Jacobin Radio Folgen

Suzi talks to Warren Montag about the danger of the organized and armed far right. He argues in "The Necessity of Taking Back the Streets" in the journal Spectre that the left has not recognized the danger of the far right, and has been outflanked by the right’s strategic advance politically, electorally, and militarily. Warren sees the January 6, 2021 action as a big success for the right—and the left’s inability to respond to the danger encapsulates the political situation today, the actual balance of power. The right’s advance is not just in the streets, but in every level of government as well as law enforcement and all branches of the military. They have not been repudiated by the Republican Party, now a far right party of white supremacy. The Republican Party understands it can only win elections through the ever-increasing exclusion of the majority of the electorate, achieved through legal means as well as a campaign of fear and intimidation against opponents. Montag sees historical precedence both for the organized right’s march to power and the left’s complacency about the scale of the threat. To stop the right will require more than investigations and prosecutions. It will require understanding the danger the right represents, and mass mobilizations to defend democracy.

Everyone feels bad right now because conditions are awful and the outlook is bleak. What is going on, and where might things be headed? How might we become unstuck from this interregnum? Dan interviews returning guests Aziz Rana, Nikhil Pal Singh, and Wendy Brown.

This week, we speak with Alex Han, executive editor of Organizing Upgrade about a recent conversation he moderated between an Amazon activist named Howard and Wade Rathke, chief organizer of ACORN in the U.S. from 1970 – 2008. The discussion focuses on the successes and failures of organizing during the era in which Walmart was the ascendant force in commerce, a role Amazon plays today. Organizing Upgrade published the conversation as a three part series you can read here. You can listen to Primer by searching for Jacobin Radio on Apple, Spotify, or wherever you listen to podcasts. To keep up with us elsewhere, follow @primerpod on Twitter.