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Greg Godels returns to the Marxist Library to speak on what is the threat of fascism currently in the US and the uses to which that threat is put? Where do the threat(s) of fascism exist in light of the upcoming US presidential election? Our speaker, Greg Godels, grew up in a working-class family in a rural coal mining community. He joined the Communist Party in 1975 and served on the party’s Economics Commission until Vic Perlo's death. He wrote frequently for the Daily World and other party papers as well as Political Affairs and Nature, Society and Thought. Articles ...

US sanctions are not new and have been applied by the US in both recent history (Venezuela, Iran) and well prior (Japan 1937-45, Latin America, Africa). However, the scope & magnitude of US sanctions against Russia today represent a quantitative, as well as qualitative, higher stage and escalation of sanctions as a tool of US imperialism. The presentation will describe what's in the US six packages of sanctions announced to date, distinguish between financial sanctions from goods & trade sanctions and individuals' sanctions, and estimate their current stage of implementation of each. How US capitalists are enormously benefiting from the ...

The whole world was monitoring the high-stakes Venezuelan presidential election on August 28, not only because the country boasts of the planet’s largest oil reserves but also because it has been an exemplar of independent sovereignty from the US empire. Corporate media coverage of the election and its aftermath was akin to an investigation of a homicide that is focused not with identifying the murderer but with an unpaid parking ticket of the victim. Our speaker, Roger D. Harris, accompanied the election in Venezuela and will report back on what happened there as well as on Washington’s campaign to delegitimize ...

Sun, Dec 5, 2021: 10:30 AM Pacific Time Venezuela’s Mega-elections The Bolivarian Revolution in Venezuela has provided international leadership to the anti-imperialist struggle and a promise that a better world is possible. Consequently, it has been targeted for regime change by the US, which has illegally blockaded the country causing immense human suffering. The extreme right opposition will be participating in the November 21 mega-elections, rather than boycotting, for the first time in years ...

Sun, Feb 20, 2022: 10:30am-12:30pm PT Vladimir Putin and Xi Jinping on the Global Crisis Eugene E Ruyle: On February 2022, Vladimir Putin, President of Russia joined Xi Jinping, President of the PRC, to take part in the opening ceremonies of the 2022 Winter Olympic Games in Beijing. They also released a 5000-word document, "Joint Statement of the Russian Federation and the People’s Republic of China on the International Relations Entering a New Era and the Global Sustainable Development." This document expresses the views of two of the world's largest nuclear powers, both permanent members of the UN Security Council ...

Noah will discuss the issues that often arise when connecting Marxism and the working masses.  Noah Khrachvik is a proud working class member of the Communist Party USA and co-director of the Midwestern Marx Institute for Marxist Theory and Political Analysis. He is 42 years old, married to the most understanding and patient woman on planet Earth (who puts up with all his deep-theory rants when he wakes up at two in the morning and can't get back to sleep) and has a thirteen-year-old son who is far too smart for his own good. When he isn't busy writing, organizing ...

One year into the War in Ukraine, the world has been redivided into two progressively decoupling camps, threatening a New Cold War. Meanwhile each camp is being drawn more tightly together. While the war began suddenly on February 24, 2022, its preconditions were a long time in the making. Was it really unprovoked as is relentlessly claimed? While this is one of a number of globally-televised wars, how is the Ukraine War different from the others? Whose interests does it serve? Dr. Sharat G. Lin examines the root causes of conflict, how peace can be brought about, and how the ...

Sykes-Picot (May 1916), a secret convention was held during World War-I between Britain and France supported by imperial Russia for the dismemberment of the Ottoman Empire. The Sykes-Picot agreement led to the division of Turkish-held Syria, Iraq, Lebanon and Palestine into various French- and British-administered areas. Mark Albertson, historian, will go through that progression of the April 1914 request by Arab nationalists desiring British assistance with their nationalism in throwing off the Ottoman yoke; the British acquiescing in November 1914 when the Ottomans join the Germans and Austria-Hungary; the Hussein-McMahan Correspondence; the Damascus Protocol; Sykes-Picot Agreement; Balfour Declaration; San Remo ...

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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 ...

Sun., April 6, 2025, 10:30 am-12:30 pm PDT Weaponizing Antisemitism by Project Esther Speaker: Seth Morrison Project Esther is the Heritage Foundation’s roadmap to destroy the pro-Palestine movement in the US.  This McCarthy era-like project falsely conflates anti-zionism with antisemitism and then deceptively accuses pro-Palestine activists of antisemitism. Our speaker, Seth Morrison, is a leader in the Jewish Voice for Peace (JVP), an articulate advocate to peace in West Asia, and a campaigner against the criminalization of pro- Palestinian speech. He has been active in Jewish organizations throughout his life.  He was formerly a leader in J Street and other ...

Western Marxism: How It Was Born, How It Died, How It Can Be Reborn is a paradigm-shifting book that provides a trenchant critique of the Western left intelligentsia. It reveals how its dominant ideological orientation—characterized by defeatism, utopianism, and anti-communism—is rooted in the political economy of imperialism. Internationally acclaimed theorist Domenico Losurdo thus provides a fresh and challenging perspective on purportedly radical thinkers who have been widely promoted in the imperial core. Gabriel Rockhill is a philosopher and activist who has published nine books. He is the Founding Director of the Critical Theory Workshop and Professor of Philosophy at Villanova ...

What does Lenin say on Marx's Works and on Socialism So, what does Lenin take from Marx's vast works and summarize it succinctly? And specifically on Socialism. Some of us thought that last week's discussion on socialism did not deal aqequately with Lenin's scientific concept, so we invited Raj Sahai to lead a Group Discusion on this important topic. Raj will be joined by Gary Hicks and Eugene Ruyle to begin our open discussion. In preparation, folks are invited to read V. I. Lenin's Karl Marx -- a Brief Biographical Sketch with an Exposition of Marxism (1914), available at:  https://libcom.org/library/karl-marx-brief-biographical-sketch-1914-vladimir-lenin Resources: https://libcom.org/library/karl-marx-brief-biographical-sketch-1914-vladimir-lenin ...

"What is Economic Nationalism?"  Some historian's notes on the present antagonisms among the great powers. Anthony D'Agostino is a diplomatic historian, emeritus of SF State University, and has written 5 books, along with many articles and reviews over the years, on the history of international politics, with attention to the Russian revolution, Soviet politics, the Gorbachev period, and the fall of the Soviet Bloc. The last book was The Rise of Global Powers: International Politics in the Era of the World Wars (Cambridge U. Press, 2012).  Anthony is currently finishing up a history book on the Era of Globalization, 1968-2025. He also has ...

This will be an open discussion focusing on these questions and have asked a few of our members to prepare brief introductory comments to start the discussion. Anyone who wants to volunteer to prepare a brief, approximately 5-8 minute presentation, please email Gene at cuyleruyle@mac.com by midnight on Friday. so we can plan accordingly ...

Why the Cuban Revolution has Endured: A Marxist Assessment of Cuba’s Historic Break with Capitalist Rule and its Lessons for Today - Jeff Mackler Sun, September 26, 2021: 10:30 am to 12:30 pm Pacific A young Fidel Castro and his July 26 Movement cadre faced critical questions immediately following their defeat of the Fulgenco Batista Army and Batista’s U.S.-backed dictatorship in 1958-59. Initially, Fidel, previously an attorney from a wealthy family, was characterized as a moderate reformer and past member of one of Cuba’s two main bourgeois parties, the Orthodox Party. Pledged to restoring Cuba’s 1941 constitution that dictator Batista ...