Long Term Failures: A Short History of the CIA and Destabilization of Leftist Governments in Latin America
M. Earl Smith, November 20, 2018
M. Earl Smith’s extensive research into and historical expose of the CIA’s activity in South America displays a historical truth which is systematically and strenuously suppressed in the American mass media. The American public consequently has a disturbingly high approval of the CIA, with more citizens supporting than opposing ‘the Company’. M. E. Smith asserts correctly that many south and central American countries have seen successful leftist governments, despite many contrary efforts of the CIA. Yet the editors of Cosmonaut believe it necessary to clarify our views on this matter: The elected governments of South America, such as the Ecuadorian government under Correa, Morales’s government in Bolivia or Chile’s social-democratic policies, all do not leave the framework of capitalism and its state order. While they certainly have improved the lives for many millions, these are gains resting on the shaky foundations (and economic vulnerabilities) of liberal capitalism. Read Article.
Why We Still Need Pitchforks: A Critique of the Politics of Nora Belrose
Jenna Grove, November 12, 2018
Revolution is outdated and no longer a realistic means to achieve socialism according to Nora Belrose, a DSA member who writes a popular blog. Is revolutionary politics now only an idealistic fantasy? Ben Grove argues otherwise. Read Article.
Capitalism: What it is and How to Abolish It
M.K. Owen, November 8, 2018
M.K. Owen provides an analysis of capitalism as a historically specific mode of production and provides a vision towards what an alternative to this system would look like, calling for democratic planning of the economy that carries on the work of Project Cybersyn. Read Article.
What do the Democratic Socialists of America stand for politically?
DT Seel, November 6, 2018
The typical medium through which political organizations have presented their vision of social change is the political program or platform. Despite lacking an official platform, the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) has endorsed candidates that do have official platforms. DT Seel, using a method of induction based on the content of these platforms, proposes what the DSA's program would be if based on the politics of its endorsed candidates. This 'inductive program' is then examined and put under critique. Read Article.
Double Agent in Detroit: Anti-Communism at the Local Level
Josh Morris, November 5, 2018
Looking at anti-communism before the McCarthyist era at the local level, Joshua Morris dissects the career of an industrial double-agent William Gernaey. We publish this not only for its contribution to the history of the US Communist Movement and industrial organizing and counter-organizing but also for its depiction of the internal day-to-day operation of the CPUSA in an era of intense class conflict and anti-communism. Read Article.
Memo on DSA Electoral Campaigns
Peter Moody, October 29, 2018
DSA member Peter Moody looks over DSA's electoral strategy and its current application, specifically in the Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez campaign, arguing that the task of making candidates accountable to the organization is far from complete. Read Article.
How Empires Die
Rosa Janis, October 26, 2018
Rosa Janis argues for a theory of crisis and social decay that uses elements of Marx's Tendency for the Rate of Profit to Fall as well as the concept of fragility. Crisis must be understood as something not simply occurring in the economy, but the entire society as a whole. Yet the question remains whether an emancipatory politics can emerge from the stagnation and decay of civilization. Read Article.
Insurrection and Defeat in Bavaria, 1918–19 (Part 2)
Alexander Gallus, October 22, 2018
Alexander Gallus concludes his saga on the Bavarian Soviet Republic and tries to draw political lessons from its failures. Read Article.
From Workers' Party to Workers' Republic
Donald Parkinson, October 17, 2018
Donald Parkinson takes a look at the history of the First, Second and Third Internationals, arguing for an approach to party-building and political strategy that is informed by the positives and negatives of these experiences. Reading: Matthew Strupp. Read Article.
Dispatch on Brazil
Amelia Davenport, October 14, 2018
Amelia Davenport interviews Hugo Souza, a militant in the Brazilian left, on organizing, the right-wing Bolsonaro’s campaign that is taking aim at state power with a reactionary neo-liberal agenda, and advice for leftists in the USA. Read Article.