We’ve lived so long under the spell of hierarchy—from god-kings to feudal lords to party bosses—that only recently have we awakened to see not only that “regular” citizens have the capacity for self-governance, but that without their engagement our huge global crises cannot be addressed. The changes needed for human society simply to survive, let alone thrive, are so profound that the only way we will move toward them is if we ourselves, regular citizens, feel meaningful ownership of solutions through direct engagement. Our problems are too big, interrelated, and pervasive to yield to directives from on high.
—Frances Moore Lappé, excerpt from Time for Progressives to Grow Up

Sunday, August 9, 2020

Posts that I especially recommend today: Sunday, Aug. 9, 2020

Remarkably, Zuesse uses the term "ruling class" two times, but then reverts to using "oligarchy" and "aristocracy"--maybe he is progressing. Zuesse is the only social-democrat who is still frequently published on the internet. Most often social-democrats settle for highly regulated capitalism, but of course, capitalist ruling classes have always prevented this except during a period of extreme stress such as the Great Depression when there were only mild forms of regulation. Thus Zuesse always has fond memories of FDR.
"Ruling class" is a term used frequently by Marxist or revolutionary socialists to describe class structured societies that have existed since civilization was established around 10,000 years ago. The relations between social-democrats and Marxists have been contentious since the appearance of social-democrats mainly in Britain in the late 1800s. I suspect that such exponents saw that their careers were impaired by Marxist concepts, and to safeguard their careers, adopted this tame form of socialism. In the current USA only academic historians, who specialize in Marxist literature and are known as "Marxians", are allowed to work. Revolutionary Marxists were purged by the ruling class around 1950 during the McCarthy period (as explained by Bruce Lerro).
Most frequently Zuesse is listed as a "historian", sometimes as an "investigative historian". But I have never found his biography: where he was educated, the degrees he's earned, anything about his career, and where he worked as a historian. This is strange given that his articles have been published prolifically on the internet. Don't misunderstand me, I like many of his articles which contain many links to documentation that are overlooked by others. I only fault him for his social-democratic concepts which tend to hide the real nature of organized capitalist class rule by using terms such as "oligarchy" and "aristocracy".
  
  • Invasion of the New Normals by CJ Hopkins from his weblog Consent Factory, Inc. (My reaction: Could it be that the typical satire of Hopkins has turned serious in the "New Normal"?)
  
  
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