Monthly Review Press

“The Logic of Human Survival”: Against the Current reviews A Redder Shade of Green

February 20, 2024

‘Anthropocene’ refers to a new geological period, where the activities of human beings have become the dominant factor shaping the planet’s changing geology, biology and climate, including effects on humanity. Angus, and increasingly geologists, are focusing on the period beginning around 1950, when humanity’s impact, which had been developing gradually, underwent a ‘great acceleration’ — a dialectical transformation of quantity into quality….

U.S. Must Take Responsibility for Asylum Seekers & the History That Drives Them: David L. Wilson, via Truthout

February 20, 2024

A large segment of the US public was horrified in May and June when they saw the Trump administration snatching toddlers away from Central American mothers who arrived at the US border seeking asylum. Many would still be appalled if they knew that the White House is seeking to continue the practice in a different form. Most undoubtedly feel genuine sympathy for young people trying to escape violent gangs or abusive partners. Still, a lot of these same sympathetic Americans don’t actually want the asylum seekers to come here….

Could the people who voted for Trump or Clinton overthrow capitalism? Climate & Capitalism reviews Michael Yates’s new book

February 20, 2024

The title of Michael Yates’ new book asks a question that every socialist has heard many times. We hear it from liberals who think changes can only be made by working inside the system. We hear it from radicals who simply can’t imagine working people moving against the system. ¶ Is it really possible that people who voted for Trump or Clinton — two faces of global reaction — might one day overthrow capitalism?….

New! Michael Tigar’s Mythologies of State and Monopoly Power

February 20, 2024

Mythologies,” writes veteran human rights lawyer Michael Tigar, “are structures of words and images that portray people, institutions, and events in ways that mask an underlying reality.” For instance, the “Justice Department” appears, by its very nature and practice, to appropriate “justice” as the exclusive property of the federal government. In his brilliantly acerbic collection of essays, Tigar reveals, deconstructs, and eviscerates mythologies surrounding the U.S. criminal justice system, racism, free expression, workers’ rights, and international human rights.

November 26, Rockford, IL: Howard Waitzkin on “Health Care Under the Knife”

February 20, 2024

Howard Waitzkin, author — along with the Working Group on Health Beyond Capitalism — of "Health Care Under the Knife: Moving Beyond Capitalism for Our Health," will speak on the U.S. health-care system, and how it could rescued and made an integral part of a new and radically different society.

The Working Class and Batista’s Overthrow: New West Indian Guide on A Hidden History of the Cuban Revolution

February 20, 2024

Stephen Cushion’s A Hidden History of the Cuban Revolution, the result of extensive archival and oral history research, is one of the most important books (in any language) on the history of the Batista regime and its opponents during the 1950s to appear in the last three or more decades. It is also an openly revisionist account that challenges much research and writing produced by both Cuban and foreign scholars….”

“Trump Welcomes Immigrants, but Only if They Can Be Exploited” — David Wilson via Truthout

February 20, 2024

The US mainstream media had two competing events to cover the night of April 28: the annual White House Correspondents’ Dinner in Washington, DC, and a Trump rally in Macomb County, Michigan, a predominantly white working-class suburb of Detroit. Journalists mainly focused on the dinner, but the more important story may have been a remark President Trump made in the course of his 80-minute speech at the rally...

Michael Tigar on Law & Disorder Radio: “We have a Department that calls itself ‘Justice,’ but we know exactly what it’s doing…”

February 20, 2024

Internationally renowned human rights attorney Michael Tigar, author of the forthcoming Mythologies of State and Monopoly Power, talks to Law & Disorder host Michael Steven Smith and attorney Jim Lafferty about the growth of the national security state and the (further) decline of justice.

September 17: Howard Waitzkin comes to Portland, Maine with Health Care Under the Knife

February 20, 2024

As a lifelong activist, Howard Waitzkin has worked for single-payer national health programs in the United States and Latin America; local community and worker control for accessible health services; civilian health and mental health services for active duty military personnel in the struggle for peace; and policies to improve the social, political, and economic determinants of illness and early death....

October 1: Dr. Waitzkin makes house calls in Albuquerque, wielding Health Care under the Knife

February 20, 2024

Monday, October 1, Howard Waitzkin, author of Health Care Under the Knife: Moving Beyond Capitalism for Our Health, will be in Albuquerque, NM, giving two presentations based on his book, and extending a discussion of today’s ailing medical system: what’s wrong, how it got this way, and what we can do to heal it.