The Battles Go On. Mary Barbour’s Army – A Dialogue My army they said, ‘Mary Barbour’s army.’ It’s no ma army, but, oor army. Ah called, you answered. We fought the peaceful fight shoulder to shoulder, on the side of justice. We have done oorsel’s proud. Those architects of fear and bullying are men born […]
Author: Possil Dude
Migrants. A Political Distraction
Recent events at Westminster of the ‘Proroging of Parliament’ for his own convenience, by Bojo The Clever, as instructed by the puppet master general, has quite rightly left us all scratching our heads and wondering how the feck we will get out of this mess. Or more to the point; will Scotland ever be free […]
The People’s Palace. A Cathedral by Muriel Baker
The People’s Palace. A Cathedral by Muriel Baker A white wrought iron cathedral a fantasy in glass and metal lace housing giant tropical plants. A palace for the people from the viewing gallery they appear as small as ants. I have remembered dancing in the city’s ballrooms and a tale of ‘The Steamie Pram.’ […]
Who are the “Working Class” today?
The subject of Social Class is an area where angels fear to tread, but in these times of deep fragmentation of the UK political Left, it is time to look at what the “Working Class” means to Socialists in the 21st Century. As I write, and the news about PM Boris Johnson’s planned prorogation of […]
Labor Day Thoughts: The Lost Art of Protest
In late May, a forthcoming budget of The American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations (AFL-CIO) leaked into the public eye. Among the more shocking aspects of the budget was a drastic reduction in allocations for organizing, from 30% of the total budget down to a mere 10%. The report indicated this money […]
Zombie Stalinism: 25 years later, who wants the Berlin Wall back?
Twenty-five years on, how has the fall of the Berlin Wall affected our analysis of Soviet Russia? How has what we have learnt changed our analysis of post-’89 Eastern Europe, Russia and the current situation in Ukraine? The deepest discussions in the international workers’ movement about the relationship between dictatorship and democracy happened in the […]
The Chinese Economic Model: Threat or Future
The collapse of the Soviet Union brought with it the end of the Cold War and an apparent end to any challenge to Western capitalism. Fukuyama famously called it “the end of history”, others called it the end of ideology. Western neoliberal hegemony and “free markets” were to be the new unchallenged normal. It wasn’t […]
Scotland’s Love for Labour, Lost?
On Labour’s travails A week, as they say, is a long time in politics and there must be many Scottish Labour members out there wishing the past week had never happened. It all started when John McDonnell made it clear that a UK Labour Government would not stand in the way of a second independence […]
“Washing one’s hands of the conflict between the powerful and the powerless means to side with the powerful, not to be neutral.”
…Quote – Paulo Friere. https://ungagged.podbean.com/mf/play/kuu2t6/Pod_1_take_2_Mixdown_1.mp3 On this Podcast… PLEASE SUPPORT US – we need to pay bills. A cup of coffee keeps us ungagged! Paypal.me/ungaggedleft On this Podcast: George Collins – Interview with Shawna Hawk Part 1: Media Island and claiming space for the empowerment of women of color. Part 2: Reparations and […]
On The Origin of Desert Eagles
Two mass shootings in 24 hours with a body count over 50. A third shooting two days later in Baton Rouge, Louisiana after an argument between two customers erupted into a shooting match inside a Wal-Mart. No one was killed there, but an innocent bystander took a bullet and landed in the hospital. Guess America […]