Who would’ve thought that an AI-generated voice of Jordan Peterson would inspire me? At least, I think it’s AI—there are several videos of him discussing attachment theory, just like there are of Mel Robbins. I haven’t listened to him in years, not since I followed the alt-right. And yet, here I am, drawn back, not by ideology, but by something deeper—an idea that resonated.
Recruitment and far right: “I Love the Third Brigade”
The United States is putting pressure on Zelensky to lower the age of conscription again, but for the moment the Ukrainian president is rejecting this possibility. This is what Ukrainian media such as Ukrainska Pravda reported this week, referring to the mobilization of men between 18 and 25 years old, a very small population group in which the country’s future cannot afford to lose. Even before the law on mobilization was approved, which is very unpopular despite not being as harsh as foreign allies demanded, prominent figures and self-proclaimed friends of Ukraine such as US Senator Lindsey Graham have publicly encouraged Ukraine to recruit those over 18 years old despite the demographic risk that this implies for the country they claim to defend. These suggestions seem to have become a demand that is confirmed even by people who belong to the state apparatus. “If this information has come to light, it may confirm that American politicians from both parties are putting pressure on President Zelensky on the question of why there is no mobilisation for those aged 18-25 in Ukraine,” said Serhiy Leshchenko, one of Andriy Yermak’s advisers and a figure who has gone from representing the third sector, civil society in Maidan Ukraine to all kinds of well-paid positions in government or in the few state-owned companies that Kiev has not yet privatised. The past ten years show a double standard between those who have been privileged and those who have been impoverished and marginalised thanks to the European and liberal reforms of the peacetime years. However, Ukraine’s refusal to recruit its most vulnerable population group strictly responds to the future needs of the state, which, if it hopes to rebuild itself, must maintain minimum levels of youth population.
Read More »
Ali Riaz to lead commission on constitutional reforms
The government yesterday named Professor Ali Riaz as head of the Constitutional Reform Commission, replacing Supreme Court lawyer Shahdeen Malik.
…
Prof Yunus announced the formation of six reform commissions in his address to the nation on September 11.
They were formed to reform the judiciary, the election system, the administration, the police, the Anti-Corruption Commission, and the constitution. Prof Yunus also named the chiefs of the commissions.
…
Ali Riaz, a Bangladeshi-American, is a distinguished professor of politics and government at Illinois State University, US. He was the chair of the Department of Politics between 2007 and 2017.
He is a nonresident senior fellow of the Atlantic Council and the president of the American Institute of Bangladesh Studies.
Related:
Atlantic Council, American Institute of Bangladesh Studies, BBC World Service, Claflin University (South Carolina), Illinois State University, ISEAS – Yusof Ishak Institute (Singapore), University of Hawai’i (East-West Center), University of Lincoln (U.K.), V-Dem Institute (funders), Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars (2023 donors), Testified at U.S. Congress in 2013, 2015, and the US Commission on International Religious Freedom in 2008.
See Page 2 for more:
Prospects shaky for Philippines’ government and communist peace talks
Manila, Philippines – Fighting continues between the Philippine military and communist rebels despite an agreement to resume peace talks this month in an effort to end the world’s longest-running communist armed rebellion.
President Ferdinand Marcos Jr surprised many when, in November, his government announced an agreement with the National Democratic Front (NDF), the rebels’ political wing, to restart peace talks that his predecessor Rodrigo Duterte had ended shortly after taking office.
Considering that the Millennium Challenge Corporation just gave the Philippines a grant, I doubt that they’ll see any positive economic reforms. MCC’s support for “democratic reform” is akin to the “democracy promotion” advanced by the National Endowment for Democracy. My guess is that it’s to keep the Philippines in line with US foreign policy against China.
For some reason, these quotes made me think of Milei, at the World Economic Forum. On another note, I still have to read “The Che Reader”. I found his quote through Wikipedia. As for “The State and Revolution”, I’m 60% finished.
Ever since monopoly capital took over the world, it has kept the greater part of humanity in poverty, dividing all the profits among the group of the most powerful countries. The standard of living in those countries is based on the extreme poverty of our countries. To raise the living standards of the underdeveloped nations, therefore, we must fight against imperialism. And each time a country is torn away from the imperialist tree, it is not only a partial battle won against the main enemy but it also contributes to the real weakening of that enemy, and is one more step toward the final victory. There are no borders in this struggle to the death. We cannot be indifferent to what happens anywhere in the world, because a victory by any country over imperialism is our victory, just as any country’s defeat is a defeat for all of us. The practice of proletarian internationalism is not only a duty for the peoples struggling for a better future, it is also an inescapable necessity.
Che Guevara, The Che Reader
During a state visit to the People’s Republic of China in September 2023, Venezuelan president, Nicolas Maduro met president Xi Jinping and both agreed to strengthen the relationship of their countries by establishing seven sub commissions to elevate it to the level of ‘all-weather strategic partnership’. This is the culmination of a relationship that began with president Hugo Chavez’s first visit to Beijing in 1999, the very first year of his presidency.
On the strategic relationship between Venezuela and China
Juan Guaido was hired by Florida International University (FIU) to give a series of talks and mentor students. Guaido launched a coup attempt in Venezuela in 2019 but failed to gain any significant support within the country.
Former Venezuelan Coup Plotter Hired By Florida College to Speak on ‘Defending Democracy’
Related:
Venezuelan opposition leader Juan Guaidó is teaching at FIU. But it’s only for a while
In April 2023, Guaidó said Colombian authorities threatened to turn him over to Maduro after entering the country for a forum about the Venezuelan crisis. The Biden administration helped Guaidó leave Colombia and come to Miami.
Jamil Mahuad** [Fulbright Program, Harvard Kennedy School], president of Ecuador from 1998 to 2000.
Robin S. Bernstein*** [American University School of International Service, George Washington University School of Business]
Miomir Žužul [Harvard Kennedy School]
Read More »Related:
In Ukraine, American taxpayers funding more than just the military
Lindsey Graham is such a psychopath!
You might not know it by the relatively scant news coverage, but the U.S. congressional delegation, led by Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, that visited Brazil, Chile, and Colombia in August marked a big step forward in the development of a new U.S. approach to Latin America and highlighted the important role that the U.S. progressive left has to play in it.
AOC-Led Delegation Can Push for New Approach to Latin America
Related:
AOC urges US to apologize for meddling in Latin America: ‘We’re here to reset relationships’
Asked if the left needs to build a counterweight network, Ocasio-Cortez, whose trip to Latin America was branded “AOC’s socialist sympathy tour” by Rupert Murdoch’s conservative Wall Street Journal newspaper, replied: “I absolutely believe that the battle for democracy must be transnational and it must be global, and it especially must be hemispheric.
When we speak of concepts like “totalitarianism” and “corporatism,” it is often assumed that fascism stands very far from the liberal market society that went before it, and which we are still experiencing today. But if we pay closer attention to Italian fascism’s economic policies, especially during the 1920s, we can see how some combinations typical of both the last century and our own were experienced already in the first years of Benito Mussolini’s rule. A case in point is the association between austerity and technocracy. By “technocracy,” I refer to the phenomenon whereby certain policies that are common today (such as cuts in social spending, regressive taxation, monetary deflation, privatizations, and wage repressions) are decided by economic experts who advise governments or even directly take over the reins themselves, as in several recent cases in Italy.
When Liberals Fell in Love With Benito Mussolini
Ms. Cat’s Chronicles 
You must be logged in to post a comment.