Bad ideas on the left

Harry’s Place riffs on Bob From Brockley’s list of influential left ideas, focusing on the five bad ideas. I found these two points to be of particular interest.

The belief that one’s enemy’s enemy is one’s friend A senior member of PSL once told me in apparent complete seriousness that Mugabe of Zimbabwe should be [...]

Liberals chose comfort, and the world burns

Every so often, you’ll read a book or an opinion piece or something else that is revelatory.  It changes your outlook on some aspect of the world.  Today, I read such a piece, concerning the erosion of liberal power in this country over the past 30 years and its effect.

If you’re reading this, [...]

Challenges that third parties face: the non-electoral approach

(My latest from CAIVN, reprinted in its entirety)

Some third parties prefer to work outside the electoral system, focusing on organizing, direct action, and working towards fundamental changes in society. They would perhaps agree with Emma Goldman’s famous / notorious statement, “If voting changed anything, they’d make it illegal.” This can include organizations focused [...]

Cuba. Crash landing

Marc Cooper

You can perfume this anyway you like but what we are seeing is a second-drawer emulation of the Chinese model: the formal introduction of an expanded capitalist market(and all the class differences that come with it) unaccompanied by any democratization of the political system. In other words, the worst of both [...]

Propaganda of the Deed

Michael Gerson of the Washington Post attempts to rewrite history:

Since the days of Russian anarchist Mikhail Bakunin, radicals have talked of the “propaganda of the deed” — the use of dramatic, usually violent, acts to inspire the masses and topple the existing order. The method — targeting symbolic landmarks to create powerful images — [...]

Cuba moves towards private enterprise

“We have to end forever the notion that Cuba is the only country in the world where you can live without working,” Raul Castro said.

One-fifth of the work force will lose their state jobs and attempt to work in the private sector. The economic dislocations will be huge and severe.

The socialist left has [...]

British SWP says Churchill was real enemy not Hitler

In the world of the lunatic Marxist left (apologies to non-deranged Marxists out there), anything that capitalists and imperialists do must automatically be opposed, regardless of fact or even reality.

We have a fine new example of this. The British Socialist Workers Party has proclaimed that Hitler was not planning to invade Britain and [...]

Is capitalism doomed? – Part IV

Stuart Bramhall continues his series about capitalism and socialism

In general, Marxists believe the economic laws that govern capitalism make it inherently flawed – dooming it to eventual failure. They also see a grave risk that the collapse of capitalism will bring down civilization with it. Which is why they argue for workers to hasten [...]

Carl Davidson interview at Progressive Democrats of America meeting

Long-time stalwart organizer Carl Davidson interviewed at Progressive Democrats of America meeting in Cleveland. They are not affiliated with the Democratic Party. He talks about how progressives have been shut out of the Democratic Party and how their local PDA meetings now draw more people than Democratic Party meetings. That’s because they organize from [...]

Arizona anarchists to outside Marxists. Stay away

An Arizona anarchist group doesn’t want no carpet-bagging Marxists bungee-jumping into their state, especially since those group’s primary purpose is recruiting for their parties and thus they care only secondarily about the immigration law crisis.

A constant for those of us in Arizona who have been in the streets since the passage of SB [...]