Don Palabraz

Buy Nothing and Listen to Fromm Instead!

The consumerist orientation that rests at the basis of our neo-liberal economy is best exemplified on this shopping craze of an occasion known as  “Black Friday.” It’s in the cruelest irony that this post-Thanksgiving ritual justifies itself in service to the upcoming Christmas holiday.  In a sense, the profit motive of product pushing corporations somehow [...]

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Subversive Historian – 07/23/09

Thoreau’s Night in Jail Back in the day on June 23th, 1846, philosopher poet Henry David Thoreau spent the night in jail for refusing to pay his poll taxes. The acclaimed author of “Walden” did so in protest of the U.S. – Mexican War which had started months earlier. As an opponent of slavery, which many [...]

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Phil Jackson on the 2 Party System

Los Angeles Lakers coach Phil Jackson became the champion of champions in his profession by capturing a NBA record tenth title. The Zen Master marked the occasion by wearing a yellow “Malcolm X” cap drawing attention to the Roman numeral of his acheivement. Always noted for his appreciation for literature and eastern philosophy, Jackson was [...]

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Subversive Historian – 05/28/09

The Show Trial of Antonio Gramsci Back in the day on May 28th, 1928, the show trial of the influential Italian intellectual Antonio Gramsci commenced. As a journalist, political activist and parliamentarian, Gramsci was arrested in November 1926 after the fascist government of Mussolini issued so-called “Exceptional decrees.” As a person who helped co-found the Italian [...]

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Monthly Review Turns 60!

{Monthly Review founders: Harry Magdoff and Paul M. Sweezy} This May’s issue of the Monthly Review commemorates the leftist magazine’s 60th anniversary. Arriving in the mail today, the fiercely independent and socialist Monthly Review has continued its legacy of promoting independent political thought from preeminent minds throughout the decades.  Looking back to its inception, this month’s [...]

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