AlternativeRadio

When is enough enough? In the face of evil what does it take for people to move from passivity to active resistance? Throughout history there have been instances of people defying tyranny. Fighting back no matter what the odds. An example comes from Nazi Germany, often considered the benchmark of evil. Opposition to the regime was highly dangerous. Seventy five years ago, Hans and Sophie Scholl, brother and sister, and others at the University of Munich said, Genug. Enough. They formed the White Rose movement and called on Germans to recognize their moral duty and overthrow the government. They disseminated critical information through flyers and graffiti. One such graffiti said, “Whatever comes out of Hitler's mouth is a lie." In 1943, Hans and Sophie Scholl were arrested and beheaded. Their resistance and courage are honored today. They took risks. Can we?  Interview by David Barsamian.

The barbarity of the onslaught on indigenous people by Euro-Americans settlers can scarcely be believed. Historian David Stannard states the indigenous peoples of North and South America had undergone the "worst human holocaust the world had ever witnessed, roaring across two continents non-stop for four centuries and consuming the lives of countless tens of millions of people." The Native American Holocaust is a historical fact, “but the wreckage that it caused,” Stannard declares, “remains vividly evident among many of its survivor descendants. Today, from the desert southwest of Arizona to the Black Hills of South Dakota many American Indian communities barely survive, mired in poverty and despair that has little equal except in some so-called desperately impoverished Third World countries.” Yet to add insult to injury, Columbus Day is still a federal holiday. But, in defiance, many cities have changed the name to Indigenous Peoples’ Day. Recorded at Vanderbilt University.

The latest phase of Capitalism, neoliberalism, has left a train wreck in its wake. It’s produced a new Gilded Age. The gap between theoretical Capitalism and its actual workings is jaw dropping. The chasm is a far cry from the courses in economics taught in colleges and universities. We are told the system relies on the market. In fact, it depends heavily on government intervention. When the big capitalists are in trouble states are there to bail them out. Really existing Capitalism works for the few at the expense of the many. Look at the Trump tax cut. Epic levels of inequality are not just in the U.S. but are worldwide. An Oxfam report says, 82% of the wealth generated in 2017 went to the richest 1%, while 3.7 billion people, the poorest half of the world, saw no increase in their wealth.

Overcoming adversity alone is a tough road to hoe but when you act with others it’s not as difficult. There is nothing like solidarity. There’s unity and strength in numbers. Most movements have very modest beginnings. Take women’s rights. Elizabeth Cady Stanton and a handful of other woman met in Seneca Falls in Upstate New York in 1848 to launch the women’s rights movement. The odds were against them. The naysayers were out in force with their patronizing comments such as: Why bother? Don’t get involved. Get back to the kitchen. Yet those women and the many who followed them were able to achieve much. Struggles continue. Today the #MeToo movement is challenging patriarchy by calling out men for sexual abuse and harassment and insisting on equal pay for equal work. Citizen action is easier then we think. Struggles continue. Today the #MeToo movement is challenging patriarchy by calling out men for sexual abuse and harassment and insisting on equal pay for equal work. Citizen action is easier then we think. 2 CDs

One dictionary defines fascism as, “A system of government that exercises a dictatorship of the extreme right, typically through the merging of state and business leadership, together with belligerent nationalism.” The first fascist party was founded by Mussolini in Italy in 1915. Its etymology is traced to the Latin word meaning a bundle of rods tied around an axe, an ancient Roman symbol of authority. Today, the term, for many, immediately conjures up horrific images of storm troopers. But contemporary fascism has undergone a major wardrobe change. Could it happen here? Some see elements of it now with what is called populism, America First, coupled with a largely imagined past, Make America Great Again. The media are denounced as “the enemy of the people,” a phrase Stalin used. Critics of the Leader are bullied and insulted.

What are individuals to do when faced with a moral imperative? And society at large? Philosophers since ancient times have been wrestling with this question as it involves issues of ethics and conscience. When we see an injustice do we remain passive and silent or do we intervene to try and stop it. Is it our problem or someone else’s? Powerful states and institutions like to cloak themselves in morality and virtue. Citizens are propagandized to let the big boys, since they know what’s best, handle everything. Do we act on our principles? What are our responsibilities? Racial segregation was an obvious immorality. Why did it take so long for it to be eliminated? Same with voting rights. Today the old poisonous wines are being repackaged in new bottles. Once again we are faced with moral imperatives.

The scourge of male violence against women will not end if we dismantle the forces of global capitalism. The scourge of male violence exists independently of capitalism, empire and colonialism. It is a separate evil. The fight to end male violence against women, part of a global struggle by women, must take primacy in our own struggle. Women and girls, especially those who are poor and of color, cannot take part in a liberation movement until they are liberated. They cannot offer to us their wisdom, their leadership and their passion until they are freed from physical coercion and violent domination. This is why the fight to end male violence across the globe is not only fundamental to our movement but will define its success or failure. We cannot stand up for some of the oppressed and ignore others who are oppressed. None of us is free until all of us are free.

The demonic Captain Ahab in Melville’s epic novel Moby Dick represents a quest for power and domination that is a death wish. Hubris will doom Ahab and his Pequod crew, all perish except for Ishmael. Is there a larger lesson to be learned? Is the United States much different? The U.S. with its obsessive drive for control of oil and other resources, its relentless hunger for profits, its garrisoning the globe with military bases, its arrogant disregard for the environment, is on the same suicidal path as Ahab. Washington’s policies, under both political parties, are always imbued with benevolence and noble intentions. It is innocent of imperialistic designs. Freedom and democracy are its goals. A well-disciplined media and intellectual class rarely challenge these embedded assumptions. We continue to ignore all warnings as to the destruction we are wreaking on the planet.

Discussions about democracy probably start in Athens about 2500 years ago. A truism is society is democratic to the extent that its citizens play a meaningful role in managing public affairs. Democracy is located within the capitalist economic system infamous for producing colossal inequality. There's no level playing field as great income and wealth translate into political power for the haves at the expense of the have nots. We have procedural democracy: elections, broadcast debates, primaries, etc. Citizens are largely marginalized, overwhelmed by big money and powerful lobbies. Look at the widespread demand to ban assault weapons of war or for universal single payer health care or protecting the environment or affordable housing. People want those things but elites have a simple message. Vote. Then go home and leave everything to us. Actual democracy is hollowed out. A Davos-type class rules.

"An informed democracy will behave in a responsible fashion," said Jefferson. And what happens to democracy when one of the major pillars of information, journalism is under attack from the highest office in the land? We live in an era where the president openly singles out journalists by name and denounces them. And when he’s at a rally he incites his followers to hiss and boo the press. “Fake news,” he tweets. The media are “a stain on America.” Apparently, any journalist that does not express admiration and adoration for the president is not doing his or her job. Only Fox can be trusted. Journalism, at least in theory, has one essential job: to dig out and communicate the facts about what powerful individuals and institutions are doing. And to hold them accountable. No one is above criticism.