By John Bellamy Foster & Robert W. McChesney Originally published in Monthly Review, 2010, Volume 62, Issue 02 (June) A few years ago, in a class one of us taught, a discussion arose about how capitalism works as a system in which the need for the few to maximize profit drives the entire political-economic structure. The students appeared to grasp how the … [Read more...] about Capitalism, the Absurd System: A View from the United States
neoliberalism
A Runaway Inequality Problem
One of the great unexamined questions of our times is why there is so much suffering, despair, misery and rage in the midst of unimaginable wealth. Naturally, pundits and politicians wish to avoid this question because an open public discussion of the widening wealth gap can impart critical insights into the nature and logic of the capitalist system they’ve worked so hard to … [Read more...] about A Runaway Inequality Problem
The Capitol Assault is Symptomatic of Our Dysfunctional Politics
TED MORGAN Americans were shocked to witness the assault on the capitol building on January 6, the day Congress was scheduled to ratify the presidential election. Washington DC and the nation’s state capitals remained on high alert through the inauguration as rightwing groups promised more violent attacks. It’s easy to trace the proximate cause of this assault, a … [Read more...] about The Capitol Assault is Symptomatic of Our Dysfunctional Politics
Notes from the Editor – Left Turn #8
Let us Burn All Illusions in 2021 Left Turn welcomes the year 2021 without any illusions about the nature of the system that produced the severe political, economic, and public health crises of 2020 and the new horrors surely on their way if we as a society fail to counteract the ingrained tendencies and deliberate policies that have produced the present unsustainable … [Read more...] about Notes from the Editor – Left Turn #8
Kent State and Divided America: 50 Years Later
by Ted Morgan The past is never dead. It’s not even past.William Faulkner For some of us, the killing of four students at Kent State on Monday, May 4, 1970 is a moment we will never forget. It was certainly one of the iconic moments of 1960s-era protests, immortalized in Neil Young’s “Ohio,” with its refrain, “four dead in Ohio.” Students on campuses across the nation … [Read more...] about Kent State and Divided America: 50 Years Later
Orwell’s Doublethink, Alive and Well in Trump’s America
Anthony DiMaggio George Orwell’s 1984 is a dystopian novel about authoritarianism, and is widely understood as a critique of Stalinism and centralized communist states. But Orwell believed that propaganda functioned in both communist and capitalist states alike. His insights about the uses and abuses of propaganda are remarkably relevant when studying American and … [Read more...] about Orwell’s Doublethink, Alive and Well in Trump’s America
“What Happened?”
Editor's Note: This short essay was published on Nov. 4, 2017, as a note by the author on his Facebook page. We think placing the 2016 electoral outcome within the context of neoliberalism can deepen our understanding. by Faramarz Farbod That’s the title of Hillary Clinton’s new book. But do we know “What Happened” in the 2016 election? Let me start by stating what … [Read more...] about “What Happened?”