Due to stagnant American political discourse , an awful modern history of US military aggression as well as a deep misunderstanding of the concept of imperialism many on the left are incorrectly against supporting the nation of Ukraine as it fights for its life against the Russian military. Ukraine, despite its numerous faults including government corruption and segments of its population supporting Nazi ideology, has every right in the world to defend its nation....
Ralph Nader is still spot on
If you’re online or at left wing events, you hear the old slogan a lot lately… Both parties are the same and it doesn’t matter who wins the White House in 2024 or who controls the US Congress. Various left wing thinkers in America have made the claim before and the most famous modern example was from Ralph Nader when he ran for president in 2000 on the Green Party ticket....
Dialectics of Hooligans
a guide to the 2024 elections. On the left you have voters saying that both sides are the same, echoing Ralph Nader’s point in 2000. These voters for whatever reason don’t care that Nader isn’t saying that now. Maybe Nader is a sellout hack, who could know? According to many in this block, the January 6 United States Capitol attack was “no big deal”. Another amazing thing with this group is many will promise you Trump and the Republicans won’t do certain things on the basis those things didn’t happen in his first term....
Petty Bourgeoisie
The petty bourgeoisie have defined the crisis of the 21st century with the post 2008 economic period proving how dire it is for them. My life experiences and philosophical thoughts on this matter very much match Nicolas D Villarreal’s piece I want to use this blog post to start to outline some of them. The petty bourgeoisie ride into late 2029 I’ll start with my experiences in Maine that connect to the petty bourgeoisie’s favorite party of the era: The Republicans....
For Jerry Springer
With the sudden passing of cable television star Jerry Springer it is important to reflect and give his life some context. It may seem that on the surface he was merely a shock jock style television host disconnected from any political project, but that is furthest from the truth. Springer is a member of the political class and a man well ahead of time crafting a television program to exploit working class trauma and grief....
Tribute to Thomas Lord and his Capital V1 Chapter 1 outline
I’ve just learned that Thomas Lord a Berkely activist has passed. I’ve been talking to Thomas on Twitter for years and always respected his point of view. Both of us really enjoyed The Real Movement Blog from Jehu and I would offen bounce ideas off him and he even offered me writing advice for this blog. Thomas will be missed and as a tribute I’d like to publish this draft outline he posted years ago on chapter 1 of Capital Volume 1....
Four questions towards a thesis on the state of exchange value
A fundamental feature of capitalism is that different types of commodities can be compared to each other. Two different types of commodity can be compared via socially necessary labor time, but in the post gold standard and post war world world this gets wonky. Comparing 1 battleship to 100 mangos could be done in pure dollar terms. But we all know the battleship market isn’t a real thing, it’s driven by the endless war machine that didn’t let up post World War II....
Dignity to the unvaccinated is critical to serious left wing politics
As the Covid crisis worsens with the Delta variant, no national mask mandate, practically no closures and next to no federal government leadership I’m noticing a disrupting trend with various left wing folks who want to stand in lock step with the American healthcare system to raise insurance prices on the unvaxed. This is absolutely counter productive towards public health and incompatible with any type of progressive value set that should value healthcare for all....
Neoliberal hell: City Management
The year is 1975 , the US dollar is free from any gold or silver tether and the national deficit is only a mere $533,189,000,000.00 or 33 percent of National GDP. Meanwhile in New York City its deficit stands at $750,000,000. Had the federal government helped, it would have only had to increase the national debt by only 0.14066306694249% but a clear NO was sent from the unelected President Gerald Ford....
What’s going on with Portland Democrats and Homeless Shelters?
As the charter commission race enters election day, last night Portland City Council (which is 100 percent Democrats) voted for a moratorium that prohibits any shelters from being built in the Portland Bayside neighborhood for the next six months. The vote was 6-3 and the Bangor Daily News focused on the locals in the neighborhood pushing for this temporary ban. I am certainly not surprised urban home owning liberals would support such a move , I don’t think it’s the center of this story at all....