The ICSS has hosted a number of Marxist intellectuals addressing imperialism and how is it manifest in the Ukraine conflict. There is a broad consensus on the left against weapons for endless war and for diplomacy to end the war in Ukraine – a conflict that risks nuclear conflagration. Progressive groups like the Peace In Ukraine Coalition (https://www.peaceinukraine.org/) oppose spending for militarism and support funds for jobs, healthcare, and housing. InPeace Talks Essential as War Rages on in Ukraine (https://www.commondreams.org/views/2022/09/05/peace-talks-essential-war-rages-ukraine), Benjamin and Davies write how the US and its allies sabotaged a possible peace agreement in the early stages of the conflict and argue that one is needed more than ever.

The ICSS is honored to host scholar and activist Greg Godels in this continuing discussion. His recent article Imperialism Revisited (https://zzs-blg.blogspot.com/2022/08/imperialism-revisited.html) investigates various historical and contemporary interpretations and applications of Lenin’s theory of imperialism and how it relates to Russia’s role in the Ukraine conflict. Greg argues: “The tendency to see Russia as a non-participant in the imperialist game is somewhat understandable, but mistaken.”

Our speaker, Greg Godels, grew up in a working-class family in a rural coalmining community in the United States. He joined the Communist Party in 1975 and served on the Economics Commission CPUSA until Vic Perlo’s death in 1999. He wrote frequently for the Daily World and other Communist Party papers as well as Political Affairs and Nature, Society and Thought. Articles by him have also appeared in numerous publications, including Communist Review (London), People’s Voice (Vancouver) and Socialist Voice (Dublin). He was joint founder of the website Marxism-Leninism Today and writes a highly regarded blog under the pen name Zoltan Zigedy

Participants may want to prepare by reading Greg’s article, Imperialism Revisited, on his blog at zzs-blg.blgspotat

Written by 55 of the richest white men, and signed by only 39 of them, the US constitution is the sacred text of American nationalism. Popular perceptions of it are mired in idolatry, myth and misinformation – many Americans have opinions on the constitution but have little idea what it says.
Our speaker’s new book examines the constitution for what it is – a rulebook for elites to protect capitalism from democracy. Social movements have misplaced faith in the constitution as a tool for achieving justice when it actually impedes social change through the many roadblocks and obstructions we call ‘checks and balances’. This stymies urgent progress on issues like labour rights, poverty, public health and climate change, propelling the American people and rest of the world towards destruction.
Robert Ovetz’s reading of the constitution shows that the system isn’t broken. Far from it. It works as it was designed.

Our speaker, Robert Ovetz, is a Senior Lecturer in Political Science at San José State University, California, USA. He is the author of the new book We the Elites: Why the US Constitution Serves the Few (Pluto, 2022). His previous publications include When Workers Shot Back: Class Conflict from 1877 to 1921, and he was the editor of Workers’ Inquiry and Global Class Struggle. He is the book review editor of the Journal of Labor and Society and writes about labor for Dollars & Sense magazine.

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