Born in Trier, Germany, Marx studied law and philosophy at university. He married Jenny von Westphalen in 1843. Due to his political publications, Marx became stateless and lived in exile with his wife and children in London for decades, where he continued to develop his thought in collaboration with German thinker Friedrich Engels and publish his writings, researching in the reading room of the British Museum. His best-known titles are the 1848 pamphlet, The Communist Manifesto, and the three-volume Das Kapital (1867–1883). His political and philosophical thought had enormous influence on subsequent intellectual, economic and political history, and his name has been used as an adjective, a noun and a school of social theory.
Marx’s critical theories about society, economics and politics – collectively understood as Marxism – hold that human societies develop through class conflict. In capitalism, this manifests itself in the conflict between the ruling classes (known as the bourgeoisie) that control the means of production and the working classes (known as the proletariat) that enable these means by selling their labour power in return for wages.[13] Employing a critical approach known as historical materialism, Marx predicted that, like previous socio-economic systems, capitalism produced internal tensions which would lead to its self-destruction and replacement by a new system known as socialism.
For Marx, class antagonisms under capitalism, owing in part to its instability and crisis-prone nature, would eventuate the working class’ development of class consciousness, leading to their conquest of political power and eventually the establishment of a classless, communist society constituted by a free association of producers.[14] Marx actively pressed for its implementation, arguing that the working class should carry out organised revolutionary action to topple capitalism and bring about socio-economic emancipation.[15]
Marx has been described as one of the most influential figures in human history, and his work has been both lauded and criticised.[16] His work in economics laid the basis for much of the current understanding of labour and its relation to capital, and subsequent economic thought.[17][18][19] Many intellectuals, labour unions, artists and political parties worldwide have been influenced by Marx’s work, with many modifying or adapting his ideas. Marx is typically cited as one of the principal architects of modern social science.[20][21]
Ernesto Guevara de la Serna also known by the nickname Che Guevara (June 14, 1928 – October 9, 1967); was an Argentine Marxist revolutionary, physician, author, guerrilla leader, diplomat, and military theorist. Wikipedia
He said that no species or people are chosen and no nation exceptional. (Photo: Creative Commons)
With Donald Trump violently dispersing peaceful protestors with teargas and pepper spray so he could have a photo op (even Fox called it that) fondling “a” bible (not even his) in front of St. John’s Episcopal Church, a place of worship he had visited only twice before in his over three years in office, I think it fitting, important, and an act of charity that I share with him a conversation I had with the Christ last night.
Yes, the Christ spoke with me last night. I call him that rather than the more familiar “Jesus” because I think it fair to say that we are not on a first-name basis. After all, judging by what I see around me, I am not by any stretch of the imagination what many, perhaps even most, would consider a practicing Christian, or even remotely religious as commonly understood. I guess you can imagine my surprise, then, when of all the people in the world he could have spoken with—clergy members, Presidents/political leaders, Fox “news” commentators, etc.—he chose me.
We should listen to those sane voices, religious or otherwise, of Francis, the Dali Lama, Malala Yousafzai, and Greta Thunberg who advise that we bring an end to inequality, poverty, and economic systems that breed greed, hatred, corruption, climate change, and war.
But who am I to question the will of the Son of God? Maybe he just needed to rant a bit, to blow off steam. Or maybe he wanted to talk with someone he could trust to just listen and not distort his words for their advantage or to the disadvantage of other human beings. I can certainly understand his frustration given the state of the world and the way his teachings have been ignored, misinterpreted, and exploited by those who claim to be his spokespersons and followers.
He began by asking me, and these are his words, not mine, to tell those fucking idiots who profess to be Christians that Christianity is not a tool to be exploited for political purposes or personal gain. Nor is it a cloak of self-righteousness with which to arrogantly claim dominance.
Now perhaps you may be as shocked as I was to hear the Christ use such language. But if you truly knew him, what he was like, what he stood for, I think you would realize, as I did, that such “colorful language” was perfectly in character as the Christ was truly a rebel, a homeless vagabond who disregarded convention and sought the company of activists, revolutionaries, prostitutes, criminals, and lepers. Now I am not sure if this is his normal manner of speaking, after all as I mentioned earlier, we do not converse very often, but it was clear to me, again in his own words, that he was really pissed.
But let me continue. He said that to “know” him is to be humble and to accept the sanctity and intrinsic worth of all members of the human community. It is to love all people, no matter their color, religion, sexual preference, or country of origin and to concern themselves with the welfare of ALL living beings and with the earth he entrusted to their care. He said that no species or people are chosen and no nation exceptional. He said it is time to clear his temple (this world) of moneychangers, banksters, and Wall Street criminals. That we should listen to those sane voices, religious or otherwise, of Francis, the Dali Lama, Malala Yousafzai, and Greta Thunberg who advise that we bring an end to inequality, poverty, and economic systems that breed greed, hatred, corruption, climate change, and war.
As our conversation drew to an end (I guess he had other places to be and other people to talk with), the Christ offered what I took to be a warning of sorts, to all of us but especially to Donald Trump and other bigots, racists, warists, homophobes, and those who preach hatred and intolerance, that we had better get our priorities in order, our shit together, and we had better do it now not later, as he is losing his fucking patience. His words, not mine.
Camillo Mac Bica is an American philosopher, poet, activist, and author.Our work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 License. Feel free to republish and share widely.
Production has been completed on “Ahimsa – Gandhi: The Power of the Powerless” a new feature length documentary about Mahatma Gandhi and the concept of non-violence. It features the song “Ahimsa” performed by U2 and A.R. Rahman, with the written by Bono and Rahman.
The film was produced to commemorate the 150th anniversary of the birth – on Oct. 2 — of Indian lawyer, civil rights activist and politician Mohandas Gandhi. It also comes at a time when support for George Floyd, a black man who died last month at the hands of police in Minnesota, is morphing into a wider movement.
The film was directed and produced by Ramesh Sharma, who previously earned an Emmy nominee for “The Journalist and the Jihadi: The Murder of Daniel Pearl”.) Production and rights sales are handled by South Africa-based Distant Horizon.
“Ahimsa” counts Anant Singh, Xavier Couture, Jean Luc Berlot, Uma Gajapati Raju, and Sanchaita Gajapati Raju as its producers. It is executive produced by Michela Scolari, Simmran Bedi and David Traub.
The film deals with oppression and the denial of basic freedoms to people by those who are in positions of power and who fiercely protect their positions by inflicting violence on innocent people.
“ ‘Ahimsa’ speaks to the conscience of humanity as people globally grapple with intractable problems surrounding race, and as societies struggle to give the marginalized and underserved human dignity and restore fundamental human rights,” said Distant Horizon. “The film brings to the fore the impact of the Gandhian message of non-violence worldwide: how it inspired Martin Luther King Jr., John Lewis, Barack Obama and the Civil Rights Movement in the United States; the Solidarity Movement in Poland as well as Nelson Mandela and the anti-apartheid struggle in South Africa.”
“(The film) reminds us that we need to restore human rights and dignity on a universal level. The aggression of the police against George Floyd was so futile and takes me back to the police brutality we endured during apartheid in South Africa. Ramesh Sharma has captured the essence of Gandhi’s philosophy as he took on the might of the British Empire, and the profound influence his teachings have had on the world and why it remains relevant today, more than ever before,” said Distant Horizon president Anant Singh.
“ ‘Ahimsa” shows how Gandhi’s message went beyond the shores of India where he used non-violence as a powerful tool. Today, it still serves as an inspiration to societies fighting injustice,” said Sharma.
Ahimsa is the principle of non-violence which is shared by the Hindu, Buddhist and Jain creeds.
On June 5th, 2020 we have a Full Moon and Lunar Eclipse at 15° Sagittarius.
This is our first eclipse with the Nodes in the Gemini/Sagittarius axis – so it will give us a first “taste” of what to expect from the upcoming eclipses on the Gemini/Sagittarius axis.
This Lunar Eclipse in Sagittarius is a South Node eclipse, so the focus is on releasing the old (South Node) rather than on embracing the new (North Node).
Right now the focus is on what’s no longer working.
The South Node is the “familiar” comfort zone, our “default” mode, what we are designed to keep doing because it feels safe and natural.
The South Node is in Sagittarius so right now we need to let go of those Sagittarius operating models that are no longer working.
The South Node Lunar Eclipse in Sagittarius suggests that the time has come to let our inner Sagittarius take a back seat.
Sagittarius rules our beliefs, what we believe to be true and morally right. Sagittarius also rules our dogmas and biases.
The Lunar Eclipse in Sagittarius is a time to acknowledge our dogmas and biases, where we’ve been on autopilot.
This is a South Node Eclipse – a time of release and letting go. This is not a time to find solutions. Some solutions will come in two weeks from now, when we have a Solar/North Node eclipse. Right now though, the focus is on acknowledging what’s no longer working.
Letting go of the familiar doesn’t ‘feel’ right. Shedding the old skin feels uncomfortable. And it should feel uncomfortable. If something doesn’t feel uncomfortable, chances are, there’s no real change happening.
This Lunar Eclipse in Sagittarius is opposite Venus and square Mars.
Venus is now a young morning star with a mission. She may not know yet what she wants, but her heart is on fire. Her chest is lit up.
Mars is at his first square in the hero’s journey. This is when the hero leaves the “familiar world” and crosses the threshold to the “unknown world”.
This phase in the Mars cycle is when the hero is the most vulnerable. He leaves safety behind and adventures in the unknown.
This is a time to embrace our vulnerability. Because it is only by embracing it, that our vulnerability becomes our greatest strength. When we embrace it, we know where we stand. We know our weak areas. And from that place of knowing, we can embark on our new adventure with full awareness.
To conclude, the Full Moon and Lunar Eclipse in Sagittarius is a time to acknowledge our biases and dogmas, but also our weaknesses and vulnerabilities.
Again, keep in mind that Full Moons and South Node eclipses are times of release. Don’t look for solutions just yet. Simply acknowledge where you’re at.
The first “solutions” will be revealed in two weeks from now, when we have a powerful Solstice Solar Eclipse.
The Covid-19 pandemic is now “under control” in France, the head of the government’s scientific advisory council said Friday, as the country cautiously lifts a lockdown imposed in March.
“We can reasonably say the virus is currently under control,” Jean-François Delfraissy told France Inter radio.
“The virus is still circulating, in certain regions in particular… but it is circulating slowly,” he added.
Delfraissy, an immunologist, and his colleagues were appointed to the coronavirus advisory panel as authorities sought to contain an outbreak that has killed over 29,000 people in France.
The number of daily deaths has fallen off, however, with just 44 reported by the health ministry on Thursday.
Delfraissy said around 1,000 new cases were currently being reported in France per day, down from around 80,000 in early March, before the nationwide stay-at-home orders and business closures were issued.
In its latest summary of findings published Thursday, the Santé Publique France health agency estimated that the country had 151,325 confirmed Covid-19 cases as of June 2, when restaurants across France were allowed to reopen.
But it cautioned that at the height of the outbreak, patients with suspected coronavirus infections were not systematically tested, meaning the actual number of cases exceeds the official estimate.
There’s something happening here What it is ain’t exactly clear There’s a man with a gun over there Telling me I got to bewareI think it’s time we stop, children, what’s that sound Everybody look what’s going downThere’s battle lines being drawn Nobody’s right if everybody’s wrong Young people speaking their minds Getting so much resistance from behindIt’s time we stop, hey, what’s that sound Everybody look what’s going downWhat a field-day for the heat A thousand people in the street Singing songs and carrying signs Mostly say, hooray for our sideIt’s s time we stop, hey, what’s that sound Everybody look what’s going downParanoia strikes deep Into your life it will creep It starts when you’re always afraid You step out of line, the man come and take you awayWe better stop, hey, what’s that sound Everybody look what’s going down Stop, hey, what’s that sound Everybody look what’s going down Stop, now, what’s that sound Everybody look what’s going down Stop, children, what’s that sound Everybody look what’s going down
Album: Atlantic Records Time Capsule (Limited Edition)
Writers: Stephen Stills
Licensed to YouTube by
WMG (on behalf of Atlantic Label); LatinAutor – Warner Chappell, UNIAO BRASILEIRA DE EDITORAS DE MUSICA – UBEM, BMI – Broadcast Music Inc., LatinAutor, CMRRA, Warner Chappell, PEDL, and 12 Music Rights Societies
SME (on behalf of Sony Music Entertainment); EMI Music Publishing, UMPG Publishing, BMI – Broadcast Music Inc., LatinAutor – UMPG, LatinAutor, CMRRA, UNIAO BRASILEIRA DE EDITORAS DE MUSICA – UBEM, SOLAR Music Rights Management, and 10 Music Rights Societies
Love is but a song to sing Fear’s the way we die You can make the mountains ring Or make the angels cry Though the bird is on the wing And you may not know whyCome on people now Smile on your brother Everybody get together Try to love one another Right nowSome may come and some may go We shall surely pass When the one that left us here Returns for us at last We are but a moment’s sunlight Fading in the grassCome on people now Smile on your brother Everybody get together Try to love one another Right nowCome on people now Smile on your brother Everybody get together Try to love one another Right nowCome on people now Smile on your brother Everybody get together Try to love one another Right nowIf you hear the song I sing You will understand (listen!) You hold the key to love and fear All in your trembling hand Just one key unlocks them both It’s there at your commandCome on people now Smile on your brother Everybody get together Try to love one another Right nowCome on people now Smile on your brother Everybody get together Try to love one another Right nowI said, come on people now Smile on your brother Everybody get together Try to love one another Right now Right now Right now
Activists participate in a candlelit remembrance outside Victoria Park in Hong Kong on June 4, 2020.
Thousands of people in Hong Kong defiantly commemorated the Tiananmen Square massacre on Thursday, holding a vigil despite a police ban as the territory witnesses Beijing stamp out its freedoms in real time.
Each year, the pro-democracy protesters killed by Chinese government forceson June 4, 1989, are honored in Hong Kong — one of the few places in China, along with Macau, where the day is usually allowed to be recognized. China has tried to erase and rewrite the history of the massacre, and in the mainland, little is known of how the Chinese military crushed the democracy movement.
But this year, for the first time, Hong Kong authorities refused to grant a permit for the candlelight vigil, which is traditionally held in Victoria Park. The reason given was the coronavirus: Mass gatherings of more than eight people are restricted under current social distancing rules. However, many other restrictions have been lifted in Hong Kong, and the territory has very few cases — on June 4, the government reported six infections; the day before, zero. (Activists in Macau were also denied a permit.)
But thousands of Hongkongers gathered on June 4 anyway outside of Victoria Park, which had been barricaded off by police. Many tried to observe social distancing rules by sitting or standing apart as they chanted pro-democracy slogans and, in some instances, rallied for Hong Kong’s independence from China, once a radical idea.
Instead of “End to the one-party dictatorship!” “Vindicate June4th!”
Attendees of the vigil are now chanting: “Liberate Hong Kong, revolution of our time!” “Five demands, not one less” “Hong Kong independence, the only way out!”
Defying a government ban and threats to prosecute attendees, thousands of people in Hong Kong have shown up at a Tiananmen vigil (but are still social distancing)
People in every corner of #HK marked #June4 with candlelight, defying police ban on candlelight vigil in Victoria Park (where thousands came out regardless). This is the #HK spirit of the resistance of ordinary people that one day will prevail. #6431truth
“We fight for the same things as they did [in Tiananmen Square] 31 years ago,” 24-year-old Hammond Tong told the Washington Post. “The Chinese Communist Party has not changed one bit — the oppression, suppression and persecution have only increased. We must not forget, nor can we stop fighting.”
The vigil this year, even in its more fragmented form, has added weight as China moves to undermine the “one country, two systems” framework, which allows Hong Kong to have a degree of autonomy for its democratic system, and freedoms of press and speech not afforded to the rest of mainland China, until at least 2047.
China has long been trying to pull Hong Kong closer into its orbit. Shortly after last year’s Tiananmen Square vigil, Hong Kong erupted into protests against a controversial extradition bill that many saw as an attempt by Beijing to restrict Hong Kong’s freedoms. The first massive protest, on June 9, kicked off nearly a year of sustained pro-democracy demonstrations in the territory, which only died down earlier this year because of pandemic fears.
But last month, Beijing passed a national security law intended to curtail foreign interference or activities that undermine the state. Many critics say that Beijing — and officials in Hong Kong — are likely to interpret that broadly, which could potentially criminalize any dissent or perceived resistance to China. And that would almost certainly include Hong Kong’s protesters.
But Hong Kong’s future, and its freedoms, are perhaps more precarious than they’ve ever been.
On Thursday, Hong Kong’s mostly pro-China legislature voted to adopt a law that would make it illegal to mock or disrespect China’s national anthem, with penalties of up to three years in prison. The bill would also allow police to investigate violations for up to two years, the Wall Street Journal reported, giving authorities time to scour social media for videos and images of large crowds.
The international community has condemned China’s move. But unrest in the US is complicating the message.
China’s national security law has not yet been implemented, but when it is, many fear it could chill protests and even mark the official end of gatherings like the Tiananmen Square vigil, which Beijing seems determined to stop.
Which is why this year’s vigil almost became not only about the pro-democracy activists who died in 1989 but also about Hong Kong, both its past and its future. Amid China’s aggressive moves to assert authority over the territory, calls for Hong Kong’s independence are growing louder, as pro-democracy advocates see dwindling options to preserve its autonomy.
And the international community may not be much help. The United Kingdom, which once controlled Hong Kong, has promised to expand the number of Hongkongers who can come to Britain with visas — a move that many advocates support, but that will do little to save Hong Kong’s institutions.
The United States has announced it will consider revoking Hong Kong’s special trade status because it is no longer fully autonomous from China, a move that could damage Hong Kong’s position as a global financial capital. That special status once deterred China from taking too heavy a hand in Hong Kong — though that has changed, too, as Hong Kong’s economic importance to China has diminished. But now there may be even less reason for China to rhetorically honor “one country, two systems.”
America’s rebuke of China for “absolutely smothering” the freedoms of Hong Kong also rings hollow amid America’s own unrest.
That disconnect will make it harder for the US, and the rest of the world, to take meaningful action to protect Hong Kong — and to keep honoring, as Hongkongers tried to do today, what happened in Tiananmen Square three decades ago.
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