New Project

A forthcoming reading project will be a study of socialism, beginning with theory then moving on to historical applications. Why would I do this? you might ask. Much of my reading over the last couple of months has dealt with the history of Latin America, specifically the human impact of U.S. backed wars of terror against purported leftist insurgents nancing around Central America in the 1970s and 80s. If you have never read about this period of history, I suggest you make a cursory exploration of this overlooked part of history, which is one of the greatest tragedies of the 20th century. It will be an eye-opener for you much as it has been for me. The time and effort and monetary resources the U.S. poured into stopping the leftward drift in this part of the world makes me curious as to what about socialism was so fearful and terrible that we turned a blind eye to egregious and broad scale human right abuses, if not supporting such violations outright. By this I mean to get at the theoretical foundations, not the typical propaganda dutifully regurgitated pertaining to the threat of leftist idealism. What do we really know about socialism beyond what we are told by its ideological opponents? What is it that makes capitalists fall into paroxysms of anger and threat at its mention? It is as wretched of a social order as we are told? These are the questions I seek to answer.