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What Does the Victory of Educators for a Democratic Union Mean?

16 May 2014 - 11:09am | superuser
by Gary Zabel

On Saturday, May 9, the 1200 or so delegates to the Massachusetts Teachers' Association (local affiliate of the National Education Association) Annual Meeting elected as their new president a member of the insurgent MTA caucus, Educators for a Democratic Union. Barbara Madeloni, a contract (adjunct) faculty member from UMass Amherst, will assume the presidency of the MTA when the term of the current president expires in mid-July.

The Private and Public Spheres – Donald Sterling and Racism Inside-Outside

13 May 2014 - 2:37pm | superuser
by Umang Kumar

A good chunk of the debate on l'affaire Donald Sterling seems to be focusing on the legality of the taping of the conversation between Sterling and his girlfriend. This debate turns around issues of privacy - the private nature of the conversation - and whether something spoken between two people, in manner of a confidential exchange, can be subject to criticism of a public nature. Set aside for a moment the laws against and the ethics of secret recording.

Losing Today, Winning Tomorrow? South Africa Set to Re-elect the Party of Mandela

7 May 2014 - 11:45pm | suren
by Suren Moodliar
PORT ELIZABETH, SOUTH AFRICA—What’s  the left to do? On May 8th, the world will awake to read that South Africa’s ruling African National Congress (ANC), the party of Mandela, has won 3 out of 5 votes in the country’s elections; they will also read that just over 1 out of 5 votes went to the Democratic Alliance (DA) that draws much of its support from the white minority. The remaining 15 – 20% of votes will have been split between an interesting set of actors.

TALK: Health Care USA: Social Good Versus Corporate Wealth

2 May 2014 - 3:16pm | superuser
by Doug Enaa Greene

On April 14, 2014, longtime activist and registered nurse, Sandy Eaton spoke at the Center for Marxist Education on the health care industry. The health care industry comprises 17.9% of the US economy, the healthcare industry incorporates Minute Clinics and GE, for-profit and not-for-profit conglomerates, community health centers and academic medical centers, drug and device manufacturers, public and private insurance and funding streams. How did it get this way? Where is it going? These and other questions were discussed by Sandy Eaton in his talk.

Filmed by Doug Enaa Greene

POEM: Courier

25 April 2014 - 4:27pm | superuser
by David Lewit

Author's Note: Former Polish cavalry officer, escaped prisoner of the Nazis, and ardent Catholic Jan Karski risked his life and dared to confront US President Franklin Roosevelt early with the first-hand truth of the Nazi holocaust, asking that US forces destroy paths into death camps and save the 

Victor Serge: On the Borders of Victory and Defeat

11 April 2014 - 11:52pm | superuser
by Doug Enaa Greene

Communist historian Doug Enaa Greene lectures on the activist, historian and novelist Victor Serge (1890-1947) at the Center for Marxist Education. Serge was originally an anarchist in his youth, who became a communist after 1917, an ally of Leon Trotsky and a heterodox Marxist. Victor Serge's many works chronicle, in eloquent and brutal honesty, the revolutionary experience of his generation.

Politics is a Zero Sum Game: On Winning and Losing

11 April 2014 - 11:51pm | superuser
by Doug Enaa Greene

As an enthusiastic participant in the Occupy Movement I recognized, like many others, that it was time to act and “do something.” Here was a movement that, however inarticulately spoke the language of class struggle and questioned the way wealth and power in society was distributed. Yet I could never really hide a certain level frustration with what we were doing at Occupy. Despite the exciting exchange of ideas and the feeling of being a part of something important, the potential energy of Occupy never acquired adequate forms of organization with a set goal.

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