FALSE DEMOCRACY

OLLIE RICHARDSON—There are some districts of Paris that not even the police dare go to. The gangs there throw Molotov cocktails at cop cars even when the cops are inside. “No-go zone” is an understatement. There are places where the use of assault rifles to settle scores is normal. A key thing that happened in the buildup to act 18 is described here. As a result, the streets of Grenoble were a war zone for 3 consecutive nights because of this case of police brutality.

WILL MORROW—This is a formula for the criminalization and violent suppression of any expression of social opposition in the population. Within this framework, so-called “traditional demands”—i.e., against layoffs, for higher wages, improved living standards, against war and for social equality—do not represent the legitimate demands of the population. They are merely “employed” by “subversive” forces whose aim is the destruction of democracy. This is the argument of a fascist police state.

Is Trump a neofascist? Analysts on the left, such as Cornel West, Noam Chomsky, and Judith Butler think he is. But mainstream liberal commentators refuse to associate the Trump phenomena with fascism, calling him a “rightwing populist.” Does it really matter what Trump is called? The poet, playwright, and political thinker, Bertolt Brecht, asked in 1935: “How can anyone tell the truth about fascism, unless he’s willing to speak out against capitalism, which brings it forth?”

PHILIP WEISS—Our media have been forthright in explaining that the demagogic president is appealing to his white nationalist base with the attacks on four women of color. What they don’t say is that Trump is also using the attack in a tactical manner to attempt to divide the Democratic Party over Israel and carry off pro-Israel Jewish donors and voters from their traditional home and into the Republican Party. Democrats and the media can’t talk about that angle because they are involved in that racket.

JOHN SPRITZLER—You are a billionaire. You possess more wealth than ordinary people can even dream of. You enjoy luxury and privilege unlike all others. Most importantly of all, you have enormous power–the power to make others do your bidding, to shape the world according to your fancy, to tell “the people”–the little ones–how it’s going to be whether they like it or not. All of this you now possess. But can you hold on to it? That is the supreme question! You own the world today, but what must you do to ensure you still own it tomorrow? You need the Owner’s Manual. Fortunately for you it is now in your hands.