I am a bit amused by some of the comments here. Clearing out the cobwebs of mistaken thinking --- and I honestly think I've engaged with 17 forms (there's more) of such thinking on "the left" in this series --- is essential to moving forward in a positive/revolutionary direction. That was the goal of this series. I am on the editorial board of Refuse Fascism, which was formed right after sicko Trump's election, and I try to volunteer for Rise Up for Abortion Rights (RU4AR), which understands the war on abortion as part of a broader Christian white nationalist/neofascist assault on half of humanity. The communist group I can most personally recommend by far is the Revolutionary Communist Party or revcoms, on whose weekly YouTube show I recently appeared for the third time: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bjrEHv6Hjn0
Dear readers: I did not mean for the picture Substack has featured to be the featured photo. See the photo at the top of the essay - that's the photo I wanted to go out via email. The picture Substack has featured is meant to be seen only down in the text. Oh well.
This essay is another beautiful example of the fact that "The revolutionary reconstitution of society at large" is happening right here on Substack thanks to courageous writers/educators, like you and Chris Hedges especially, who are helping ordinary working-class readers like me "figure out how to birth a socialist revolution" by giving us the language to understand in plain English the Truth that after the basic requirements for survival are maintained, "the necessary task of societal transformation/revolution remains since there's no sustainable healthy and balanced life to be had for the masses in the apocalyptic world that capitalism-imperialism has made." The life-affirming way you and Hedges have articulated this vital point is reflected in one of my favorite passages from the work of Pulitzer Prize winning eco-poet Gary Snyder who wrote in Four Changes, a 1969 broadside distributed freely to those interested, "Since it doesn't seem practical or even desirable to think that direct bloody force will achieve much, it would be best to consider this a continuing 'revolution of consciousness' which will be won not by guns but by seizing the key images, myths, archetypes, eschatologies, and ecstasies so that life won't seem worth living unless one's on the transforming energy's side."
As far as Marxist/Maoist academicians are concerned, I would direct your attention to Ken Hammond, From New Mexico State University. Given Dr. Hammond's extensive appearances on alternative media, and his equally extensive record of political organizing, Dr. Hammond truly fits the definition of a public intellectual,but one that has flown under the radar, so to speak, and not become as well known as Noam Chomsky. If you are not familiar with Dr. Hammond, there is much out there on the web to familiarize yourself with his work. He makes an excellent interview subject.
I am a bit amused by some of the comments here. Clearing out the cobwebs of mistaken thinking --- and I honestly think I've engaged with 17 forms (there's more) of such thinking on "the left" in this series --- is essential to moving forward in a positive/revolutionary direction. That was the goal of this series. I am on the editorial board of Refuse Fascism, which was formed right after sicko Trump's election, and I try to volunteer for Rise Up for Abortion Rights (RU4AR), which understands the war on abortion as part of a broader Christian white nationalist/neofascist assault on half of humanity. The communist group I can most personally recommend by far is the Revolutionary Communist Party or revcoms, on whose weekly YouTube show I recently appeared for the third time: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bjrEHv6Hjn0
Dear readers: I did not mean for the picture Substack has featured to be the featured photo. See the photo at the top of the essay - that's the photo I wanted to go out via email. The picture Substack has featured is meant to be seen only down in the text. Oh well.
This essay is another beautiful example of the fact that "The revolutionary reconstitution of society at large" is happening right here on Substack thanks to courageous writers/educators, like you and Chris Hedges especially, who are helping ordinary working-class readers like me "figure out how to birth a socialist revolution" by giving us the language to understand in plain English the Truth that after the basic requirements for survival are maintained, "the necessary task of societal transformation/revolution remains since there's no sustainable healthy and balanced life to be had for the masses in the apocalyptic world that capitalism-imperialism has made." The life-affirming way you and Hedges have articulated this vital point is reflected in one of my favorite passages from the work of Pulitzer Prize winning eco-poet Gary Snyder who wrote in Four Changes, a 1969 broadside distributed freely to those interested, "Since it doesn't seem practical or even desirable to think that direct bloody force will achieve much, it would be best to consider this a continuing 'revolution of consciousness' which will be won not by guns but by seizing the key images, myths, archetypes, eschatologies, and ecstasies so that life won't seem worth living unless one's on the transforming energy's side."
As far as Marxist/Maoist academicians are concerned, I would direct your attention to Ken Hammond, From New Mexico State University. Given Dr. Hammond's extensive appearances on alternative media, and his equally extensive record of political organizing, Dr. Hammond truly fits the definition of a public intellectual,but one that has flown under the radar, so to speak, and not become as well known as Noam Chomsky. If you are not familiar with Dr. Hammond, there is much out there on the web to familiarize yourself with his work. He makes an excellent interview subject.
Easy to criticize and to compartmentalize. Also fairly useless while perhaps some fun to read. But solutions are needed. What is to be done?