Mike Tucker looks at some of the best left-wing Blogs and websites
Internet savvy, US style:
Doug Henwood, is an American talk-show host, and writer on economic issues, and former stockbroker, two of his books, Wall Street and After the New Economy have been published by Verso. He started off as a fervent right-wing Republican, part of the Reagan revolution is his younger days but has since seen the error of his ways and he is now a self-declared Marxist, even one that Marx might have recognised. If you like intelligent leftist thinking, he’s certainly a man for you. Like capital itself he comes in many forms; as a newsletter on primarily US economic affairs to which you can subscribe but selected articles are available for free, Left Business Observer (<http://www.leftbusinessobserver.com/>); as an email mailing list which you need to join to read and participate, lbo-talk (<http://www.leftbusinessobserver.com/lbo-talk.html>); as a DJ for the weekly discussion with leftist authors on a wide range of political, economic and cultural issues, each of his radio programmes can be downloaded and listened to as & when you desire (<http://www.leftbusinessobserver.com/Radio.html>); and finally his latest incarnation is as the author of a blog, LBO News (<http://doughenwood.wordpress.com/>). I would recommend all of these productions, but the email list in particular is without equal for the serious discussion of political and economic questions of the day from a wide range of mainly American and left wing contributors, resident in many countries around the world. The views taken by the participants come from a variety of political perspectives, mainly Marxist but not exclusively so. Some of the participants run their own blogs as well. Discussions as with any political discussions do become heated and long time participants have developed animosities to each other, but the disputes only occasionally become inflamed. Try it and see. If you acquire the taste you can even download his Wall Street book for free from his website.
Louis Proyect, who works in IT at Columbia University, is a former member of the USA Trotskyist, Socialist Workers party, who no longer believes in strictly Leninist methods of political organisation and mobilization. He was a friend and supporter of the independent Green Party vice-presidential candidate, Peter Camejo, who ran on the same platform with Ralph Nader in 2004. During the 80’s he supported the Central American revolutionary movements and demonstrated that solidarity by he working as a programmer in Nicaragua. If I understand him correctly he currently thinks Marxists should take part in broad parties to spread their message, appealing to a working class audience. He runs two websites that are worthy of note, the blog, Louis Proyect: The Unrepentant Marxist (<http://louisproyect.wordpress.com/>) and an email mailing list, The Marxism Mailing List based at (<http://www.marxmail.org/>) which you need to subscribe to join (for free). The mailing list as the name suggests is a mailing list by and for Marxists. What is notable is the world-wide range of its contributors, but there is a bias towards American contributors. Any interesting Marxist article, You Tube video, or publication worldwide is highlighted. This is very much a discussion board for political issues. Louis runs a tight ship and if a participant gets out of hand by harping on ad-infinitum on a special hobby horse & boring everyone they are sent into exile, albeit exile need not be permanent. Louis’s blog gives his definite and decided views on three main areas that interest him, intellectual trends in American life, major political issues discussed by the US left and being a film critic & buff, the latest films that have attracted his interest. For example, he’s currently running a series of pieces on the South American tribe the Yanomami, to illustrate current trends in American anthropology and its relationship to socio-biology and evolutionary psychology, trends which overemphasize the genetic roots of human behaviour and underplay cultural traits and the political implications of this. Or, for example, discussing the attitude of different political groups on the US left to the recent events in Iran.
Three other American websites are worthy of note:
Counterpunch (<http://www.counterpunch.org/ >) is an online newsletter that focuses on US issues but does have a worldwide reach, but as the USA is the empire US issues tend to be unavoidably our issues. Its virtue is to be radical without indulging in Marxist boilerplate language. Its language verges on the tabloid in style which makes it a lively and never dull read. The contributors tend to be professional journalists with a sprinkling of academics. Its run by Jeffrey St Clair who specialises in environmental issues and Alexander Cockburn of the Irish Cockburn clan of journalists, son of Claud and brother of Patrick, the Middle East specialist and Andrew who all write pieces for the newsletter. Alexander formerly resident in the UK is a long time editor of the New Left Review.
Znet, (<http://www.zcommunications.org/>) is closely aligned with Noam Chomsky, its leading light is Michael Albert, and grows out of an American tradition of anarchism, but it is a website very much open to activists in the socialist tradition. If you use this site for nothing else it is a great source of world wide articles of interest in current affairs but you can use it for much more than that if you wish. One of its current themes is reimagining a future society for, example.
Lastly Monthly Review, (<http://www.monthlyreview.org/>) claims to be the oldest currently still publishing Marxist journal/magazine in the English speaking world. It was founded in 1949, by the American Marxist Paul Sweezy, who was the favourite student at Harvard of Joseph Schumpeter and who was strongly influenced by John Maynard Keynes. It is a journal independent of any political party. Its current editor since 2000, John Bellamy Foster is a noted figure in current Marxist thinking in emphasizing the ecological side of Marxist thinking, what is sometimes called the second contradiction of capitalism, the destructive effect of capitalism on nature itself. Linked to the review is a blog called MRzine (<http://mrzine.monthlyreview.org/>)with links to the recent articles published by Marxists and available on the net.
Mike Tucker, August 2009