Educated in the classics, philosophy, literature, theology, and sociology, Ed Curtin teaches sociology at Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts. His writing on varied topics has appeared widely over many years. He states: "I write as a public intellectual for the general public, not as a specialist for a narrow readership. I believe a non-committal sociology is an impossibility and therefore see all my work as an effort to enhance human freedom through understanding." His website is http://edwardcurtin.com/ .
Parting shot—a word from the editors
The Best Definition of Donald Trump We Have Found
In his zeal to prove to his antagonists in the War Party that he is as bloodthirsty as their champion, Hillary Clinton, and more manly than Barack Obama, Trump seems to have gone “play-crazy” — acting like an unpredictable maniac in order to terrorize the Russians into forcing some kind of dramatic concessions from their Syrian allies, or risk Armageddon.However, the “play-crazy” gambit can only work when the leader is, in real life, a disciplined and intelligent actor, who knows precisely what actual boundaries must not be crossed. That ain’t Donald Trump — a pitifully shallow and ill-disciplined man, emotionally handicapped by obscene privilege and cognitively crippled by white American chauvinism. By pushing Trump into a corner and demanding that he display his most bellicose self, or be ceaselessly mocked as a “puppet” and minion of Russia, a lesser power, the War Party and its media and clandestine services have created a perfect storm of mayhem that may consume us all.— Glen Ford, Editor in Chief, Black Agenda Report





1 comment
Excellent discussion. Thanks to both participants. The addition of John Bolton as National Security Advisor cements the observation that the state is moving into imminent warfare mode. The citizens of Western societies today are as out of touch with “reality” as during the Crusades and the Holy Inquisition – totally lost in the propaganda mythologies of the elites of the times – who have therefore reduced them to unthinking cannon fodder. That the war-mongering neo-cons in the Trump administration are now attacked “from the right” by mainstream Democrats, as essentially “not warlike enough” speaks to the complete lobotomy that has occurred on the public mind. I just returned to the U.S. after three years in rural France and I feel like I’m walking around on some sort of zombie apocalypse movie set. Can no one think for themselves anymore? Or is it just too frightening to do so?