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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 ...

Cyprus is located at the intersection of three continents, east of the Mediterranean Sea, west of Asia and north of Africa. It has been colonised by various occupiers throughout history and was described by imperialists as an ‘unsinkable aircraft carrier’. Cyprus' modern history spans the past 200 years, from Ottoman rule to British domination and Turkish occupation. Following the decolonisation process after World War II, Cyprus joined the anti-colonial struggle and became a republic in 1960. From 1958 onwards, various paramilitary terrorist organisations emerged, orchestrated by NATO's Gladio. This paramilitary terrorism laid the groundwork for Turkey's invasion of Cyprus in ...

Until the collapse of the Soviet Union, communists had always believed that the only way a socialist state could be destroyed was by hostile forces from the outside. Now we know that this was tragically wrong. The Soviet Union was destroyed by betrayal from within.  Uncovering the reasons for the collapse of the Soviet Union is the most important question confronting Marxists, socialists, and communists today. This is the subject of Prof. Furr's talk.   Bio: Our speaker today is researcher, historian, and author, Prof. Grover Furr of Montclair State University in New Jersey. He teaches Medieval English Literature and has a ...

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 ...

Progressive veterans organizations are working with unions and other allies are organizing against are the parallel threats of privatization of the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) and the US Postal Service, two of the biggest unionized employers of former military personnel.Speakers: Suzanne Gordon and Steve Early, co-authors of “Our Veterans: Winners, Losers, Friends and Enemies on the New Terrain of Veterans Affairs" (Duke University Press, June, 2022). In their new book, "Our Veterans," Richmond-based journalists Suzanne Gordon and Steve Early report on these and other struggles which affect millions of poor and working class people who have served in the ...

For decades American politicians, the representatives of the country’s oligarchs, have lied to the American people about their country’s relation to socialism. America has been presented as fundamentally antithetical to socialism, Marxism, and communism. Garrido shows how we have, starting in the early parts of the 19th century, a homegrown tradition of socialist thought that grounds itself in the most progressive components of American history. This is a tradition which holds that the values 1776 can only be capable of being fully realized in a socialist society. Why We Need American Marxism develops, within the Marxist framework, upon this tradition ...