-industrial complex. They see the overwhelming power of the U.S. ruling class. They see many Americans unaware of the true sources of their oppression or [...]
I, along with many others was warning readers about the awful killing machines, the Drones. They are a weapon with nothing more than a continually updated capacity to kill and destroy while using highly suspect forms of surveillance. What they really do is to simply be employed against a site where there is some suspicion or advantage attaching [...]
I have managed to post a lot of new material in the last 24 hours. You can get to the whole balance to forty seven of them on this page and the previous page. The previous page comes up after you click on “ Older Entries” at the bottom of this page. At the moment there [...]
Just in case you have other thoughts about how most if not all capitalist democracies are effectively authoritarian one party systems the recent comments here in Australia by the leader and about the leader of the Opposition makes good reading. Nothing illustrates the point more when the alleged conservative party starts to look left of the so called [...]
Hamas and Fatah meet in Gaza before UN bid Published yesterday (updated) 15/09/2011 21:19 Hamas and Fatah remain divided on numerous political issues, including the UN bid, despite the heralding of the May unity deal as the end of the state of separation between their governments in Gaza and the West Bank [MaanImages/Rami Swidan, [...]
Racism plays a major role in Australian life. As the colony settled into becoming a profitable venture for the privileged classes; what became ne cessary was a comon enemy. This type of process has been occuring al over the so called educated world for well over a few hundred years. In this process the oppressed are [...]
Bruce Levine 3 Things That Must Happen for Us To Rise Up and Defeat the Corporatocracy Most Americans oppose rule by the corporatocracy but don’t have the tools to fight back. Here are three things we need to create a real people’s movement. August 25, 2011 | Transforming the United States into something closer to [...]
Chomsky on Bernays, the man who made women smoke 21JUN “[Bernays's] major coup, the one that really propelled him into fame in the late 1920s, was getting women to smoke. Women didn’t smoke in those days and he ran huge campaigns for Chesterfield. You know all the techniques—models and movie stars with cigarettes coming out of [...]
The Tenfold Path to Guts, Solidarity and the Defeat of the Corporate Elite Wednesday 11 May 2011 by: Bruce E. Levine, Truthout | Author Essay Many Americans know that the United States is not a democracy but a “corporatocracy,” in which we are ruled by a partnership of giant corporations, the extremely wealthy elite and [...]
AMY GOODMAN: We turn to look at the rising tide of far-right extremism in Norway, in Sweden and elsewhere in Europe. Despite the increasing prevalence of anti-Muslim and anti-immigrant sentiment in the country and region, many were surprised that the attacks were carried out by a Norwegian nationalist. The head of the security program at the [...]
Rather than succumb to strictly religious or technological fundamentalism, a radical political theology ‘leaves behind fear-based protection rackets and arrogance-driven control fantasies’ [GALLO/GETTY] [An edited version of this talk was presented to the Veterans for Peace conference in Portland, OR, on August 4, 2011] My title is ambitious and ambiguous: revolution and resistance (which tend to [...]
It is basically stupidity in reverse. For years just about everywhere you look there are scare mongers who live off people’s feelings of insecurity and fear. These bloated, cancerous leeches inhabit the airwaves and the printed pages of various media outlets and give vent to some of the most irrational analyses of social problems possible. [...]
] Walter Lippmann on the 6¢ stamp, part of the US Postal Service’s Great American Series. Those who have been following the world wide push to get people to accept massive cuts to just about every service available must be amazed at the depth of the cuts and the way the matters are [...]
Here are links to the latest videos at the Real News site News stories August 3, 2011 Austerity and the Destruction of Democracy Rob Johnson: Austerity policies in Europe threaten a deformation of democracy and the rise of ultra-nationalist forces Go to story | Go to homepage Greece, a Crisis Born of Neo-Liberal Madness [...]
Remember that phrase often attributed to Voltaire about defending to the death a person’s right to express a view, or words to that effect. All that says is you are allowed/can say what you wish but leaves entirely open or perhaps shut what happens after that. Not only do you have a right to say [...]
