Readers’ Views on Hegel’s Third Attitude; Capital, Fascism & Revolution, Grasping the Spirit of the Times, and Voices from Behind Bars
Articles
Readers’ Views: September-October 2022, Part One
Readers’ Views on Abortion Rights Struggles; Ukraine, Russia and the Left; Marx and Transgender; World Food Crisis; Normalized Domestic Violence, and Ecuador’s Uprising
Will China make war on Taiwan?
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s visit to Taiwan provoked controversy. Times may have changed since Nixon met Mao but then as now, look to internal reasons in both nations for their foreign policy stances.
Readers’ Views, September-October 2022: Kei Utsumi (Basho), 1935-2022
What a loss we feel with the passing of Kei Utsumi. Several readers and writers share their remembrances.
Iowa workers strike
September 11, 2022Workers on strike at the Ingredion plant in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, rallied on Sept. 1, marking one month since the strike began. Ingredion demanded the right to charge as much as $500 more for health insurance, freeze the two tiers of workers in place, and eliminate jobs.
UN documents Uyghur forced labor, torture
September 10, 2022The pretext for China’s genocidal campaign against Uyghurs was “Countering Religious Extremism.” Under China’s “anti-terrorism law system” a new UN report states, “acts of legitimate protest, dissent and other human rights activities or of genuine religious activity fall within terrorism.”
War on teachers is a war on students
In school districts across the nation all eyes are on 4,500 striking teachers in Columbus, Ohio, who agreed to return to the classroom after a three-day strike under a “conceptual agreement.” This army in red T-shirts sparked widespread parent refusal to log in to remote classrooms set up while the teachers were out.
What abortion denial does to women
Review of “The Turnaway Study: Ten Years, a Thousand Women, and the Consequences of Having—or Being Denied—an Abortion.” The study was conducted before the overturn of Roe v. Wade, and Diana Greene Foster investigated the real experiences of women receiving abortions in the first and second trimester.
Editorial: Ukraine is a beacon against fascism & war
September 9, 2022Ukraine is afraid of losing European supporters after having fought off a Russian invasion for six months in the largest war in Europe since World War II. Ukrainians are also fighting imposed rotten compromises at the expense of Ukrainians! Yes to Ukrainian self-determination and freedom from Russian imperialism!
Women, youth fight back as horror of abortion bans unfolds
September 6, 2022Now that the Supreme Court of the United States has overturned women’s right to abortion, the profound ramifications of that unprecedented decision are becoming known. Women are fighting back, from the Women’s March, to Black women, to Teens for Reproductive Rights, women will reclaim the right to control our own bodies.
Kei ‘Basho’ Utsumi (1935-2022)
A remembering of the revolutionary life of Kei ‘Basho’ Utsumi (1935-2022), written by Buddy Bell, who knew Basho and worked with him in the last years of his life.
Editorial: SCOTUS trashes freedom
The U.S. Supreme Court’s recent decisions reveal its aim to aid in the destruction of democracy and ride the winds of racism, sexism and neo-fascism. It has assigned itself to the dustbin of history.
Celebration of life of Kei “Basho” Utsumi
August 24, 2022A Celebration of Life in Kei’s honor will be held at 12:00pm on August 27, 2022 at the office of LACAN, 838 6th St, L.A., CA 90021. For further info, call 213-228-0024.
Kei “Basho” Utsumi (1935-2022): in remembrance
Kei Utsumi touched many lives before his death on July 15, a few days shy of his 87th birthday. In conversations with friends, in being present at countless demonstrations, or in putting pen to paper, his was a passionate, unyielding voice for freedom movements, which will be sorely missed.
Women Worldwide: July-August 2022
July 21, 2022No Birth Behind Bars “feed-in” in London; Cross-Border Network of Mexico and U.S. abortion rights groups formed; Montreal protest of the prostitution common at Grand Prix auto race; study finds women less likely to receive credit for their scientific work.
The hell of normalized domestic violence
July 20, 2022Catholicism, “traditional family life,” silencing of women, combine to make life a “living hell” for many and reveal how the normalizing of domestic violence wars against the Universal of Freedom.
Handicap This!: July-August 2022
The difficulties people with disabilities are experiencing in Ukraine as it is being attacked by Russia; the newly formed Marion County (Oregon) Advisory Group will help the disability community connect with emergency management during emergencies; and the Australian Disability Enterprises refused to raise their sub-minimum wage for disabled workers.
Voices from the Inside Out: End life without parole
Prisoner Sam Lint writes about working to change South Dakota’s lifer law as South Dakota is one of only two states that have no option for parole if you have a life sentence; and one of the only two states that will give a life sentence for manslaughter. “Life” is natural life here, and they don’t mind giving it out.
Thoughts from the Outside: A way out of no way
July 19, 2022Faruq takes up “Civil,” a new documentary about human rights champion Benjamin Crump. To do right in this world, Crump, a lawyer, filed suits in a variety of civil and human rights cases including winning large settlements for the families of Breonna Taylor and George Floyd.
Apple workers unionize
Workers at the Apple Store in Towson, Md., outside Baltimore voted in June to unionize. Organizers of the successful union drive have reached out to employees at other Apple locations.
Voices from the Inside Out: Agents of lawlessness
Prisoner’s critique of police brutality and how it impacts Black communities and is “a tangible reminder of the incompleteness of formal equality.”
Stop the food crisis! Build food sovereignty NOW!
Excerpts from the June 3, 2022, statement by La Via Campesina, “Stop the food crisis! Build food sovereignty NOW!” and a link to the full statement.
Gerrymandering locks out democracy
Gerrymandering is an antidemocratic practice that Republicans have used to give themselves an advantage expected to last at least for another 10 years.
Strikes and rage at murders in Amazon
After journalist Dom Phillips and Indigenous solidarity activist Bruno Pereira were murdered in the Brazilian Amazon, condemnations and calls for justice rang out around the world.
War is excuse to ravage the climate
Country after country reacted to the war by increasing oil and gas trade and production. Only movements from below can keep the fossil fuel capitalists from turning the opportunity for a greener, freer future into opposite.
World in View: Progressives elected in Colombia
The stunning electoral victory of Gustavo Petro as President and Francia Márquez as Vice President marks a new moment for Colombia.
Left Apologetics for Putin
July 17, 2022This appendix to “Society in the Grip of Genocidal Ideology” details Putin’s genocidal ideology and how prominent Left journal “Monthly Review,” its editor John Bellamy Foster, and Noam Chomsky echo Putin’s propaganda in their apologetics for Russia’s war on Ukraine.
World in View: Militant truckers strike in South Korea
July 12, 2022More than 7,000 truckers took part in an eight-day strike for better pay and fewer hours. A measure dubbed the “Safe Trucking Freight Rate,” which ensures minimum pay, is set to expire this year.
World in View: India’s unemployment stirs youth revolts
Double-digit growth in India’s economy cannot hide the gravest of contradictions—massive unemployment especially among the youth.
World in View: Why Haiti is so poor
A new series by the New York Times paints a picture of Haiti’s stark, painful, preventable history of more than 200 years. Slaves who freed themselves in revolution were subverted first by Napoleon’s France—supported by the U.S.—demanding outlandish sums of money as ransom.
World in View: Philippines dictator Jr.
In rejecting a return to liberal capitalism, which presided over the growth of inequality in the Philippines, voters have elected Ferdinand Marcos, Jr., who promised them nothing when campaigning on a blank platform.
Readers’ Views: July-August 2022, Part One
Readers’ Views on: Supreme Court’s Attack on Women’s Freedom; Abortion, Healthcare and Women’s Movement; Abortion Unseparated from All Freedom Struggles; Gay Pride: Whose Bodies? Ours!; Colonizers Past and Present; Let Them Eat Rockets; Oppression of Homeless; Only 14 More Mass Shootings!; Church, State and Football
Readers’ Views: July-August 2022, Part Two
Readers’ Views on: Dialectics of Philosophy and Organization; Pelican Bay Hunger Strike Pamphlet; Prison and Slavery; On Lockdown; Prison Censorship; Voices from behind Bars
Youth in Action: July-August 2022
High schoolers refuse to live in fear of being gunned down at school; Fridays 4 Future “dies in” to shame carbon-happy Wall St. financiers; teenager highlights Palestinian human rights at Tel Aviv Pride.
Down with gun culture
Until recently, the outrageous power and impunity of the NRA dominated U.S. thinking on guns, opposing ANY measures to improve gun safety as a Second Amendment violation. But millions are determined to build a more humane society.
Woman as Reason: Their target: women’s freedom
July 9, 2022The overturning of abortion rights is worse than before it was legal because of the hatred of women for creating a movement that challenged men’s ownership of our bodies, lives and minds, and many are determined to get that power and control back no matter what the body count.
Ecuador’s Indigenous fight for means of life
July 8, 2022Ecuador’s Indigenous people are in revolt over the rising cost of living. In addition to price controls they are demanding access to healthcare and education and challenging continued discrimination against Indigenous people.
Editorial: Trump’s continuing coup
Trump set in motion a formula for ending meaningful elections that, if not stopped, raises the threat of 2024 as an empty ceremony for Trump or DeSantis or [Insert Name Here] before a coronation.
War, climate chaos, capitalism, COVID: World food crisis spreads
July 7, 2022With Russia’s war on Ukraine, a food crisis is emerging globally with lightning speed. Capitalism, with its agricultural-industrial system of commodity food production for the world market, is the cause of, and suffers from the consequences of, multiple, linked crises of war, COVID, and climate. There is radical opposition to this perfect storm of capitalist crises.
Essay: Society in the grip of genocidal ideology
July 5, 2022Genocidal ideology, which was manifested differently in the Buffalo mass shooting and in Putin’s war on Ukraine, has spread throughout our society, pervading the Right but also polluting the Left. How to fight this retrogression in all its forms?
Women, workers for freedom in Burma
Dedicated youth from the cities have joined the resistance in Burma (Myanmar), primarily from the urban working class. In the rural “heartland” of Upper Burma the People’s Defense Forces is a broader phenomenon–hundreds of thousands have rallied to the red banner, more all the time.
Queer Notes: July-August 2022
The work of Guardians of Equality Movement (GEM), the LGBTQ+ rights organization in Syria; Greece joined 14 other nations in banning conversion therapy; a student at Kalama High School in the state of Washington organized a rally supporting a Transgender student who was beaten in the school; and an art exhibit “Our Blood Can Save” opened in Brooklyn’s Major R. Owens Health and Wellness Community Center.
From the Writings of Raya Dunayevskaya: Hegel’s call to grasp spirit of the times
Because nothing is more urgent in a time of such crisis than grasping and acting on the spirit of the time in a revolutionary manner, we excerpt a lecture given by Dunayevskaya taking up Hegel’s Absolutes for our day.
Nationwide marches for abortion rights
March participants report on the thousands of women, men and gender diverse people who demonstrated across the U.S., including Chicago and the Bay Area. They were protesting the Supreme Court decision that decimated women’s right to an abortion and thus to control over their own bodies.
Editorial: Abortion bans show need for new society
With the gutting of Roe v. Wade, the Supreme Court has taken away a human right and stripped bodily autonomy from half the population. It is a giant step towards fascism. What is the answer to such an outrage? It is not the Democratic Party, who couldn’t even rid us of the Hyde Amendment.
Ecuador’s Indigenous movement wins concessions
July 2, 2022On June 30, after 18 days of protests, the government of Ecuador sat at the negotiating table with the leaders of the Indigenous movement. A representative of the Catholic Church asked reluctant Indigenous leaders to sign the agreement prepared by the government.
Chicago marches for abortion rights
June 25, 2022Well over 3,000 women and men overran downtown Federal Plaza in Chicago, spilling into the streets demanding abortion rights and castigating a U.S. Supreme Court whose legitimacy is no longer recognized by the citizens it oppresses.
Abortion bans upheld: Our task–a new human society
June 24, 2022With the gutting of Roe v. Wade, the Supreme Court has taken away a human right and stripped bodily autonomy from half the population. It is a giant step towards fascism. What is the answer to such an outrage? It is not the Democratic Party, who couldn’t even rid us of the Hyde Amendment.
Francia Marquez Mina, Colombia’s Vice President-Elect
June 20, 2022Colombia’s first leftist vice president, Francia Marquez Mina, has told her story and the struggles of Afro-Colombians in the pages of News & Letters.
Film review: ‘Good Luck to You, Leo Grande’
June 18, 2022Review of ‘Good Luck to You, Leo Grande,’ states that it missed a great chance to be political in a meaningful way. Writer Katy Brand left out the hard part, creating characters who live in a safe world that doesn’t exist. You can’t comprehend prostitution, sex work and sex workers without talking about capitalism and how it alienates and destroys human relationships.