Past Posts by Descending Date

In 1876, Engels complained about “that idealistic world outlook which, especially since the fall of the world of antiquity, has dominated men’s minds. It still rules them to such a degree that even the most materialistic natural scientists of the Darwinian school are still unable to form any clear idea of the origin of man, because under this ideological influence they do not recognise the part that has been played therein by labour.” This situation remains true today, nearly a century and a half later, as prominent bourgeois institutions entertain us with vivid videos of the latest fossil finds in ...

In his new book, I'll Burn That Bridge When I Get to It! Heretical Thtoughts on Identity Politics, Cancel Culture, and Academic Freedom, Finkelstein focuses his keen forensic eye on the canonical texts of identity politics. After methodically parsing them, he concludes that they are lacking in intellectual substance, and that the real purpose of identity politics is to derail a class-based movement bent on radical change. Finkelstein recalls his own life in radical politics and his close encounters with the cancel culture, which left him unemployed and unemployable. He situates his personal story within broader debates on academic freedom and poignantly concludes that, ...

Alexander Mckay is a UK-based political analyst and host of the fast-growing Marx Engels Lenin Institute streaming channel.  He will present an examination of the changes in the Russian economy and state throughout the Putin era and how these have impacted the war in Ukraine and the plans of US Imperialism.  Marx Engels Lenin Institute YouTube channel:https://m.youtube.com/channel/UCBigls8EH-PmXpjMS30gnvA Twitter: https://twitter.com/MarxEngelsLnin?t=ri0IpUukzgvanlAmZSFg8A&s=09 Official Telegram channel of the Marx-Engels-Lenin Institute: https://t.me/armc1870 ...

Can there be peace in Korea under the US imperialistic strategy?  Can there be peace in Korea when the US is at a virtual war with China? Simone Chun's talk will show that the greatest threat to peace and stability in northeast Asia is the U.S. imperialistic quest and military encirclement of China. She will argue that the US peace movement must seriously oppose US imperial policy as a focal point of its struggle, and join its voice with the South Korean public as they campaign to regain their sovereignty and independence. Simone Chun is a researcher and activist focusing on ...

 The US is spearheading an effort to reinvade and reoccupy Haiti, according to our speaker who last visited the island republic last month. Danny Shaw will report on the different ingredients in the neocolonial hybrid war in Port-au-Prince; the guns, the so-called gangs, and the neocolonial state. He has been working with the Haitian left both in Haiti and in the diaspora since 1998 and speaks Kreyòl. Our speaker, Danny Shaw,  teaches Latin American and Caribbean Studies and Race, Ethnicity, Class and Gender at the City University of New York. He holds a Masters in International Affairs from Columbia University. He has ...

The Indian state has hitched the wagon of the country’s development to the engine of the nation’s big capital, perhaps like no other time in India’s history. Big private capital today not only occupies the commanding heights of the Indian economy, but also the imagination of  the ruling elite and even that of the popular classes. The pinnacle of this development is epitomized by the stupendous growth and reach of the Indian telecom sector. The ruling elite rests their case of claiming ultimate success by citing the ubiquitous presence of cell phones in almost every hand in India, which are ...

In The Purity Fetish and the Crisis of Western Marxism, Carlos L. Garrido provides a comprehensive development of his concept of the purity fetish, tracing the outlook to the Eleatic school of Ancient Greek philosophy, and showing how it has appeared in 20th century Western Marxism and in contemporary U.S. socialism. In every form the purity fetish takes in Western Marxism's politics, Carlos argues that one finds not only the failure to obtain truth, but also the inability to create a revolutionary movement. Our speaker is Carlos Garrido is a Cuban-American PhD student and instructor in philosophy at Southern Illinois ...

The International Monetary Fund (IMF), the World Trade Organization (WTO) and the World Bank – three of the most highly regarded international economic organizations – all predict lowered growth expectations for the decade ahead. If three major capitalist institutions are foretelling economic uncertainty and instability, it is because we are exiting a distinctive era of capitalist restructuring. That era gave capitalism a new lease on life, with growing profits, hyper-accumulation, and vastly expanded speculative investments. Little of that enrichment was shared with the masses, resulting in unprecedented inequalities of income and wealth. According to our speaker, Greg Godels, liberal and ...

 Rick will speak about his recent trip to Russia and especially Crimea. In 2014, following the coup in the Ukrainian capital, Crimea had a referendum and decisively decided to secede from Ukraine and "re-unify" with Russia.  In many ways, the situation in Crimea is emblematic of the Ukraine conflict.  Rick will describe what he saw and learned on this trip. Rick Sterling is a Bay Area journalist, active with Mt Diablo Peace and Justice Center and Task Force on the Americas.  ...

July 29, 2022, the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), raided the offices and homes of members of the Uhuru Movement. They broke down doors, broke windows, used flashbang devices and drones and threatened residents with automatic weapons. The US Govt has recently filed indictments against 3 Uhuru Movement leaders.This is a call to everyone to defend the right of African people and the Chairman of the African People's Socialist Party, Omali Yeshitela, to free speech. Speakers Mwezi (Michelle) Odom, Chair of the Hands Off Uhuru Committee and member of the African People's Socialist Party. Penny Hess, Chair of the ...

Goldman Sachs bank research this past week published a report that 300,000,000 jobs worldwide will be impacted by the now accelerating introduction of Artificial Intelligence software (machines) that will either eliminate or sharply reduce the hours of work for workers involved in simple decision-making tasks like customer service reps, paralegals, receptionists, retail services, human resources reps, copywriters, basic software coders, and countless other occupations. Its report updates that of five years ago by McKinsey Consultants that estimated 5 million jobs impacted.Academics hail the news that it will mean a sharp increase in productivity (and therefore profits which they don’t say) ...

 For background, see David's latest Photoessay, Wood Street Commons Final Stand. Wood Street Commons’ Final Stand ...

The world working class and unions of the world are facing a major global struggle as the crisis of capitalism drives towards dictatorship and world war. Steve Zeltzer will look at the declining US imperialist empire and the intensifying inter-imperialist rivalry and the growing move towards a world war that threaten workers and people of the world. He will also look at the increasing attacks on the unions and the escalation of attacks on the working class to pay for the crisis.This also takes place in the midst of the frenzied development of AI and the likely loss of hundreds ...

The loss of socialism is not as permanent as it appears and until capitalism’s inherent contradictions are resolved, its resurgence is not as improbable as Dugin suggests. Until then, we as Marxists should not dismiss those who have picked up the mantle of anti-imperialism since the demise of the former Soviet Union, no matter which political form it takes shape. By denouncing Dugin as a “fascist” and treating his work as unworthy of serious consideration, one is only showing that he is right to say that Marxism has become irrelevant in today’s world and Western capitalism is here to stay ...

In Africa as in the rest of the world, US machinations undermine its goals and bring other nations together as they seek to protect themselves from a desperate empire. See: https://www.laprogressive.com/africa/us-shoots-itself-in-the-foot Our Speaker, Ann Garrison, is an independent journalist based in the San Francisco Bay Area, who publishes regularly on the Black Agenda Report. In 2014, she received the Victoire Ingabire Umuhoza Democracy and Peace Prize for her reporting on conflict in the African Great Lakes region ...

After brief presentations by three ICSS members, Raj Sahai, Gene Ruyle, and Roger Harris, we will have an open discussion on this important topic ...