Monthly Review Press

A history which is far from over (The War Against the Commons reviewed in ‘Counterfire’)

February 20, 2024

Capital’s war against the commons continues today in the Global South, as does resistance to it. The removal of the people from the land to work in industrial cities is also part of the mechanism which creates the metabolic rift, one of the reasons for capitalism’s inherent environmental destructiveness. The route to overcoming this does not lie in individuals or communities returning to an idealised communal past. As Angus says, this has been the expectation of utopian communal groups since the Diggers established themselves on St George’s Hill in 1649...

Human destiny in Ukraine (Washington’s New Cold War, in ‘Counterpunch’)

February 20, 2024

...Russian leaders believe, probably correctly, that this is a fight for their survival. Ukrainian leaders, ditto – except there’s no “probably” about it; it’s definitely. And it is pointless to attempt to judge those leaders under such circumstances. But for American leadership, this is a proxy war. It is not existential. It is a proxy war of choice.

Theory that brings us closer to a world that places “capitalism” firmly in the past (The Dialectics of Dependency reviewed in ‘Systemic Disorder’)

February 20, 2024

Rather than believe in Santa Claus or fairy tales, far better that the dynamics of capitalism be grasped in their full dimensions. Only by understanding how and why, and drawing appropriate conclusions, rather than simply observing, can the world’s exploited — the vast majority of humanity — hope to see a better world come into being, a world that will have put capitalism into the history books.

Hierarchies leveled by solidarity around a shared hatred of fascism (International Brigade Memorial Trust on !Brigadistas!)

February 20, 2024

The simplicity of the story, as well as the excellent historical summary provided in Fraser Ottanelli’s foreword, also make it a useful, accessible introduction to the International Brigades. There is, as the afterword by Paul Buhle suggests, something inherently comic-book-worthy about the anti-fascists who volunteered for Spain. Theirs is a story of ordinary – not invincible – people pushed into performing heroic and terrifying feats of bravery for no gain but the greater good. It is to Ferguson and Timmons’ credit that they really do capture this truth in the book.

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