About the Book

Blackshirts & Reds explores some of the big issues of our time: fascism, capitalism, communism, revolution, democracy, and ecology—terms often bandied about but seldom explored in the original and exciting way that has become Michael Parenti’s trademark.

Parenti shows how “rational fascism” renders service to capitalism, how corporate power undermines democracy, and how revolutions are a mass empowerment against the forces of exploitative privilege. He also maps out the external and internal forces that destroyed communism, and the disastrous impact of the “free-market” victory on eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union. He affirms the relevance of taboo ideologies like Marxism, demonstrating the importance of class analysis in understanding political realities and dealing with the ongoing collision between ecology and global corporatism.

Written with lucid and compelling style, this book goes beyond truncated modes of thought, inviting us to entertain iconoclastic views, and to ask why things are as they are. It is a bold and entertaining exploration of the epic struggles of yesterday and today.

Source

About the Author

Michael John Parenti (born September 30th, 1933) is an American political scientist, academic historian, cultural critic and prolific writer. Books

Authored

The Assassination of Julius Caesar: A People’s History of Ancient Rome; God and His Demons; Contrary Notions: The Michael Parenti Reader; The Sword & The Dollar: Imperialism, Revolution & the Arms Race; Face of Imperialism; History as Mystery; Profit Pathology and Other Indecencies; The Culture Struggle; Democracy for the Few; Waiting for Yesterday

Multimedia

A folder of Parenti Lectures and speeches

Audiobook

• Part 1

• Part 2

• Part 3

Schedule

• June 5th: Blackshirts and Reds Part 2
• June 19: Blackshirts and Reds Part 3
• Jul 3rd: Blackshirts and Reds Part 4[LATE]

Sections in part 4

• The End of Marxism
• Anything But Class, Avoiding the C-Word