EDITOR—The fall of Fascism, subsequent nationalizations, the entrance of the Portuguese Communist Party (PCP) into government, the rise of workers’ commissions, the mobilization of urban and rural protest, and land occupations held the world in thrall, if only for a short time. In the end, the corporatist bureaucratic state apparatus and its economic partners emerged renewed, chastened, and not unscathed. Chilcote singles out the durability and continuity of the state apparatus as a major factor in the prevailing hegemonic bloc and blames the fractiousness of the Left for failing to replace it. Nevertheless, in the final analysis, the attempts to create a counter-hegemonic bloc paved the way for democratic, pluralistic politics in Portugal.
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CHRIS HEDGES—Woke ideology is pervasive in liberal institutions, especially universities, but does it further and hamper the liberal values and inclusiveness it purports to advocate? It seeks to transform society through what Christian Parenti calls the moralizing micropolitics of politicized etiquette. It is fixated on the politics of language and symbols, the sins of cultural appropriation and misnaming and calls for centering historically oppressed groups. It advocates identity politics, prioritizing race, gender, indigeneity, sexual orientation, physical disability, mental health diagnoses, immigration status and socioeconomic status over political content. Woke discourse, Parenti writes, “is imbued with a therapeutic mentality expressed in safety-obsessed incantations about harm, trauma, healing, care and doing the work. Personal struggles take precedent over political struggles.
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MARGARET KIMBERLEY—n 2012 Angela Davis felt compelled to give fulsome praise to Barack Obama, including claiming that his rise to the presidency showed a connection with the Black radical tradition. The false statement was quite alarming, as Davis ignored the obvious, that the Obama campaign was a creation of the neo-liberal and imperialist elites who needed a more attractive face in a moment of crisis. Our late comrade Glen Ford observed that, “The ‘delusional effect’ that swept Black America with the advent of the First Black President has warped and weakened the mental powers of some of our most revered icons – and it has been painful to behold.”
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EDITOR—”The CIA is but the strong arm for [the Empire’s] economic hitmen, and yet we have these liberals in love with the CIA and the FBI!” Jimmy and Drea de Matteo comment on the appalling ignorance, cowardice, and alarming stupidity of celebrities, as they join the parade to cheer the liberal authoritarian Empire—the “WOKE” version—in support of all its wars, regime change ops, suppression of free speech and labor rights, and even broad daylight genocide!
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EDITOR—Alana Hadid (sister of famous models Gigi and Bella Hadid), all daughters of a Palestinian father and a Dutch mother, discusses her outrage and frustration with the Democrats, from the party leadership to the seemingly equally complicit upper tier of the party, which remains criminally unmoved by the plight of Palestinians. The clip also includes important questions answered by other Pro-Palestinian activists. “We need a planet that is safe. But when you commit genocide, and you threaten us with getting someone worse…we’ll deal with that, but genocide can’t be tolerated.”
