The worst intoxication is ideology. We must approach reality humbly. —Octavio Paz The brutal destruction of the Allende government by the military junta is a heavy blow to democrats and socialists everywhere who hope for peaceful change in their societies. …
Known for the time being as the “Coalition of Black Trade Unionists,” a new organization has been launched of black trade union leaders and members. It may turn out to be of major significance both in the American labor movement …
Santiago, Chile, July 1971 The Chilean Revolution is irreversible and irrepressible. Whatever happens now the “two Chiles” of the past (the Chile of the rich, and that of the poor) are gone forever. Will the experience through which the country is …
A fierce struggle is being played out in the Dominican Republic, a struggle for power. It may be argued that this is a well-known game in Latin America, as indeed it is. But here the difference is that at least …
A mid-summer look at the prospects for “new” or “radical” politics in the New York-New Jersey region produces mixed reactions. At one end of the political spectrum is a not very attractive candidate for governor of New York, Arthur Goldberg, …
Back in the thirties a small group of Marxists tried, unsuccessfully, to raise the slogan, “Open the Books!” as a way of compelling American giant corporations to disclose the true state of their financial dealings and holdings. It was done …
Largely thanks to the writings of C. L. R. James, Ralph Korngold, and others, the great Haitian Negro revolutionary leader Toussaint L’Ouverture has in recent years become familiar to American students. In conventional American history texts, it is now even …
The construction industry, as anyone knows who has tried to build himself even the tiniest summer place, is one of the most backward in the country. Obsolete building codes, “political peddling,” restrictive practices of builders and contractors, the practices of …
That the President is often a mean-spirited man is no discovery; that he struggles painfully to overcome or conceal his character is also clear. But a president sets the tone of his administration and Nixon is no exception. Well, what is …
India is celebrating this year the 100th anniversary of its modern “saint,” Mahatma Gandhi. Saints, as George Orwell once pointed out, are difficult people. We like to believe that the Mahatma would have looked with disdain upon the idolatrous ceremonies now …
Post-election wisdom is about as good as pre-election wisdom. Still, here goes: The old coalition is dead, long live the new! This seems to me the main point of the election results. True, in the last hours of the election, the …
In last year’s U.S. pavillion at the Montreal World’s Fair I noticed a sign reading: Hall of the Great Society —Emergency Exit. Let’s take that exit right now! After the obscene happening at Chicago that went by the name of Democratic …
Perhaps the most significant thing to be said about the May 1968 convention of Americans for Democratic Action (ADA) was its revived spirit and liveliness, particularly impressive to one who had witnessed the factional bickering of the previous year’s convention. …
In the last year’s Arab-Israel crisis, most Of US on the democratic Left supported the Israeli cause. Our justification for this had little, if anything, to do with Zionist sentiment. The existence of a small democratic state (whose every action we …
The “long, hot summer” of racial turmoil was succeeded by the short but intense autumn of teachers’ struggles. In a series of cities and states tens of thousands of teachers fought for union recognition, an improvement in school conditions, and …
