Chris Smalls, once heralded as a labor hero, now finds himself a casualty of overblown ego in the eyes of Jacobin. Yet, this portrayal dangerously obscures a deeper truth: his evolution from solely confronting Amazon to advocating for Palestinian and Cuban solidarity reveals an unsettling fear among the respectable Left. They're comfortable with labor militancy as long as it remains contained and domesticated; once it branches into anti-imperialism, they recoil. Smalls symbolizes a challenge to the status quo, an unfiltered confrontation with empire that threatens to redefine labor politics as an international struggle. In essence, the fear of a Black worker embracing a global perspective exposes the fragile backbone of contemporary Leftist thought.
Cocaine Cowboys and Lithium Indians: Bolivia, the Monroe Doctrine, and the Return of the Colonial Republic
Bolivia is ablaze, but The New York Times misses the mark, framing protests as mere chaos ignited by a presidential betrayal. The truth is far more profound: a collision of historical projects poised for supremacy. Behind the unrest lies a struggle against neocolonial forces, with President Paz's agrarian reforms threatening Indigenous and campesino sovereignty. The culprits are not just disenfranchised voters but a systematic push toward resource extraction and imperialism. The uprising is a collective cry not just for policy change but for self-determination, land rights, and a unified front against re-colonization. The narrative must shift from superficial crisis to deep-rooted rebellion.