Searching for Glimpses of Nehru in a Parochial, Post-Nehruvian India
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Searching for Glimpses of Nehru in a Parochial, Post-Nehruvian India

[May 27 is the death anniversay of Jawaharlal Nehru. This article is being published courtesy The Wire.]   India was in my blood and there was much in her that instinctively thrilled me. And yet I approached her almost as an alien critic, full of dislike for the present as well as for many of…

Capitalism Has Failed—What Next?
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Capitalism Has Failed—What Next?

Less than two decades into the twenty-first century, it is evident that capitalism has failed as a social system. The world is mired in economic stagnation, financialisation, and the most extreme inequality in human history, accompanied by mass unemployment and underemployment, precariousness, poverty, hunger, wasted output and lives, and what at this point can only…

Defiant Resistance: The Venezuelan Crises and the Possibility of Another World
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Defiant Resistance: The Venezuelan Crises and the Possibility of Another World

Bob Dylan once said, “Let us not talk falsely now, the hour is getting late.” February 23rd, 2019, was the day that Juan Guaidó, the self-proclaimed President of Venezuela, had “authorised” “humanitarian aid” to enter Venezuela, an attempt to force the Maduro government, and thus the Venezuelan people, to their knees. There is great urgency…

How is Mexico’s Fourth Transformation Progressing?
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How is Mexico’s Fourth Transformation Progressing?

As he nears his sixth month in office, Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador (popularly known as AMLO) travels around the nation holding public events to report on his social policies and asking citizens for help in removing the vices of the old regime from the State.   AMLO exhibits a unique leadership in this…

The Yellow Vests of France: Six Months of Struggle
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The Yellow Vests of France: Six Months of Struggle

I am writing you from Montpellier, France, where I am a participant–observer in the Yellow Vest (Gilets jaunes) movement, which is still going strong after six months, despite a dearth of information in the international media.   But why should you take the time to learn more about the Yellow Vests? The answer is that…

Atomic Veterans Were Silenced for 50 Years. Now, They’re Talking
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Atomic Veterans Were Silenced for 50 Years. Now, They’re Talking

Nearly everyone who’s seen it and lived to tell the tale describes it the same way: a horrifying, otherworldly thing of ghastly beauty that has haunted their life ever since. “The colors were beautiful,” remembers a man in Morgan Knibbe’s short documentary The Atomic Soldiers. “I hate to say that.” “It was completely daylight at…

Debate: Beware Glib Explanations for Modi’s Election Victory
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Debate: Beware Glib Explanations for Modi’s Election Victory

Indian elections are preceded by predictions such as either X will win with a majority, or Y will win with a majority. If neither gets a majority they will team up with other parties. It is also possible that X or Y may get less votes than they thought. This mindless psephology finds its counterpart…

CO2 Levels Hit 415 PPM for First Time in 3 Million+ Years
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CO2 Levels Hit 415 PPM for First Time in 3 Million+ Years

Atmospheric levels of carbon registered 415 parts per million over the weekend at one of the world’s key measuring stations, a concentration level researchers say has not existed in more than 3 million years—before the dawn of human history.   Taken at the Mauno Loa Observatory in Hawaii by the Scripps Institution of Oceanography, the…

How the BJP’s Political Narrative Filled the Holes in the NDA’s Actual Performance
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How the BJP’s Political Narrative Filled the Holes in the NDA’s Actual Performance

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)—and more than that, Narendra Modi—has come back with a larger mandate than what it was given by India’s voters in 2014.   At one level, this is remarkable given the economic distress all around, which should have led to a strong anti-incumbency and a decline in the saffron party’s votes….