By Erin McCarley and Birrion Sondahl
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The podcast currently has 19 episodes available.
After a bit of a hiatus, Crawdads & Taters is back to discuss the 2024 Presidential election, the ongoing genocide in Palestine and the limits of real political change under a capitalist, imperialist economic system.
While identity politics are being sold to us as a smokescreen for progressive change, duping the public into believing that Kamala (as a black woman) will be the hope and change we've all been waiting for, C & T brings you back down-to-earth with a socialist perspective based in class consciousness and historical materialism.
Thanks, as always, for your support and please consider becoming a subscriber for as little as $3/month at patreon.com/crawdadsandtaters. And if you can't donate, then give us a good rating on your favorite podcast platform and share us with your friends.
Reading Notes:
Sanders Won the War of Ideas - by Erin McCarley
Democracy is dead - by Birrion Sondahl
Democracy Lost: A Report on the Fatally Flawed 2016 Democratic Primaries
Clinton Donors Have Picked Their 2020 Democratic Presidential Nominee | Observer
Black Left Critique of Kamala Harris
US Is Reportedly Working to Prevent Conference on Geneva Convention Violations
Minnesota activists criticize Tim Walz for refusing to meet with Palestinians
Harris shifts stance on fracking, healthcare and border
14 protestors calling on Walz to divest from Israel cited for trespassing at his residence
In this episode, we talk again about Fascism because we have entered into a Primary Election cycle where leftists of all stripes will once again be cajoled, harassed and even trolled by the neoliberal establishment to Vote Blue No Matter Who– in order to avoid Donald Trump and “Fascism.”
Many liberals feel entitled to attack leftists at election time because by their shallow, liberal definition, fascism is simply a right-wing ideology that is embodied by Donald Trump. But what the liberal establishment fails to understand time and time again is that fascism is not just an ideological project, but it is economic and political project, which is the inevitable result of working-class repression under neoliberal capitalism.
Looking at fascism's economic and political roots, we can see that what is actually pushing the world toward fascism is not simply a bunch of right-wing ideologues who just appeared out of nowhere. The breeding ground for fascism, the underlying conditions for fascism, rest within a global capitalist economic structure where the transnational capitalist class helps decide government agendas… the Military Industrial Complex, Big Oil, Big Pharma… These are transnational entities whose profit mandates influence and control government policies.
And this kind of global political economy not only leads to huge concentrations of wealth at the very top of society. It also leads to mass poverty at the bottom– all over the world. And this social inequality breeds class war, which results in a perfect breeding ground for the ideology of fascism to take hold. So voting for Joe Biden will not stop fascism. And until we address the root causes of fascism, we will not be able to reverse this counter-revolutionary cycle.
Reading Notes:
Delving into John Pilger’s 2002 documentary: 'Palestine is still the issue'
The Question of Palestine- A Brief History- by the United Nations
Netanyahu’s corruption trial resumes amid Israeli war on Gaza. What to know
Poverty rates in Israel are among the highest - opinion
One-third of Israeli Holocaust survivors live in poverty, advocates say
The top 1% captured nearly twice as much new wealth as the rest of the world over last two years
Poll finds wide disapproval of Biden on Gaza, and little room to shift gears
Global Capitalism Has Become Dependent on War-Making to Sustain Itself by William I. Robinson
Antony Loewenstein explains how the “Palestine Laboratory” fuels brutal wars and colonialism all over the world
Israeli weapon seen used by Neo-Nazi Ukrainian unit against Russia
Palestine: a communist perspective
Israeli estate agent defends ads offering beachfront villas in Gaza
Please consider making an urgently-needed donation to Crawdads & Taters, as we are ramping up coverage during this genocide. As we find ourselves in the midst of an information war, where critical voices are being censored, banned and bombed, we need your support now more than ever. Please become a subscriber for as little as $3/month at patreon.com/crawdadsandtaters.
Episode Description:
As the official death toll in Gaza soars to more than 8,500, with 5,500 children likely dead, and US-backed Israel prepares for a ground invasion, we bring you Part 2 of our analysis of the forces at work behind this genocide.
Today, we discuss Biden's complicity with war crimes, his unwavering support for Israel, and Biden's history as a Zionist. We define Zionism, and we use a lens of Settler Colonialism, Zionism and Disaster Capitalism for understanding what Israel and the United States are now executing.
We also shine a light on Israel's future capitalist development plans for a canal/corridor, and look at how these plans may be connected to the genocide happening in Gaza.
As socialists, we understand how capitalism's plans for endless expansion require constant war, genocide and the destruction of nature, and the brutal oppression of the world's most vulnerable.
We offer you a list of media resources to stay informed, as non-coporate, anti-war voices are being banned, censored, and bombed.
Reading Notes
Global Capitalism Has Become Dependent on War-Making to Sustain Itself | Truthout
Peace Propaganda And The Promised Land U.S Media & the Israeli Palestinian Conflict 2004
Chris Hedges - Exterminate all the Brutes
Noura Erakat: Western Leaders & Media Are Justifying Israel’s “Genocidal Campaign” Against Palestinians | Democracy Now!
BDS Movement
'Peace between Israel and Saudi Arabia will truly create a new Middle East': Netanyahu
Al Jazeera
Mondoweiss
The Grayzone
MintPress News
“Not in Our Name”: 400 Arrested at Jewish-Led Sit-in at NYC’s Grand Central Demanding Gaza Ceasefire | Democracy Now!
Gaza Fights For Freedom (2019) | Full Documentary | Directed by Abby Martin
In Part One one of our series on Palestine, we review the horrific events since October 7th as the death toll in Gaza reaches nearly 6,000.
We analyze the US role in funding and providing political cover for Israeli settler colonialism, apartheid and genocide in the occupied territories of Palestine.
We explore the history of Israel as a settler colonial regime that began in 1948.
We hear from various Jewish voices for peace- Dr. Norman Finkelstein, Holocaust survivor Dr. Gabor Maté, Jewish Voices for Peace as well as historians of holocaust and genocide who describe why what's happening now in Gaza is a textbook definition of genocide.
We explore the history of the Zionist land claim on Palestine and deconstruct it through a settler-colonialist lens.
And we discuss Palestinian attempts at non-violent resistance that have been met with mass murder and extreme violence.
Stay tuned for Part Two of this series coming later this week.
We are in the midst of an information war, where non-corporate and independent voices are being highly suppressed and censored. Please support our work and become a subscriber at patreon.com/crawdadsandtaters so that we can continue to bring you independent news and analysis from a socialist lens. For as little as $5/month, you can keep us up and running!! Thank you!!!
Reading Notes:
Israel Has No Right of Self-Defense Against Gaza
Gaza’s terrified children all too aware Israel’s bombs steal their joy
Hostilities in the Gaza Strip and Israel | Flash Update #17 | United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs - occupied Palestinian territory
800+ Legal Scholars Say Israel May Be Perpetrating 'Crime of Genocide' in GazaGaza by Norman Finkelstein - Paperback - University of California Press
The roots of Israel's ethnic cleansing in Gaza
US opposes peace as Israel ethnically cleanses Palestinians, waging war on ‘entire nation’ of Gaza
Outrage spreads across Middle East after attack on Gaza hospital
Decolonization is always a violent phenomenon. Would that it were otherwise.
Dr. Gabor Maté on Palestine
As of recording this episode, the Hollywood Labor Strike is entering its seventh week. It's the first time actors and screenwriters have been on strike together since 1960. And while 87 percent of SAG-AFTRA union members make less than $26,000/year, Barbie and Oppenheimer, together, have so far grossed $1.83 billion at the box office. This is the real-life backdrop for the release of these two summer blockbuster movies.
In this episode, we focus on Hollywood's treatment of the atomic bomb in its recent blockbuster film, Oppenheimer. Because of the narrow focus of this film on Oppenheimer, the man, we feel it extremely urgent and necessary to teach a deeper history of the global and historical impacts of US nuclear proliferation.
According to the Union of Atomic Scientists, the doomsday clock is closer to midnight now (that is, closer to nuclear doomsday) than it’s ever been in human history. The United States has approved more than $120 billion (and counting) to Ukraine to fight a proxy war against Russia, while ramping up its hostile Cold War rhetoric against China. This corporate-backed government is taking us closer and closer to the brink of nuclear war with these two major nuclear superpowers. And it's important to remember that there’s only country in the world that has ever used a nuclear bomb against civilians, and that country is the United States.
At this incredibly volatile point in world history, we find many of Oppenheimer's historical omissions to be unforgivable. As entertaining as the film is, it is not the anti-war film that US audiences need in order to catalyze an anti-war movement and avoid WWIII. And given that so many people use Hollywood and the mass media as their main information source for US History, we feel compelled to clarify the historical record.
So join us for another episode, and become a patron at patreon.com/crawdadsandtaters.
Reading Notes
Is Hollywood Still Afraid of the Truth About the Atomic Bomb?: Greg Mitchell on “Oppenheimer”
Oppenheimer: The Real Plan for U.S. Nuclear Domination, Then and Now
NMPBS: ‘Forever chemicals’ found at Los Alamos
Concerned Citizens for Nuclear Safety: Is Our Drinking Water Safe?
Tularosa Basin Downwinders Consortium: “Unknowing, Unwilling, and Uncompensated: The Effects of the Trinity Test on New Mexicans and the Potential
Revealed: How U.S. Gov’t & Hollywood Secretly Worked Together to Justify Atomic Bombings of Japan | Democracy Now!
The War Was Won Before Hiroshima—And the Generals Who Dropped the Bomb Knew It | The Nation
Downfall - Howard Zinn
Foreign Relations of the United States: Diplomatic Papers, The Conference of Berlin (The Potsdam Conference), 1945, Volume I - Office of the Historian
Atomic Bomb Museum: Counting the Dead
The Holocaust and World War II: Key Dates
Geopolitical Economy Report: Atomic bombing of Japan was NOT necessary to end WWII. US gov't documents admit it
Hollywood Studios’ WGA Strike Endgame Is To Let Writers Go Broke Before Resuming Talks In Fall
In this episode, we explore the manufactured debt-ceiling crisis of June 2023. Sold to the US public as a financial emergency that required immediate action in order to avoid impending doom and "the scourge of default," we look at what the debt-ceiling negotiations actually resulted in: a giant cash giveaway to big business, the war industry, fossil fuel companies and the ruling class. While feigning the need to cut federal spending across the board, military spending and funding for fossil fuel projects actually increased, while the US government slashed the budgets of the minuscule federal food stamp program and ended student debt relief. In addition, the bipartisan debt-ceiling deal included the legislative fast-tracking some of the most protested and lethal pipelines to people and the planet.
As the corporate duopoly marches in lockstep in their war on the working class, the poor, and the planet, there was almost no corporate media analysis of this phony crisis and the giant financial gift to the one-percent that resulted from these debt-ceiling negotiations, which is why we provide you with a deeper analysis here.
If you appreciate our in-depth reporting and analysis, please support our work and become a patron today at patreon.com/crawdadsandtaters.
Show notes:
In this episode, we take a deep look at the Norfolk Southern train derailment in Palestine, Ohio on Feb. 3rd, and how this incident is connected to the corporate management of the railways– a topic that we dove into, in depth, in our last episode, Off The Rails.
The United States averages 1,700 train derailments per year. Since the disaster in East Palestine, there have been dozens more derailments to date. Norfolk Southern averages approximately 164 derailments and three hazardous material releases per year. This Ohio disaster was only exceptional–only widely reported – because of the incredibly dramatic, visceral and toxic nature of the event - a two-mile-long “bomb train” of 141 cars, holding up to 32,000 gallons each of highly flammable toxic chemicals. In addition to the spill, an out-of-control fire raged for days afterwards, sending the cargo up into a giant mushroom cloud above a small Ohio town of some 5,000 residents.
As East Palestine residents continue their battles with toxicity-related illnesses-- headaches, nausea, rashes, and chemical pneumonia, we look at the response from the Biden Administration, the Transportation Secretary, former President Trump, and compare these responses to the donations that both parties have received directly from Norfolk Southern.
On President's Day, the Proud Boys handed out water to Ohio victims whose water was poisoned. Trump promised Palestine residents they would not be forgotten. And Biden went to Ukraine to sell more weapons. It is in this upside-down world, we feel compelled to examine how Democratic failures to fight for the working-class continually create a vacuum and an opening for fascism.
And finally, we talk about what Railroad Workers United is still demanding after all these months- nationalization of the railroads. Perhaps this could be a first step on the path toward socialism.
Links
Chris Hedges: The Age of Social Murder - scheerpost.com
Music - The Revolutionary Communist Progressive Labor Party
Support Public Ownership of the Railroads
Pete Plays IDENTITY POLITICS While Failing at His Job
The Ohio Train Disaster: Corporate Greed & Regulatory Failure | The Problem With Jon Stewart Podcast
Norfolk Southern BAILS on Town Hall in East Palestine
Corporate Greed and Deregulation Fuel Threat of More Bomb Trains as East Palestine Demands Answers | Democracy Now!
Dems STRUGGLE to Defend Biden as Trump Plans East Palestine Visit - w/ Punch Up Pod
Outraged Ohio residents erupt at town hall: 'Where's Pete Buttigieg?'
East Palestine derailment aftermath: How worried should people be?
A History of Norfolk Southern Train Crash Reports - Columbus Underground
Spilled drink: train derails beside Montana river, tipping out cases of beer
Raymond, Minnesota, train derailment: Cars carrying ethanol rupture and ignite. Now crews assess 3 more cars with highly flammable material | CNN
Union Pacific reopens Cima Subdivision after derailment of runaway iron ore train
Train derails in rural North Dakota and spills chemicals | AP News
In this first episode of 2023, in the midst of ongoing US wars, pandemics and record inflation, we take a deep look at "the railroad strike that wasn't" in December 2022. In this US political moment, we see an uptick of strikes, walkouts and labor organizing inside the United States. And we feel it's crucial to hear from railroad workers directly in order to understand their working conditions, as well as the role the US government played in shutting down this strike- stripping workers of their democratic rights.
We take you through the timeline of railroad negotiations over the last three years, looking closely at the Biden Administration's use of the 1926 Railway Act as a strike-breaking tool, in the service of multi-billionaire railway carriers, lobbyists and their CEO's. In a time of record-breaking profits for the railway industry, we look at the basic demands of workers- a handful of paid sick time days that were denied to them through a bipartisan consensus.
We also take a lens to the corporate media's coverage of the railroad issue and examine its intensely corporate bias, as it relentlessly warns of economic disaster should workers strike, yet never reports on workers' demands.
Finally, we discuss the role of neoliberalism and the bipartisan betrayal of workers as a real political force pushing the country toward fascism. We hear from other socialists about the powerful history of US railroad strikes and what must be done today in terms of the labor movement and electoral politics in order to stop a fascist uprising and revitalize the labor movement inside the United States.
As always, we bring you this analysis from a socialist perspective, and we very much depend on your subscriptions to continue this podcast. Please become a patron today at patreon.com/crawdadsandtaters.
Reading Notes:
We Rise Fighting Episode 21: Interview w/ Marilee Taylor of Railroad Workers United
Fake Populists See A Real Opportunity
PEB 250 - Report and Recommendations
Global capitalism, global police state
“Enough Is Enough”: Rail Workers Decry Biden’s Push to Impose Strike-Breaking Labor Deal | Democracy Now!
[Audio] The Great Railroad Strike of 1877 | NYC Marxist School 2022 - Socialist Revolution
Railroad Workers United Statement
Bad Faith: Episode 233 - Fraud Squad? (w/Kshama Sawant & Ryan Grim)
As Congress has approved almost $70 billion now in Ukraine spending and a more-than $800 billion US military budget for 2023, we look at the costs of "Forever Wars" - the financial, political, and ecological costs. And we examine how global capitalism, as a political-economic system, is becoming more and more dependent upon war-making to sustain itself.
As the new Cold War rages on, and Ukraine becomes more and more of a permanent US proxy state, we look at Biden’s threats against China as a history of peaceful US-China relations is shattered.
We also look at Biden’s escalating rhetoric against Cuba, Venezuela and other “failed states” that have in some way resisted the forces of global capitalism. We look at all of these provocations through the lens of military industrial profits and a declining US empire trying desperately to maintain unipolar world dominance.
And as Biden ramps up his nuclear rhetoric, now warning of Armageddon with Russia, we finish our history lesson on US interventionism in Ukraine— this time, starting from 2019 and going to February 24, 2022— the day that US and Western Media claim that history started.
Finally, given that war is one of the most carbon-intensive projects on the planet and the US cumulative emissions exceed those of any other country, we look at the environmental crisis as a crisis of military emissions— understanding that ending fossil-fuel-driven wars is absolutely essential if we are going to survive as a species in the midst of an ongoing ecological collapse.
The stakes are rising for all of us, and as socialists, we see a dire need for all of our movements to come together— international, working-class, anti-colonial, environmental, racial justice and anti-war movements. It’s all hands on deck now and perhaps our last hope for survival.
Noam Chomsky & Vijay Prashad on Ukraine, Why U.S. Must Negotiate with Russia & What Media Gets Wrong
Capitalism's Structural Crisis and the Global Revolt- w/William I. Robinson
It's Time to Call It What It Is—A Capitalism-Induced Ecological Crisis- Erin McCarley
Global Capitalism Has Become Dependent on War-Making to Sustain Itself
Who sabotaged Nord Stream pipelines? US boasts ‘tremendous opportunity’ to weaken Russia. CIA knew.
Jacque Baud's US-Ukraine Timeline
Biden's Threat of Armageddon
CBS censors its own report on Ukraine weapons corruption
ACTION ALERT: NYT Celebrates Neo-Nazi Azov Unit
Doves Die in Ukraine: When Did Liberals Turn On Peace? With Eugene Puryear
The Costs of War website- Neta Crawford
The podcast currently has 19 episodes available.