Michael Parenti, born on this day in 1933, is a Marxist American political scientist and cultural critic. He has taught at American and international universities and has been a guest lecturer before campus and community audiences.

Michael Parenti was raised by an Italian-American working-class family in the East Harlem neighborhood of New York City. After graduating from high school, Parenti worked for several years. Upon returning to school, he received a BA from the City College of New York, an MA from Brown University and a PhD in political science from Yale University.

For many years Parenti taught political and social science at various institutions of higher learning. Eventually he devoted himself full-time to writing, public speaking, and political activism. He is the author of 20 books and over 300 articles.

Parenti's writings cover a wide range of subjects: U.S. politics, culture, ideology, political economy, imperialism, fascism, communism, democratic socialism, free-market orthodoxies, conservative judicial activism, religion, ancient history, modern history, historiography, repression in academia, news and entertainment media, technology, environmentalism, sexism, racism, Venezuela, the wars in Iraq and Yugoslavia, ethnicity, and his own early life.

His book Democracy for the Few, now in its ninth edition, is a critical analysis of U.S. society, economy, and political institutions and a college-level political science textbook published by Wadsworth Publishing. His book Blackshirts and Reds defended the Soviet Union and socialist states of the 20th century from criticism, arguing that they were morally superior compared to capitalist states, that the problems of the Soviet Union were caused by the Russian Civil War and capitalist interference, and that "Left anti-Communist" and "pure socialist" critics have failed to offer any alternatives to the Soviet Union's "siege socialism"

In 1974, Parenti ran for the U.S. House of Representatives in Vermont as the candidate of the democratic socialist Liberty Union Party; he came in third place, with 7.1% of the vote. Parenti was once a friend of Bernie Sanders, but he later split with Sanders over Sanders's support for the NATO bombing of Yugoslavia.

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  • Cigarette_comedian [he/him]
    ·
    9 months ago

    The Nintendo game that states that fascism is capitalism in decay :pigmask:

    How did Mr. Itoi do it?!

    "Ah yes, Mr. Itoi! What was your last game about again?"

    "Defeating the very concept of evil using the power of friendship."

    "Mother 2, of course! Yes a funny and clever RPG which captured the hearts of many (not in the US.) So, what's your next game going to be about?"

    "A commune gets ruined by the introduction of money."

    "What?"

    "The player is going to see a peaceful and equal society get transformed into a mockery of itself, obsessed with accumulation and new doodads. The animals will be turned into machines as part of a sick joke."

    "Mr. Itoi? What are you-"

    "The player will have to do repetitive menial factory work for several minutes to earn a pittance of pay and the privilege of getting to progress to the next area, which is a club meant to distract the people from their unfulfilling work. Even the blacksmith will be working in the factory."

    "I don't know if-"

    "The villains will be wearing masks resembling pigs, they will do roman salutes, they will drive tanks, they will pollute the environment, they will commit terrorism with a wunderwaffe, they will all eat burgers and fries and drink soda."

    "A little on the nose don't you th-"

    "The villain is going to be someone named Porky."

    "..."

    "The final area is New Pork City."

    "Alright fine. We'll start the 10 year development hell the next quarter."

      • Cigarette_comedian [he/him]
        ·
        edit-2
        9 months ago

        Any reason as to why Mother 3 didn't work for you? In my opinion it's one of the best RPG's I've played, better than Mother 2 from both a story and gameplay perspective.