Gary Tedman examines the question of terrorism from a Marxist viewpoint, condemning the practice as both destructive of innocent life and as detrimental to the struggle for democracy. Tedman also points out how the ruling class uses threats of terror to advance anti-working class agendas. PA contributors Bill Witherup and Robert Edwards discuss the difficulties and importance of continuing to independently publish poetry that has working-class perspectives and subjects. W. T. Whitney and Remy Herrera add to our coverage of rapidly changing situations in Latin America, and Anna Bates updates us on the struggle to defend affirmative action. Other articles discuss ongoing battles with California governor Arnold Schwarzenegger and Wal-Mart.
Happy New Year,
PA Editors
Happy Birthday Martin!
Departments:
04 Letters
06 Commentary
Bush’s Supreme Error
By Dale S. Scott
22 American Sounds: Interview with Robert Edwards
By Bill Witherup
One of the top US poets discusses keeping the spirit alive in a decadent age.
26 Lost in a Material World: How Marxists Got Social Realism Wrong
By Joel Wendland
Narrow interpretations of reality lead to sectarian interpretations of art and culture.
30 The End of Affirmative Action?
By Anna Bates
Has affirmative action died a death of a thousand cuts?
34 The Poverty Draft and How to Fight It
By Adam Tenney
Economic reasons are driving young people into the armed forces. Counter recruitment offers a way out.
44 Making Bones About It:
A Review of Startling New Claims of Society’s Origins
Reviewed by Thomas Riggins
Does a new archaelogical dig in Turkey change the way we think about ourselves?
48 Talking Back: The Dialectical Process of Left Persuasion
By Owen Williamson
Tip for countering right-wing baloney.
54 Spring Cleaning in the House of Labor: Venezuela’s New Trade Union Movement
By Diana Barahona
Faced with corrupt trade unions that favored the old regime a new one is founded.
