AMERICAN DUPLICITY

There are now almost 100,000 members of the Democratic Socialists of America. Because of this, the author of a critical biography of its founder is timely. The criticisms of Harrington are overwhelmingly true of the DSA today. Its anti-communism drives it to still support the Democratic Party in spite of the fact the party today is far more right-wing than it was in Harrington’s day. In Harrington’s day supporting Palestine was considered antisemitic. DSA’s support of Palestine today is more the effect of the brutal Israeli policy for decades than an internal change of heart on the part of DSA. —Bruce Lerro, Socialist Planning Beyond Capitalism

After putting up with nearly four years of relentlessly provocative assaults from the US, China has made a decisive, historic change in its approach to bilateral relations. The two high-level meetings in Anchorage and Tianjin will be seen as watersheds marking Beijing’s genuine pushback to Washington’s trademark bullying — a turn from defensive to full counteroffensive mode.

Jimmy Dore focuses on worsening conditions of life for workers and free speech under Biden.

JEAN SHOUL—The federal government has deployed the air force to attack bandit camps with daily and nightly flights over Zamfara, Kaduna and Katsina states. Buhari has ordered security forces to “shoot any person or persons seen carrying AK-47s in any forest in the country” and banned all mining activities in Zamfara, where the illegal hunt for gold is fueling the crisis. According to the United Nations, 279,000 people were displaced in the northern states of Sokoto, Zamfara and Katsina by the end of 2020, with nearly 2.6 million people across the three states facing food insecurity in 2021. Zamfara’s provincial governor has ordered 6,000 troops to root out bandits from their camps in the vast Rugu forest spanning northern Nigeria and parts of neighbouring Niger.

None of this has succeeded in quelling the violence. The security forces’ brutality and corruption have only served to exacerbate hostility to the federal and state political and economic elites.

CGTN—In response to U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Wendy Sherman’s two-day visit to China starting on Sunday, Wang rejected the U.S. proposed strength-based approach of conducting international relations.

There is never a country that is superior to others, and there shouldn’t be one, Wang stated, stressing that China will not accept any country that thinks itself more superior than others.