The widespread protests in the wake of the murders of George Floyd and Breonna Taylor marked a new chapter in the struggle for Black liberation. What would constitute Black liberation? Keeanga-Yamahtta Taylor says it’s about self-determination. “Can we make decisions free of economic coercion? Can we make decisions that are truly free? That to me is what liberation would be. I know that it’s not something that Black people can achieve alone. Black liberation is bound up with human liberation. On a purely mathematical basis, Black people drift between 13 and 14% of the population. We can’t get free alone. So, this is also about really trying to examine the connections between the subjugation of Black people, and how that relates to a wider web of subjugation of other people, including White people, in our society.”

Terrorism is the scourge of the era. It is a fearsome symbol conjuring up images of ferocious-looking, bearded men brandishing AK-47s. The media focus on the terrorism of official enemies like Saddam Hussein, bin Laden, and Zarqawi. After they were done away with, new demons appear to justify war and bloat the Pentagon budget. Be afraid of ISIS and Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula. Be afraid of Yemen and Somalia, Pakistan and Afghanistan, Iraq and Syria. Be afraid of all the jihadi groups that have mushroomed all over the Middle East. The notion that the U.S. and its allies engage in terrorism is simply not a topic for discussion. To scrutinize U.S. policy is verboten. The War on Terror goes on and on. Recorded at the University of Colorado.

The history of the U.S. is one of settler colonialism. The state was established on the basis of white male supremacy, slavery, land theft and genocide. “From sea to shining sea” the Native nations were decimated and dispossessed. The survivors herded into concentration camps. The genocidal policy reached its peak under President Andrew Jackson. Its ruthlessness was best articulated by Army general Thomas Jesup, who, in 1836, wrote: “The country can be rid of them only by exterminating them.” Native people are still here. Today, there is growing support for their movements such as the campaign to abolish Columbus Day and replace it with Indigenous Peoples’ Day. The Dakota Access Pipeline resistance led by the Standing Rock Sioux was joined by many non-Native allies. The action, though unsuccessful, captured the imagination of people everywhere. The struggle for indigenous rights continues.

In his 1967 book Where Do We Go From Here? Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr wrote these prophetic words: “A true revolution of values will soon look uneasily on the glaring contrast of poverty and wealth. The oceans of history are made turbulent by the ever-rising tides of hate. We are now faced with the fact that tomorrow is today. We are confronted with the fierce urgency of now. This may well be mankind’s last chance to choose between chaos or community.” More than five decades later the chaos is all too apparent: When we look around we are faced with a raging pandemic with its mounting death toll, acute economic distress, a climate in peril and the fury of the January 6th insurrection and all that was behind it. We are at a proverbial crossroads. Collective action can address these problems. We can choose. Will it be chaos or community?

The Lost Cause is rooted in the South’s search for justification and the need to find a substitute for victory in the Civil War. In attempting to deal with defeat, the South created an image of the war as a noble epic fought by brave men. The war, the mythology goes, wasn’t about preserving slavery it was about Southern values. Monuments to Confederate soldiers and the naming of military bases not only glorifies militarism but are everyday reminders of white supremacy and the subordination of slaves. Slavery, free labor for centuries, created huge wealth for the plantation master class. To heal and repair we need an honest accounting of history. Some monuments have come down and military bases may be renamed. We can’t continue to mythologize the past.

Many years ago I heard Noam Chomsky lecture. He compared U.S. foreign policy to the way the mafia operates. That caught the audience’s attention. Everyone had seen The Godfather movie. Chomsky went on to explain that obedience to the Godfather was non-negotiable. Do what you're told and you’ll not only be protected but richly rewarded. And if you step out of line, the Godfather will come down on you. So it is with U.S. foreign policy. Dissent is not tolerated. Countries like Cuba, Nicaragua, Iran, Chile, Indonesia and others, with politics and systems that defied Washington, have felt the wrath of U.S. power. The U.S. rules the world.

The digital age has given birth to hackers who carry out cyberattacks on our personal data, on pipelines, energy grids and meat processing plants. There are also hackers who practice the sharing of software, open sourcing and the secure free flow of information. Maureen Webb says those hackers “are making some of the most important contributions to preserving our liberal democratic tradition in the 21st century."

If you weren’t aware of it before, the pandemic demonstrates the fact that the virus recognizes no boundaries or borders. There is no safe place. Our collective fragility has been made all too evident. What will we take away from the Covid-19 plague?  We go back to business as usual only at our peril as other pandemics are sure to come. As Dr. Stephen Bezruchka says, “We need to rally around creating a society to work for global sustainability. Covid-19 threatens the planet. This crisis is an opportunity to make big changes in our relationship with each other and the planet. Incremental change is not going to work.”

Capitalism is exhibiting a hardening of its economic arteries. The pandemic has exposed profound structural problems. The crisis demands a serious examination of not only its root causes but for viable solutions. Once we are passed the pandemic do we go back to the status quo ante of massive eco-devastation and inequalities in income and wealth or do we create a new paradigm? Economist Richard Wolff suggests cooperatives offer equitable alternatives. He says, “If workers collectively and democratically owned and operated the enterprises, they wouldn't be profit maximizers that goes to a tiny group of people. The passion Americans sometimes bring to democratic values in politics, have been peculiarly un-applied to economics with disastrous results. Cooperation is not just a nice, warm, cuddly, good thing to do. Cooperation is what can save us from the collapse of our system.”

The news from India is grim. A Covid wave is sweeping the country, inflicting widespread misery and deaths. Government figures of Covid-related fatalities are widely seen as very much underreported. India may soon pass the U.S. as the global leader in deaths. Analysts say that the country wasn't prepared to handle the surge. Hospitals have been overwhelmed and there are acute shortages of oxygen, medicine and vaccines. The country is ruled by Narendra Modi of the Bharatiya Janata Party, the BJP. It is a Hindu nationalist party. It has come under wide criticism for its handling of the crisis. Noted writer Arundhati Roy says, “It is hard to convey the full depth and range of the trauma, chaos and indignity that India’s Covid catastrophe has inflicted. Meanwhile, Modi and his allies tell people not to complain.” Interview by David Barsamian.