Leituras

Reflections on the non-revolution in France, de David Osler:

Its most common usage in this context is as a counter to the commonsense argument that revolutions simply cannot happen in advanced capitalist countries. May 1968 proves they can, we are told. Well, almost, anyway. But how valid is this case?

When Blue Collars Are a Tight Fit (via Economist's View):

Centered on blue-collar whites, Latinos, and seniors, Clinton's coalition resembles those of previous "beer track" candidates such as Walter Mondale and her husband, Bill Clinton. Obama's coalition of young voters, independents, and well-educated whites resembles the following of earlier "wine track" candidates such as Gary Hart and Bill Bradley, with one key difference. While previous "wine track" candidates struggled with African-Americans, Obama is dominating among black voters.

Fruits of globalization, de Paul Krugman:

[G]lobalization as a profound source of change is nothing new. In fact, the combination of things that made the widespread consumption of bananas in America possible — railroads, steamships, refrigeration, and, not least, regime change often backed by American military might — where do you think banana republics came from? — makes containerization and the Washington Consensus look low-key by comparison.

An Open Letter to Michael Moore on Obama, de Bill Kaufman, na Counterpunch:

So you [Michael Moore] do not seriously examine a single political issue. My conjecture on the reason for this omission is that once you begin to list the issues that are of greatest concern to you, you will be forced to acknowledge that Obama does not agree with you on even one of them.

Embedded with the Tupamaros, também na Counterpuch:

It was in this context of repression [em 1989] that the Venezuelan popular militia movement was born. Neither entirely clandestine nor fully open, small groups began to spring up to defend local barrios from both the state and the burgeoning parallel violence of narcotrafficking. Small groups, masked and armed, began to make semi-public appearances, giving an ultimatum to local drug-dealers: either you stop selling drugs or you’ll be killed. The police, too, found themselves all the more frequently victims of armed ambushes and shootouts with masked militias. In order to explain this phenomenon, the police, government officials, and even more appreciative local residents adopted a single moniker, derived from the Uruguayan urban guerrilla struggle: in mythical fashion, these militias were deemed “Tupamaros.”

(...)

Despite the fact that the collectives issue their communiqués to “our commander-in-chief Hugo Chávez Frías,” the tone among some is bitter when the President’s name arises. “Chávez is calling us terrorists!” But they are quick to add the crucial caveat that things are far different than they had been under forty years of elite bipartisan rule: “At least he isn’t coming after us… yet.” Another member chimes in: “We’re not Chavistas, we’re not Marxists, we’re not socialists, we’re not anarchists or anything. We’re just Venezuelans who want to open up a little space so that the people have a little access to power.”