Renowned Indian writer and global justice activist Arundhati Roy is preparing to address Occupy Wall Street on Wednesday. She recently joined us in the studio to talk about the Occupy movement. “What they are doing becomes so important because it is in the heart of empire, or what used to be empire,” Roy said. “And to criticize and to protest against the model that the rest of the world is aspiring to is a very important and a very serious business. So…it makes me very, very hopeful that after a long time you’re seeing some nascent political, real political anger here.” She also discussed her new book, “Walking with the Comrades,” a chronicle of her time in the forests of India alongside rebel guerrillas who are resisting a brutal military campaign by the Indian government.
Daily Archives: 11.15.2011
The Forces of the Last Gasp, on Meat Street
The struggle at the heart of our history
Under feudalism, peasants were forced to hand over a portion of their crops to the lord–or they were obligated to work part of the time on the lord’s land. Under capitalism, the class relationship is disguised by the fact that there is a “free” exchange of goods on the market. Nevertheless, a handful of large corporations owns the means of production, and the vast majority of people are deprived of those means. Workers are therefore compelled (not by the whip, but by the economic whip of survival) to sell their ability to work–their labor power–to the bosses.
Barber: DOMA Needed to Keep Kids from Becoming Gay & Getting AIDS
‘Christian Bashing’ and Charity
Recently a Christian commented on a forum that he was tired of all the “Christian basing” and that Christians do so much good in the world. He pointed out that Christians are often first on the scene of disasters . . . Christians are first on the scene to exploit people’s misfortune. This is because the Christian belief system advocates converting others at all costs. So when people are suffering, Christians are often the first to shove their Bibles in the faces of those in need.