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The Saker
A bird's eye view of the vineyard

offsite link Alternative Copy of thesaker.is site is available Thu May 25, 2023 14:38 | Ice-Saker-V6bKu3nz
Alternative site: https://thesaker.si/saker-a... Site was created using the downloads provided Regards Herb

offsite link The Saker blog is now frozen Tue Feb 28, 2023 23:55 | The Saker
Dear friends As I have previously announced, we are now “freezing” the blog.? We are also making archives of the blog available for free download in various formats (see below).?

offsite link What do you make of the Russia and China Partnership? Tue Feb 28, 2023 16:26 | The Saker
by Mr. Allen for the Saker blog Over the last few years, we hear leaders from both Russia and China pronouncing that they have formed a relationship where there are

offsite link Moveable Feast Cafe 2023/02/27 ? Open Thread Mon Feb 27, 2023 19:00 | cafe-uploader
2023/02/27 19:00:02Welcome to the ‘Moveable Feast Cafe’. The ‘Moveable Feast’ is an open thread where readers can post wide ranging observations, articles, rants, off topic and have animate discussions of

offsite link The stage is set for Hybrid World War III Mon Feb 27, 2023 15:50 | The Saker
Pepe Escobar for the Saker blog A powerful feeling rhythms your skin and drums up your soul as you?re immersed in a long walk under persistent snow flurries, pinpointed by

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Public Inquiry
Interested in maladministration. Estd. 2005

offsite link RTEs Sarah McInerney ? Fianna Fail?supporter? Anthony

offsite link Joe Duffy is dishonest and untrustworthy Anthony

offsite link Robert Watt complaint: Time for decision by SIPO Anthony

offsite link RTE in breach of its own editorial principles Anthony

offsite link Waiting for SIPO Anthony

Public Inquiry >>

Human Rights in Ireland
Promoting Human Rights in Ireland

Human Rights in Ireland >>

Lockdown Skeptics

The Daily Sceptic

offsite link British Drivers Steering Away From New Cars In Their Droves Mon Dec 23, 2024 13:00 | Sallust
British car-buyers are turning away from new vehicles in their droves and keeping their reliable old petrol models going for far longer as Labour's Net Zero war on affordable motors heats up.
The post British Drivers Steering Away From New Cars In Their Droves appeared first on The Daily Sceptic.

offsite link Britain on Brink of Recession After Growth Revised to Zero Following Reeves?s Horror Budget Mon Dec 23, 2024 11:09 | Will Jones
Britain is on the brink of a recession after official figures were revised to show zero growth in the third quarter of the year and living standards fell, with Rachel Reeves's horror Budget blamed.
The post Britain on Brink of Recession After Growth Revised to Zero Following Reeves’s Horror Budget appeared first on The Daily Sceptic.

offsite link What Fresh Hell is This? The Climate and Nature Bill Mon Dec 23, 2024 09:00 | Paul Homewood
If you thought eco zealot Ed Miliband was bad, wait until you get a load of the Climate Change and Nature Bill, which seeks to turbocharge the Net Zero agenda and already has the support of 192 MPs. Paul Homewood has the skinny.
The post What Fresh Hell is This? The Climate and Nature Bill appeared first on The Daily Sceptic.

offsite link The Daily Sceptic Christmas Appeal Mon Dec 23, 2024 07:00 | Toby Young
The Daily Sceptic's Christmas Appeal launches today ? an opportunity for readers to show their appreciation of the work we do. Remember, donating just ?5/month or ?50/year will give you access to a range of premium perks.
The post The Daily Sceptic Christmas Appeal appeared first on The Daily Sceptic.

offsite link News Round-Up Mon Dec 23, 2024 01:12 | Richard Eldred
A summary of the most interesting stories in the past 24 hours that challenge the prevailing orthodoxy about the ?climate emergency?, public health ?crises? and the supposed moral defects of Western civilisation.
The post News Round-Up appeared first on The Daily Sceptic.

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Marxism and Other Worlds: Fantasy and Sci-fi

category international | arts and media | other press author Friday September 30, 2011 14:22author by Chicherin Report this post to the editors

Marxism and Other Worlds: Fantasy and Sci-fi

Speaker: James Turley, Communist Party of Great Britain. This speech was delivered at Communist University 2011.

http://vimeo.com/29188003

And some more from James:

Blind, dumb logic of capitalism

James Turley reviews Mark Bould and China Miéville (eds) Red planets: Marxism and science fiction Pluto, 2009, pp293, £19.99

When English literature departments first arose in Anglo-Saxon academia, their purpose was in some ways relatively well defined. The bourgeoisie, so its political allies in the aristocracy and flunkies among the intelligentsia argued, was culturally bereft; worse, as the immediate superior in society to the labouring masses, it was the class that the latter ‘naturally’ looked to for spiritual guidance. The workers, however, were more civilised than the bourgeoisie, and the failure of leadership could result only in anarchy and the overthrow of the extant political order.

Literary studies may not seem the most likely cure for this social ‘ill’, but 19th and early 20th century ideologues such as Matthew Arnold were in thrall to its power. It could replace the old social glue of religion with a new one - inculturation into an organic national community, in which everyone has his or her place.

It does, as it turns out, take more than exposure to Shakespeare and Milton to stop a bread riot. Yet this eccentric project has left its mark on our society. The reach of ‘great’ literature into society is more penetrating than ever - no schoolchild can avoid a jaunt through Romeo and Juliet or King Lear; English lit is compulsory till 16. Meanwhile, the publishing industry makes a killing from repackaging Jane Austen as a chick-lit prophet (or splicing zombies into Pride and prejudice).

Another of the results is that, despite waves of attempts at ‘counter-canonisation’ along various critical lines, the Great Tradition (whatever that is) looms as large over our shoulders as ever. Any literature unlucky enough to be assigned a genre, particularly a genre with mass cultural appeal across different media, is likewise hived off from literary studies proper into a carefully delimited academic niche of its own.


Full text at: http://www.cpgb.org.uk/worker/799/scifi.php


Caption: Video Id: 29188003 Type: Vimeo
Marxism and other worlds: fantasy and sci-fi CU 2011

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