AMERICAN STUDIES

PATRICK ANDERSON—In their 1967 book The Subculture of Violence, Martin Wolfgang and Franco Ferracuti introduced the “subculture of violence” theory, which argues that subordinated groups, such as Black people in Amerika, had a distinct culture separate from mainstream white culture, and that this Black subculture was the cause of Black men and women’s supposed pathologically self-destructive behavior. Anyone familiar with right wing politics in the United States today should find this argument familiar, for the subculture of violence theory is the basis for all right-wing apologetics regarding police murders of Black people (“They are killing each other” etc.).

CAITLIN JOHNSTONE—Replacing capitalism and imperialism with equality, justice, peace and harmony is what our world needs if our species is to survive into the future, but the agenda to make that transition sets us directly at odds with the largest power structures in the history of civilization. For this reason there’s been a generations-long campaign of psyops, infiltration and propaganda to keep the left down which surely continues to this day in online circles, but even if it didn’t the chaos, paranoia and confusion created on the left over the years by programs like COINTELPRO would be enough to significantly hinder our efforts to organize and overturn the status quo.

PATRICE GREANVILLE—In the fantasy land that we call American democracy we all hope for the Hollywood happy ending: the crooks and villains get their comeuppance. In other words, Mr. Smith—Mr. Everybody—as visualized by Frank Capra, not only goes to Washington but he triumphs. But in the real-life movie scripts circulated in Washington and in every single seat of traditional class power in America, from Chicago’s mercantile and meatpacking fortunes to Texas oilfields and New York’s financial centers, the outcomes are different. Here the villains prosper. They get rich. They win elections (or buy them, which is even better). In time, like mafia dons who have become elder statesmen, they gain social respect, even gravitas. They give rise to crime families with elaborate national and international connections. The media applaud their achievements.

ERIC ZUESSE—Instead of reporting anything of the actual science, Pien Huang, with the full cooperation of the program host, started and stuck with the assumption that anyone who would be using ivermectin in order to reduce the severity of an active case of covid-19 disease is an ignoramus. (In other words: confirmation-bias was reeking from her presentation.) The program host did at one point ask the question “Is there reason to believe that ivermectin works against covid-19?” Huang answered: “Well, there was a study last Spring which showed that ivermectin can kill the coronavirus, but in doses way bigger than humans should be using” and “there is insufficient evidence to recommend this product at this time. There is a small group of doctors who claim otherwise. They call themselves ‘The Frontline Critical Care Alliance’ and their message has been amplified by some figures on the right. … Misinformation researchers have told me that it’s the latest chapter in a story of right-wing commentators …”

MARK SKIDMORE—I view the primary struggle as not so much between nation states, but between the “elite” class and everyone else.  I think of the western financial sector and the military industrial complex as two sides of the same coin.  The western financial system (and information systems too) needs a strong military as enforcer, and the military needs the financiers to be sure the desired funding flows to the military-industrial complex.  This dynamic ensures control and access to key resources such as oil, minerals, etc. globally.

This is not to say that those within the elite class always cooperate or that there isn’t a second-layer power struggle between nation-states and thus potential for nation-state conflict.