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EXCERPTS: INEQUALITY, CLASS AND ECONOMICS, by Eric Schutz

The economic expansion just prior to the pandemic seemed to justify optimism about inequality. But Covid-19 showed just how little grounds there were for optimism. The pandemic demonstrated how poorly prepared for such a crisis a society could be that fails to provide universal, high-quality health care to a significant proportion of its population, as the case and death rates in the United States have demonstrated… | more…

A 300-year excursion through the history of the global economy (‘International Affairs’ reviews the Patnaiks)

Patnaik and Patnaik unpick the realities of capitalism: First, as thriving on exogenous rather than endogenous stimuli––namely colonialism followed by state intervention after the Second World War––thus negating its capacity to be self-contained and perpetual; and second, leading to high unemployment through deindustrialization and land grabs for export crops and property accumulation which push petty producers and peasants into joblessness. | more…

Mészáros reading groups

March is the month to dig in to Mészáros. Join “Essential Discussions” with Irv Kurki, or The Marxist Education Project’s “Capital Studies Group” respectively focusing on ‘Beyond Leviathan’ and ‘The Necessity of Social Control.’ | more…

I already know what the future holds… (Contributor to “A Land With A People” featured in +972 mag)

We, the subsequent generations of Palestine, take great pride in saying we’re Palestinian citizens, sons, and fathers — but not out of jingoistic patriotism, or national arrogance, but because it has become an imperative assertion amid the systemic violence designed to erase our identity and presence in toto. Right now, over a half of the overall Palestinian population is in exile and diaspora. My son and I are among those remaining Palestinians who can still bear witness to Palestine and feel it in person, even if only a limited part of it. | more…

“Just in time” to address “the rift” (“The Robbery of Nature” reviewed in Science & Society)

Foster and Clark substantially extend Marx’s metabolic rift paradigm, insisting that the rift should not be considered narrowly as an environmental issue. Instead, it must be understood as an array of rifts in the metabolic relationship between human society and non-human nature in capitalist societies. Its breadth is reflected in the various terms used in the book, such as metabolic rift, ecological rift, planetary rift, corporeal rift, anthropogenic rift, epistemological rift, etc. | more…

And as always, the Dems demobilize (Counterpunch discusses “A Left Green New Deal”)

Just two years ago, the sky was the limit for progressives: Medicare for All, a Green New Deal and a Sanders’ candidacy for president. There was serious talk of forgiving student debt, of free community college, paid parental leave, finally lowering the costs of essential medicines and more. Now, the best progressives can muster is primarying the treacherous, corporate, bought-and-paid for Arizona senator Kyrsten Sinema. What a difference a couple of years make! This was all entirely predictable. The Democratic party has mainly functioned since the 1930s to demobilize left movements, and these latest weren’t even movements… | more…

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