“Chris Hedges’ catastrophism is faulty politics” first appeared on PeoplesWorld.org on February 10, 2014. Read it on PeoplesWorld.org.

A friend of mine sends me commentaries by Chris Hedges. He raves about them. In his words, they speak truth to power, tell it like it is. Hedges, he says, “pull no punches.”

I find them instructive and full of insights too; their sense of outrage is palpable.

There is little doubt that Hedges counts among a growing galaxy of progressive and left writers who are challenging conventional wisdom that sustains the system of capitalism and its present political configuration of forces.

“Democracy Matters: An Interview with Sam Webb” first appeared on PoliticalAffairs.net on December 24, 2013. Read it on PoliticalAffairs.net.

Editor’s note: Interview with Sam Webb, Chair of the Communist Party USA on the subjects of the struggle for democracy and socialism conducted by Joe Sims.

PA: A discussion of socialism seems a little remote from the struggle to defeat Bush. Isn’t it a diversion?

Webb: We see the struggle to defeat Bush and his ultra-right counterparts as the main task in the coming period. It’s going to occupy our attention as well as the attention of tens of millions from now until Election Day. Nothing will set the stage for a broader struggle for people’s needs in the post-election period than defeating Bush and his right wing counterparts in Congress. At the same time, we don’t see any reason to warehouse the subject of socialism. Whether we like it or not, world developments are bringing socialism back into the political discourse in our country and worldwide. Why? Because it’s becoming apparent that problems such as environmental degradation, the health care and unemployment crises, inequality and racism, the issue of war and peace, can’t be resolved under capitalism. Keep in mind, capitalism is a global system, and rather than solving these problems, it greatly aggravates them. In some ways, capitalism at its present stage of development threatens the future of humankind. Whole regions of the globe are being ravaged. Given these circumstances, it is necessary to take a fresh look at socialism, while understanding that it is not on the people’s action agenda.

“Obamacare: Grumbling is not enough” first appeared on PeoplesWorld.org on November 26, 2013. Read it on PeoplesWorld.org.

It is amazing how fast momentum can shift in politics. And it usually happens for reasons that could not have been predicted.

Case in point: only a month ago, the reckless shutdown of the federal government left its engineers — the tea party and the Republican Party — weakened, and the president and Democrats energized and with the wind at their back.

“Shutdown: New phase in a very American coup” first appeared on PeoplesWorld.org on October 11, 2013. Read it on PeoplesWorld.org.

They didn’t wear jackboots, but the shutdown of government by an extremist faction of the Republican Party can only be described as a new phase in a very American coup. The barbarians of the far right are at the gates. Our democracy, I would say with no hint of dramatization, is under siege.

The immediate trigger of this assault was this faction’s out-of-control obsession to defund the Affordable Care Act.