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Listen Even If You Don't Want To: COVID-19, Health and Politics Today
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Over four years after the COVID-19 pandemic first swept the world, most governments are giving the disease almost no attention and most of us don't want to think about it and are acting as if "COVID is over." But the virus isn't trivial and it's still circulating on a large scale and in unpredictable ways. Socialist health researcher Sam Friedman discusses what we should we know about the disease now, how we got here, and the lessons for future pandemics.
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Readings:
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An open letter from the People's CDC https://peoplescdc.org/2024/04/10/covid-isolation-expert-sign-on-letter/
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Sam Friedman and Suzie Kay, Marxism and the U.S. Response to the HIV/AIDS and COVID-19 Pandemics
https://spectrejournal.com/marxism-and-the-u-s-response-to-the-hiv-aids-and-covid-19-pandemics/
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Sam Friedman, In bird flu, capitalism is the culprit
https://tempestmag.org/2024/06/in-bird-flu-capitalism-is-the-culprit/

Settler colonialism, capitalism and Indigenous liberation: An Indigenous marxist view


The Palestine solidarity movement has drawn more attention to the concept of settler colonialism, which growing numbers of people have been using to name the oppression of Indigenous nations on Turtle Island. John Carlson discusses "reconciliation," the relationship between settler colonialism and capitalism, and the political implications of their deep interconnectedness.


To learn more:


John Carlson, The Student Encampment Movement is Part of a History of Militant Struggle Against Settler Colonialism
https://www.midnightsunmag.ca/the-student-encampment-movement-is-part-of-a-history-of-militant-struggle-against-settler-colonialism/


A lot of writing by radical Indigenous authors (and more) can be found on Mike Gouldhawke's site:
https://mgouldhawke.wordpress.com


Links to a two-part interview with Sai Englert (author of a recent marxist book about settler colonialism), a response by Jordan Humphreys, and Englert's reply can be found here: Debate - a response on settler colonialism
https://www.rs21.org.uk/2024/05/12/debate-a-response-on-settler-colonialism/


Brian Ward. Are You A Settler?
https://newpol.org/issue_post/are-you-a-settler/
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David Camfield, Colonialism and the Working Class in Canada
https://www.prairiered.ca/archive/colonialism-and-the-working-class-in-canada

What is Imperialism Today?

More people are talking about imperialism because of the US's backing of Israel's war against Gaza and heightened rivalry between the US, China and Russia. But what is imperialism in the third decade of the 21st century? Jeff Webber and Charlie Post discuss how we should understand imperialism and its relationship to capitalism today, the need for a better theory of imperialism than those developed by marxists like Lenin a century ago, and the political implications of how we understand imperialism.

If you're interested in this topic, check out other Victor's Children episodes on imperialism and anti-imperialism including episodes 31, 32, 33, 36 and 40. If you're new to the topic you may want to listen to episode 31 before this episode.


Recommended reading:

Todd Gordon and Jeffery R. Webber, Prelude to a New Imperial Order? – Spectre Journal
https://spectrejournal.com/prelude-to-a-new-imperial-order/

Workers in the Global North: Bribed into Compliance?


Why don't more workers in rich countries support radical politics? Some leftists say it's because imperialism bribes some or all workers in imperialist countries, making them a "labour aristocracy."

In this episode, Charlie Post argues against this explanation, discusses how imperialism does affect the working class in these countries, and suggests a different way of understanding what shapes working-class responses to capitalism.


Readings:

Charlie Post, "Exploring Working-Class Consciousness: A Critique of the Theory of the ‘Labour-Aristocracy’"
https://web.archive.org/web/20190225112753/http://pdfs.semanticscholar.org/5ed0/777f248114127997056169e8c87364ec9b23.pdf

The Palestine Solidarity Movement in the USA.

Busy organizers Iman Abid, Shireen Akram-Boshar and Sherry Wolf pause to discuss where the movement is at in the USA and ideas for strengthening it.

A recent article:
Toward a free Palestine
https://www.tempestmag.org/2024/02/toward-a-free-palestine/

One of many valuable books (available as a free ebook):
Palestine: A Socialist Introduction
https://www.haymarketbooks.org/books/1558-palestine-a-socialist-introduction

The Palestine Solidarity Movement in Canada

Busy organizers Chandni Desai and James Hutt pause to discuss where the movement is at in so-called Canada and ideas for strengthening it.

Some readings and resources:

On unions and Palestine solidarity:
https://www.midnightsunmag.ca/moving-unions-to-fight-for-a-free-palestine/

On Canadian arms exports to Israel:
https://www.readthemaple.com/trudeau-government-authorized-28-million-of-new-military-exports-to-israel-since-october/

BDS target list (official):
https://bdsmovement.net/Act-Now-Against-These-Companies-Profiting-From-Genocide

On scholasticide:
https://theconversation.com/the-war-in-gaza-is-wiping-out-palestines-education-and-knowledge-systems-222055

On pension fund investments:
Canadian pension funds invested $1.6 billion in companies tied to Israeli apartheid ⋆ The Breach
https://breachmedia.ca/canadian-pension-funds-invested-israeli-apartheid/