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submitted 2 years ago* (last edited 2 years ago) by [email protected] to c/[email protected]

Michael Parenti, born on this day in 1933, is a Marxist American political scientist and cultural critic. He has taught at American and international universities and has been a guest lecturer before campus and community audiences.

Michael Parenti was raised by an Italian-American working-class family in the East Harlem neighborhood of New York City. After graduating from high school, Parenti worked for several years. Upon returning to school, he received a BA from the City College of New York, an MA from Brown University and a PhD in political science from Yale University.

For many years Parenti taught political and social science at various institutions of higher learning. Eventually he devoted himself full-time to writing, public speaking, and political activism. He is the author of 20 books and over 300 articles.

Parenti's writings cover a wide range of subjects: U.S. politics, culture, ideology, political economy, imperialism, fascism, communism, democratic socialism, free-market orthodoxies, conservative judicial activism, religion, ancient history, modern history, historiography, repression in academia, news and entertainment media, technology, environmentalism, sexism, racism, Venezuela, the wars in Iraq and Yugoslavia, ethnicity, and his own early life.

His book Democracy for the Few, now in its ninth edition, is a critical analysis of U.S. society, economy, and political institutions and a college-level political science textbook published by Wadsworth Publishing. His book Blackshirts and Reds defended the Soviet Union and socialist states of the 20th century from criticism, arguing that they were morally superior compared to capitalist states, that the problems of the Soviet Union were caused by the Russian Civil War and capitalist interference, and that "Left anti-Communist" and "pure socialist" critics have failed to offer any alternatives to the Soviet Union's "siege socialism"

In 1974, Parenti ran for the U.S. House of Representatives in Vermont as the candidate of the democratic socialist Liberty Union Party; he came in third place, with 7.1% of the vote. Parenti was once a friend of Bernie Sanders, but he later split with Sanders over Sanders's support for the NATO bombing of Yugoslavia.

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[-] [email protected] 32 points 2 years ago

Me, stoking fear and paranoia in white suburbanites for decades to get them to support my pro-capital causes: sicko-yes

Me, when my chamber is full of those cranks and they suicide vest any attempt at legislation: sicko-no

who-did-this

[-] [email protected] 30 points 2 years ago

New Megathread Nerds!!!

party-parenti

@[email protected] @[email protected] @[email protected] @[email protected] @[email protected] @[email protected] @[email protected] @[email protected] @[email protected] @[email protected] @[email protected] @[email protected] @[email protected] @[email protected] @[email protected] @[email protected] @[email protected] @[email protected] @[email protected] @[email protected] @[email protected] @[email protected] @[email protected] @[email protected] @[email protected] @[email protected] @[email protected] @[email protected] @[email protected] @[email protected] @[email protected] @[email protected] @[email protected] @[email protected] @[email protected] @[email protected] @[email protected] @[email protected] @[email protected] @[email protected] @[email protected] @[email protected] @[email protected] @[email protected] @[email protected] @[email protected] @[email protected] @[email protected] @[email protected] @[email protected] @[email protected] @[email protected] @[email protected] @[email protected] @[email protected] @[email protected] @[email protected] @[email protected] @[email protected] @[email protected] @[email protected] @[email protected] @[email protected] @[email protected] @[email protected] @[email protected] @[email protected] @[email protected] @[email protected] @[email protected] @[email protected] @[email protected] @[email protected] @[email protected] @[email protected] @[email protected] @[email protected] @[email protected] @[email protected] @[email protected] @[email protected] @[email protected] @[email protected] @[email protected] @[email protected] @[email protected] @[email protected] @[email protected] @[email protected] @[email protected] @[email protected] @[email protected] @[email protected] @[email protected] @[email protected] @[email protected] @[email protected] @[email protected]

@[email protected] @[email protected] @[email protected]

@[email protected] @[email protected] @[email protected] @[email protected] @[email protected] @[email protected] @[email protected] @[email protected] @[email protected] @[email protected] @[email protected] @[email protected] @[email protected] @[email protected] @[email protected]

Remember nerds just like in the old site, no current struggle session discussion here on the new general megathread, i will ban you from the comm and remove your comment, have a good day/night :meow-coffee:

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[-] [email protected] 29 points 2 years ago
[-] [email protected] 29 points 2 years ago* (last edited 2 years ago)

Apparently the guy who created V, the 1980s miniseries about a race of reptilian aliens taking over the US, was inspired by It Can't Happen Here and originally just wrote a straightforward story about a fascist takeover of America.

However, a TV exec told him that Americans would find the idea of a homegrown fascist movement to be unbelievable and asked him to change the story to a Chinese or Russian occupation instead.

He ultimately went with aliens

[-] [email protected] 18 points 2 years ago

Apt anecdote considering this week's spotlight on Parenti. His Make Believe Media is a great book on how decisions like this are made. IIRC there's a table in there looking at who sits on the boards making decisions about what shows to green light and what changes must be made before any film is green lit. It's so insidious. It's all bankers, business leaders, military officers, etc.

[-] [email protected] 28 points 2 years ago
[-] [email protected] 19 points 2 years ago

I've seen another one with the same template

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[-] [email protected] 24 points 2 years ago

George Bush doesnt care about black people

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[-] [email protected] 23 points 2 years ago

The male ego is annoying yea

My best friend is moving and she asked me and some others to help. We were 8 people, 4 girls and 4 dudes.

I myself am a very nerdy guy, I'm not in shape and have pretty skinny arms, and the other 3 guys were all much more pragmatic, I think all 3 work in trades and had more experience with manual labor. Now because I wanted to be a big man and not pussy out, I also helped carry the big furniture down the stairs and, uhh... I overexerted myself and had to leave after about 4 hours.

The other guys were all really nice and quite considerate, they could tell I was struggling and said "hey man, just say if you need a break, it's a marathon, not a sprint" etc, but ofc I didn't want to be the only guy who has to take breaks while carrying the couch down the stairs, especially not in front of the girls. Dumb masculinity shit.

Anyway, yeah, after I helped carry a big desk I could tell that I had overdone it, my right arm was hurting and I couldn't imagine myself carrying anything else today. I had to excuse myself and go home. I genuinely think I did what I could, I helped a lot with cleaning and tidying up as well, but I still feel bad that I had to quit early.

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[-] [email protected] 23 points 2 years ago* (last edited 2 years ago)

>Reading up on tongue root based vowel harmony systems

>"Wow this guy has written a lot of good stuff about this in various African languages"

>He's a bible translator

Linguistics moment agony-deep

[-] [email protected] 23 points 2 years ago
[-] [email protected] 22 points 2 years ago

More like Yaroslav Hunka Junk

Gottem

[-] [email protected] 22 points 2 years ago

I am once again asking you to sort your megathread by /new

Sorry sweetie, as a bottom I must sort by top.

[-] [email protected] 22 points 2 years ago* (last edited 2 years ago)

Is there any reading on the postwar exodus of nazis from germany and occupied lands? or more to the point, how they were integrated into the western apparatus thereafter?

How tf does a nazi receive a standing ovation in canadian parliament in year of our lord etc etc
where are the rest of these fucks

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[-] [email protected] 21 points 2 years ago

The machine of government moves swiftly here in California, and Dianne Feinstein's passing will not halt its steady march!

So congratulations to our newly appointed interim senator:

JUAN GUAIDO!

[-] [email protected] 18 points 2 years ago

๐Ÿคฃ this is easily the best choice

[-] [email protected] 21 points 2 years ago

Being autistic around neurotypicals is saying something in earnest and it being treated like a joke or passive aggression and when you say a joke everyone outright ignores you

[-] [email protected] 21 points 2 years ago
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[-] [email protected] 21 points 2 years ago

I wanted to joke that I'm going to start saying "let people enjoy things" when there's denouncements of nazi rallies as a bit, but this is more or less the standard opinion of Canadian libs now pain

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[-] [email protected] 19 points 2 years ago

it is september 30 and stalin saved the world from fascism

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[-] [email protected] 19 points 2 years ago
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[-] [email protected] 19 points 2 years ago

I think one of the dumber episodes of Ukraine war posts was when libs were digging up random shit from the Russo-Japanese war to cheer on the Japanese empire over the Russian empire. Like if you hate the Russian empire I've got some good news for you lenin-laugh

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[-] [email protected] 18 points 2 years ago

Why demons want your soul like what do they do with the souls they collected???

[-] [email protected] 17 points 2 years ago

People with driveways love parking in the road

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[-] [email protected] 17 points 2 years ago

Why does the mid-level boss here treat me like an 8 year old jfc

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[-] [email protected] 17 points 2 years ago
[-] [email protected] 17 points 2 years ago

seeing a goddamn harry potter store like agony-deep

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[-] [email protected] 16 points 2 years ago

morshupls Me explaining to my dad that Anne Applebaum is a NED hack and that double genocide theory is a ultranationalist myth pushed by the USA and the EU to rewrite history to paint the nazis in a good light to "own le putler" and that Dovid Katz got kicked out of the university of Vilnius for critizising Lithuanian prosecutors trying to sue holocaust victims who joined communist partisan brigades for terrorism and-

My dad: "Surely that can't be real."

[-] [email protected] 16 points 2 years ago

You ever see something at the grocery store so wack you just got to try it?

currently drinking some pumpkin spice rumchata right now

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[-] [email protected] 16 points 2 years ago

Anyone care to recommend/summarize a favorite Parenti book? I feel like blackshirts and reds is pretty much the official book of hexbear, but Iโ€™d like to read some of his other work too and would love suggestions.

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[-] [email protected] 16 points 2 years ago

Watching portrait of a lady on fire. So far this lady has smoked in the nude and had wine and cheese. We get it you're french

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[-] [email protected] 16 points 2 years ago

Hey its that guy

[-] [email protected] 16 points 2 years ago

My body is trying to break my fever right now and I'm so miserable kitty-cri I want someone to be cuddling me and feeding me bubble water. I regress the most when I'm sick wah

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[-] [email protected] 16 points 2 years ago

Love me some Parenti party-parenti

[-] [email protected] 15 points 2 years ago* (last edited 2 years ago)

I did a great job at work today IMO. I had like 5 different front of house people come back to tell me how good my food was and how the students and their families visiting were commenting on it. I made good chicken legs and good pork chops and good gravy and good mashed potatoes and good bok choy.

And you know what, I could make it all even better if I wanted. I should have mixed seasoning into the flour for the pork (i didn't know it was going to be dredged in flour so i'd already seasoned them directly and didn't want to make them overly seasoned). And i really want to roast garlic and add that to the mashed potatoes but idk if the chef will let me

And I got almost all of it done on my own, except the sous chef parcooking the pork chops on the grill. But that gets evened out by me helping with lunch service (i was supposed to be there for dinner) imo

[-] [email protected] 15 points 2 years ago

the very word "Rittenhouse" has caused my fedposting levels in my blood to raise several times over instantly

[-] [email protected] 15 points 2 years ago
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[-] [email protected] 15 points 2 years ago* (last edited 2 years ago)

Big red flag for someone's political opinions is if they're significantly concerned about

CW mention of SVpedophiles.
99% of the time they're going to be a qanon believer or another deluded ideology. It's satanic panic shit.

[-] [email protected] 15 points 2 years ago* (last edited 2 years ago)

Alright so uhh, AI art is about to pop off again in a big wave... I got this with dall-e 3. Honestly slightly impressed.

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this post was submitted on 30 Sep 2023
104 points (100.0% liked)

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