In Trump in the White House: Tragedy and Farce, John Bellamy Foster contextualizes the conditions that gave rise to the 45th US president. The author’s thesis is that this billionaire chief executive arrived after four decades of income and wealth shifting from the bottom and middle to the top. ¶ An economy of, by and for a tiny elite spawns a particular polity…. | more…
On February 15, 2018, in Toronto, editor Leo Panitch moderated a panel discussion with four of the contributors to Rethinking Democracy, the latest edition of the Socialist Register. This 2018 volume was conceived as a companion to the 2017 SR, Rethinking Revolution. Central to both volumes, and to this discussion, is the premise that no revival of socialist politics in the twenty-first century can occur apart from founding radical new democratic institutions and practices. | more…
Virtually no part of the modern United States—the economy, education, constitutional law, religious institutions, sports, literature, economics, even protest movements—can be understood without first understanding the slavery and dispossession that laid its foundation. To that end, historian Gerald Horne digs deeply into Europe’s colonization of Africa and the New World, when, from Columbus’s arrival until the Civil War, some thirteen million Africans and some five million Native Americans were forced to build and cultivate a society extolling “liberty and justice for all.” Horne provides a deeply researched, harrowing account of the apocalyptic loss and misery that likely has no parallel in human history. This is an essential book that will not allow history to be told by the victors. | more…
At a time when capitalism is widely considered as the only and inevitable system, there are seldom critiques that go beyond understanding the inherent faults of the capitalist system to establishing the possibility of an alternative. This book is the latest contribution by Fred Magdoff and Chris Williams in their lifelong commitment not only to elucidate the ecological crises entailed in capitalism, but to provide the basis and the possibilities for an alternate system: eco-socialism…. | more…
Monthly Review Press is offering a 40% discount on ten selected books about African and African-American history—paperback and e-book (when available)—starting February 20, and ending midnight February 27, EST. Just enter the coupon code: BlackHistory0208 to receive 40% off at checkout. | more…
After Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officials terrorized undocumented workers by raiding 7-Elevens nationwide last month, and with 800,000 federal workers’ jobs on temporary shutdown over the status of the Dreamers, now’s a good time to take a look at how U.S. immigration policies affect the workplace…. | more…
David L. Wilson, author, with Jane Guskin, of The Politics of Immigration: Questions and Answers (2nd ed.), reports on some looming prospects for DACA recipients, and how deporting the 2 million potential Dream Act beneficiaries might cost taxpayers as much as $54.2 billion — more than double the CBO’s projected deficit of $25.9 billion | more…
Helena Sheehan’s ‘Syria Wave’ moves from artistic culture to the mass culture that created and then abandoned (or was abandoned by) Syriza. The author, an Irish journalist and political activist who visits Greece frequently, offers a unique view of the Syriza phenomenon. The first of her six essays was written in 2012 and the last in 2016. Since the essays have not been revised, they convey the euphoria and heartbreak of the movement as they were occurring…. | more…
‘I’m not against immigrants. I’m against illegal ones. … Our country is already too full. We must put a limit on how many can come in. We simply can’t afford it. They’ll put too much pressure on our already squeezed public finance. It’s a simple case of supply and demand. Wages will fall if you increase the supply of workers.’ ¶ Who hasn’t heard such statements in our workplace, pubs or family meals? You disagree with them, but you might not have the facts or arguments to back up your opinion, so you keep quiet to avoid a shouting match and to keep the peace…. | more…
There is no end of issues to worry about when it comes to Donald Trump and his presidency of the United States, the world’s biggest economy and military superpower. Reading John Bellamy Foster’s enjoyable new book, what struck me most was the centrality to the whole Trump project of the reinvigorated fossil-fuel industry; coal, oil and gas. Trump’s ‘climate-change denialism’ coupled with his project to place fossil-fuel capitalism at the centre of making America great again, has placed us all on the ‘runaway train of the profit system’ hurtling towards the ‘climate precipice’… | more…
Anyone interested in a comprehensive account of what happened in Greece between 2012 and 2016—the struggles of the Left; the social devastation as a result of austerity; the rise, election, and capitulation of Syriza—should pick up Helena Sheehan’s latest book. Those already familiar with the period’s political drama, in search of an opportunity to reengage with the debates of the time, should also read The Syriza Wave, for the book opens multiple windows on a story that is still unraveling… | more…
Eric Holt-Giménez is the Executive Director of Food First, a “people’s think tank” dedicated to ending the injustices that cause hunger. He’s also the author of the recently published A Foodie’s Guide to Capitalism: Understanding the Political Economy of What We Eat. Here, he talks to C.S. Soong, host of “Against the Grain,” a radio show emanating three times a week from Pacifica station KPFA 94.1 FM in the San Francisco Bay Area…. | more…
Stephanie J. Urdang is in the UK now, publicizing her memoir Mapping My Way Home: Activism, Nostalgia, and the Downfall of Apartheid South Africa. On January 22, she talked with journalist Karina H. Maynard on Life: Arts and Culture, a morning feature of London-based Colourful radio, one of Britain’s first internet audio streams. | more…