Dr. Michael Parenti 1986 Lecture "Yellow Parenti"
Blackshirts and Reds: Rational Fascism and the Overthrow of Communism
But that expropriation of the Third World—has been going on for 400 years—brings us to another revelation—namely, that the Third World is not poor. You don't go to poor countries to make money. There are very few poor countries in this world. Most countries are rich! The Philippines are rich! Brazil is rich! Mexico is rich! Chile is rich—only the people are poor. But there's billions to be made there, to be carved out, and to be taken—there's been billions for 400 years! The Capitalist European and North American powers have carved out and taken the timber, the flax, the hemp, the cocoa, the rum, the tin, the copper, the iron, the rubber, the bauxite, the slaves, and the cheap labour. They have taken out of these countries—these countries are not underdeveloped—they're overexploited!
I stole it, don't think it's original lol. But it was too good not to share!
this video has been at the bane of my experience in my lazy efforts to learn theory from youtube and i LOVE seeing it meme'd here. lol
how could it not? every time i searched for parenti using the youtube search, i got almost nothing but duplicates of this video. lol
i wish i could see it that way; it keeps triggering me since the 80's were a particularly shitty time in my life. i have yet to watch the video because of it.
thanks, but don't be; it's well in the past and i think i learned from it. eventually, it'll be water under the bridge like the 90's & aughts are for me.
I keep asking myself, why are they poor? Are they really poor? Or are they overexploited? <reaction shots follow>"One more thing, I almost forgot... My wife tells me my memory is so bad, she's surprised I remember the route to work, I'll tell you. But this one loose end just keeps bothering me--how exactly is the US defending democracy by interfering in free, open elections? Anyway I'll leave you to it, have a lovely night."
And there's just one other thing bothering me. Earlier you said that because the churches were empty the people were being repressed. But then the churches were full and you said they were rejecting the atheistic state...
This reminds me that I've wanted to ask you in particular, since you made that nice reading list, do you have a recommendation of documentaries or lectures that you could please recommend on any politically left subject that would be helpful in introducing people to radical politics or radicalizing them further?
I just know ones like Pilger's War on Democracy, Black Power Mixtape, and (I know, I know) Zizek's Pervert's Guide to Ideology.
I have some best friends who aren't really readers, unfortunately.
Honestly? Blowback. Seeing the unspeakable evils of empire really jolts you into radicalization real quick. Also, Parenti, of course.
I tend to prefer reading over listening, but those are a couple notable exceptions.
Same about reading v. listening for me so I'm always at a loss. "Uhh, just read Lenin!" Haha
Is Blowback (man, almost had a Freudian slip there) a podcast or a documentary? Sorry, I've heard it mentioned but never encountered it. And, yeah, I'll suggest Parenti too!
Thanks!
Haha yea, reading is just more convenient.
Blowback is a podcast documentary, it's a doc in podcast format. Really good series.
No problem! It's really sad though, fair warning. It's about US atrocities.
