In this episode, we feature Michael Parenti, who passed away this week at the age of 92. A prominent political scientist and cultural critic, he delivers a powerful lecture at the University of Colorado Boulder from 1986. Parenti discusses the intricacies of US interventionism, the dynamics of capitalism, and the historical exploitation of the developing world. He challenges conventional narratives about poverty in the Global South, asserting that these nations are not poor but rather over-exploited. Join us as we unpack his insightful analysis of imperialism, capitalism, and the ongoing struggles for social justice that our oligarchs and their political class have not seemed to learn the lessons from 40 years ago, as the stature of the U.S. erodes daily on the world stage, supporting endless war in Ukraine and Palestine, disastrous trade policies, and ongoing hegemonic and regime change operations in multiple countries.


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Born to a working class Italian American family in New York City, he earned his doctorate at Yale and taught political science despite being blacklisted for his political views. We re-air this Yellow lecture - referring to the poor 1980s video quality – because after the U.S war machine goes after Venezuela, Greenland, Iran, Cuba, Nicaragua, Colombia, who’s next, this desire for hegemonic control from this failing empire will not stop until we all step up and make it stop. And this Imperial Boomerang, what Chalmers Johnson called Blowback, it’s hitting us in Minnesota, on the streets here in Los Angeles all the way to Maine. The violent methods to control and subdue smaller weaker countries, disappearing intellectuals, activists, political leaders Like I saw in Guatemala in the 90s; where activists are unalived without any fear of accountability. Minneapolis. We did it to Vietnam, we did it in Iraq, now we’re doing it in…where next?

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Sources:
Michael Parenti speaks at the University of Colorado, Boulder: "US interventionism, the 3rd world, and the USSR" April 15, 1986

Yellow Lecture:
https://youtu.be/W10QEs-TkhU?si=ZP_D5JNOWpJ_xvuC

Michael Parenti Library:
https://www.youtube.com/@themichaelparentilibrary/videos



Michael Parenti [https://www.michael-parenti.org/] is a U.S. political scientist, academic historian and cultural critic who writes on scholarly and popular subjects. He is the award-winning author of twenty-four books, including The Face of Imperialism (2011) and Democracy for the Few originally written in 1974 with a 9th edition published in 2010: He has taught at universities and has also run for political office. Parenti is well known for his Marxist writings and lectures, and is an intellectual of the U.S. Left.


Jack Eidt is an urban planner, environmental journalist, and climate organizer, as well as award-winning fiction writer. He is Co-Founder of SoCal 350 Climate Action and Executive Producer of EcoJustice Radio. He writes for an Artbound project on PBS SoCal called High & Dry [https://www.pbssocal.org/people/high-dry]. He is also Founder and Publisher of WilderUtopia [https://wilderutopia.com], a website dedicated to the question of Earth sustainability, finding society-level solutions to environmental, community, economic, transportation and energy needs.




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Executive Producer and Host: Jack Eidt
Engineer and Original Music: Blake Quake Beats
Episode 259
Photo credit: Michael Parenti