At a concert last night featuring 3 amazing guitarists – Jim Weider, GE Smith, and Larry Campbell. The set list combined classical and jazz styles and arrangements into a rock and blues motif. Every song in the nearly 3 hour concert was a joy to listen to. Some included vocals, but ‘even where they did, the vocals didn’t dominate the piece. One without vocals was Sam Cooke’s, “A Change is Gonna Come.” The 3 guitarists were accompanied by a young and high energy drummer and a bass player.

Driving home I thought to myself that my $50 ticket was a steal.

Dogma is a tenacious thing, especially when reinforced by institutional pressures, favors, and sanctions. It discourages, even penalizes, independent thinking and inquiry beyond prescribed boundaries. In a changing world, like ours, in which new phenomena, patterns, challenges, and experiences are everywhere apparent, such a habit of mind and organization are obviously counterproductive.

Here is a reply to someone else’s post from a while back. I post it here because it retains its relevancy: Why would you even mention, at some length mind you, “fraudulent” claims of self determination, including the Confederate South, in earlier historical settings since they have no relevance in the case of Ukraine? If total victory in the eyes of Ukrainians is understood as the complete withdrawal of the Russian troops from Ukraine, are you ready to say that is an “illusion?” Are you ready to permanently concede Russian controlled Ukrainian territories to Putin as an acceptable price to be paid in order to commence negotiations to end the war? Would you support the immediate cessation of military assistance from the U.S. to the Ukrainians? And if so, what do think the fate of Ukraine would be in that event? Is it realistic to think that Putin will negotiate in good faith short of a decisive Russian defeat on the battlefield and greater international pressure? Do you understand Putin’s decision to invade Ukraine as simply reactive and defensive? Isn’t it up to Ukrainians to decide the terms of ending the war? Not some sections of the US left? How do you understand the right to self determination? In general and in the case of Ukraine? Can the struggle of the Ukraine people be framed as an anti-colonial war of resistance? Or is it a second order concern in a proxy war between Russia and the U.S.? How extensively have you read Ukrainian sources, including socialist ones, on the invasion and Ukrainian politics?

I attended a gathering yesterday at the historic Riverside Church in NYC, memorializing and celebrating the heroic life and multifaceted legacy of Charlene Mitchell. The words of every speaker, especially her dear friend and comrade Angela Davis, were poignant and instructive. Everything else on the program was done with great taste too, capturing Charlene’s passions and strategic acumen as well as her inspirational leadership. The memorial and celebration ended, per Charlene’s request in her will, with the singing of the Internationale.

I believe the writer makes some important observations regarding the authoritarian threat that deserve attention and discussion.