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Tidbits - Jan. 16, 2020 - Reader Comments: Return of Fascism; Wealth Tax; CNN and Democratic Debate; Imminent Danger and Soleimani Murder; Biden, Buttigieg; Boeing; Australia; Spain; Pesticide Use; Chesa Boudin; Missouri Books Ban, Jail Librarians

Portside
Reader Comments: Return of Fascism; 2/3 Support Wealth Tax; CNN and Democratic Debate; Imminent Danger(?) - Soleimani Murder; Biden and Buttigieg; Boeing; Australia; Spain; Pesticide Use; Chesa Boudin; Missouri Seeks to Burn Books, Jail Librarians;

A Historian Reflects on the Return of Fascism

Lawrence Wittner History News Network
In the last decade or so, enormous headway has been made by movements and parties following the old fascist playbook, with rightwing demagogues trumpeting its key elements of virulent nationalism, racial and religious intolerance, and militarism

To Turn the Mass into a Class

Eli Zaretsky London Review of Books
People can be organized in two ways: right-wing populism prone to xenophobia, demonization, and magical thinking or as a class, held together by solidarity and conscious, purposeful action. The socialist project is to turn the mass into a class.

India’s Government Is Going to War Against Its Own People

Vijay Prashad Independent Media Institute
Protests against the Citizenship Act are now ongoing in every part of India, with a cross-section of society outraged by the religious implications of this law. There are 200 million Muslim citizens of India — almost 15 percent of the population.

A Letter to Intellectuals Who Deride Revolutions in the Name of Purity

Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz, Ana Maldonado, Pilar Troya Fernández, and Vijay Prashad MR Online
Revolutions do not happen suddenly, nor do they immediately transform a society. A revolution is a process, which moves at different speeds whose tempo can change rapidly if the motor of history is accelerated by intensified class conflict.

Hundreds of Chileans Blinded by Police Since Protests Began

DW.com (Deutsche Welle)
More than 200 protesters have been blinded by pellets fired by state security agents. The National Congress has bowed to a key demand of the monthlong rallies and ordered a referendum on a new constitution.

books

Fascism in Multiple Translations

Yuliya Komska Boston Review
Far-rightists glorify one nation united under one language, yet are adept at using translation to spread their politics. E-commerce behemoths like Amazon allow fascism in translation the reach and veneer of a successful global business venture.

books

Hitler: Still Messing With Our Heads

Christopher Clark London Review of Books
Two new books on the fascist leader walk different paths; one identifying Hitler as key to virtually every juncture of the party’s rise and fall while the other looks more toward his racial worldview as profoundly preoccupied with ‘Anglo-America.
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