I'm here from Spooky Scary Socialist's Debunking Every Anti-Communist Argument Ever video and also look forward to listening to this lecture in full. And thank you for enlightening me with your excellent videos Hakim. Only actually just discovered them too. Thanks again Hakim ✊
@@Darloss9508 You mean in the China, where every forth guy, or a woman,is unemployed? In that communist capitalist heaven? Would you be able,to talk like that, actually write like that,in any communist controlled country,or China, for that matter..
Everything he talks about with how the US constantly "reported" on the USSR's pending implosion, skyrocketing prices, etc. is exactly what we're seeing today with China
Hell, some of the anti-China propaganda we see today, is directly recycled anti-Japanese propaganda from the 80s, not even anti-communist propaganda. Just sheer hatred and bitterness than a colored Asian people are better at business than America.
"What I say to you, ladies and gentlemen, is 'don't mourn, but organize. Organize, educate, agitate.' And when you use Anti-Sovietism to gain your credibility, you ain't gaining any credibility... They'll still come after you if you're a reformist or you want progressive change." Damn I'm glad this was on camera
"What is this?" "Orange juice." "Oh, good. [mighty slurp]" Parenti is the source of many fantastic quotes, but this may be the one for which he is remembered
i wondered most of the time though, cause I believe with his knowledge, his personality, his stance he should be world wild spread more than Chomsky. But it is nothing news, history repeats itself, the oppressed classes or figures did not get to write history.
Chomsky became what he became because of his blind criticism of the USSR, while Parenti who dared to defend their experience (while maintaining moderate criticism in some aspects, which I respect) got thrown out to the back alley.
Chomsky went with Hitler-Hearst-Conquest version of the "Soviet history" and adopted all anti-Soviet tropes created by the Nazis and their successors. He really believes that the 'Western values" spell freedom.
@@Zhicano I am yet to read it because I could never find a copy in English for an affordable price (I live in Brazil and it was just recently translated to Portuguese so it was never a widely-known publication) but I’m still looking for it
It's cool how millions died in less than a decade to bring them a free market paradise. Now Larry Summers and Jeffrey Sachs can be annoying woke guys on Twitter, to say nothing of the Clintons.
Yes, all backed by the US CIA who can't have any competition. After all, China is beating the hell out of the US and all the US can do is try to collapse it with lies. But keep thinking your psychopath criminal overlords are your saviors.
@@tblspn He is a run-of-the-mill, typical marxist professor who, instead of real science, interpreted historical events and facts in the interests of leftist propaganda, who hated America and the free market with all his heart and praised the bolsheviks and communists all over the world. And even that he did primitively and talentlessly, so he does not deserve any special memory, although as far as I know he is still alive.
@@tblspn He is a run-of-the-mill, typical marxist professor who, instead of real science, interpreted historical events and facts in the interests of leftist propaganda, who hated America and the free market with all his heart and praised the bolsheviks and communists all over the world. And even that he did primitively and untalentedly, therefore he does not deserve any special memory, although as far as I know he is still alive.
@@tblspn he is disgusting propagandist and liar if it is more understandable. Such people used to be called useful idiots by the communists for a reason. If he deserves to be remembered, it's only as a sample of such.
It's not worse now, honestly. It hasn't been dangerous for a while in most of the West. It's only dangerous when they think you're a threat. When they don't, they want to keep up an illusion of freedom and they'll let you say what you want. The moment they start taking out people for having opposing views and get found out, that's the moment they show their hand and push people away from supporting them, thereby encouraging the very revolutionary attitudes they want to avert. It's a last resort, though it has happened.
Woah, underrated comment! So obvious but still..i don't know the right word...poignant? Just sums it up. More dialog, less bad-mouthing, in various languages - which is hard, yes, but the more time we spend learning languages, the less time we spend figuring out how to strike a target 10k + miles away "efficiently". That should be kind of the point, right? Here i go babbling again...
Definition of a great man! Willing to risk his career, and probably even his life, for truth and advancement of the common good. Thanks to him, and thanks for posting this.
Nearly 40 years later and it's depressingly relevant. There are still people sleeping on the streets. There are still poor patients being turned away because they don't have the right insurance (if any at all). We still see politicians beating the drums of war and shouting their jingoist slogans and we still see the mass media, in lockstep, defending and reinforcing it.
55:15 floating off into reality i wish this guy could talk to every person in the u.s.a. not just the college students and academics and people who look him up on youtube
I can handle the truth. In fact it's all that matters. I'm so glad I found this man. Everyone needs to hear his knowledge of true history. After hearing him talk I no longer respect Noam Chomsky, whom I used to idolize. Parenti is ready to make change, not just talk about it.
@@Gkuljian I'm a bit new to the left as I have only followed politics since 2019. I've heard of Hudson before as he appeared on the Grayzone youtube channel to talk about a wide range of topics. Can you tell me more about Hudson and where he lies on the political spectrum? (wiki says he is a marxist economist, some others say he is a trotskyist..etc). I'm a huge fan of Parenti and read few of his books and watched countless lectures. I'd love to hear of what you think about Hudson since you're probably been on the left for longer than I have.
@@Anon123anon wouldn't reccomend trotsky, he isn't as good as stalin and would have probably destroyed the soviet union faster(by accident because he was still a man with a good heart)
@@Alexander03312 Poland went from a nation defending Eastern Europe from American and western aggression where people owned barber shops and were highly educated under socialism to being waiters for the English
While I have my criticisms of the Soviet Union and most socialist style leaders throughout history, i accept that no one is infallible. Whether it be Stalin, Ho Chi Minh, or Castro, there is good and bad, and I find that western media has always heavily embellished and exaggerated the bad while either minimizing or completely ignoring the good.
I mean Stalin wasn't ideal but he build an extremely strong country and he was in some way a blessing because overwise the radical marxist Trotsky would take power it would be a disaster for entire world ...
Don't bring McCarthyism into it, that was in hindsight a show to discredit people who had an understanding about what Marxism/bolshevism was really about. McCarthy no doubt was a stooge.
Quite heartbreaking to hear the anecdotes of Soviet and East German citizens making plans for the future and looking forward to their retirements given the corrupt and illegal dissolution of the socialist systems that took place just 5 years after this lecture...
"You know for sure when a man is telling the truth; three times: When he is drunk, when he is angry, or when he is joking." Thank you for the wisdom granny Parenti.
next best thing ... Detailed 3 hr interview from 2012 Hedges on CSpan Book TV ruclips.net/video/xPoIprwyW0Y/видео.html Hedges with Jimm Dore Oct 2018 disarming/searing 1hr interview ruclips.net/video/nOZ7NSuZp6s/видео.html Hedges' most compelling interviews re collapse of the empire... the example...Detroit ruclips.net/video/NT_GOWnMgQM/видео.html
@@brianlacy8870 ,love Chris Hedges,that said,I've watched and read hundreds of hours of his work and I don't recall Chris ever name dropping Parenti,like he loves to do with his other sources.
@@jeffsartadventure3634 I've also listened to numerous hours of Chris Hedges, and can't recall him ever mentioning Michael Parenti. Unsurprising, really, considering Hedges is apparently incapable of saying anything remotely "left" or "progressive" sounding without immediately genuflecting to "left" establishment sheepdogs (esp. Chomsky) and reciting an unholy mass of discredited CIA/MI6 anti-socialist propaganda.
@@jeffsartadventure3634 Because Chris Hedges does exactly what Parenti tells the left not to do. He very loudly declares how anti-soviet he is and plays right into the hands of the capitalist ruling class and the imperialism he criticizes.
@@maxmeggeneder8935 Yup if I recall correctly.. he criticizes Hedges and Chomsky by name in his book "Blackshirts and Reds" in the left anti-communism chapter/section. Man I wish I had discovered Parenti during the days where he did regular lectures across universities and published a lot of books. I wasn't political until 2019, and my introduction to politics was through CNN, MSNBC, etc.. and in fall of 2019 I started watching independent media as I figured out that mainstream media was propaganda.. and finally I discovered Parenti in Dec of 2020 or Jan of 2021.. I discovered Chomsky as early as 2019 end or early 2020, but I never took him as seriously. Most of the American left views him as their thought leader, and weaponizes him to get people to vote for dems every election. Parenti really threatens power structures which is why he was never given tenure at universities, fired for his activism, and etc meanwhile Chomsky gets boosted in left media.. Barely any of the independent lefty youtubers ever speak of Parenti. He is a hidden gem, and I wish people listened to this man more than Chomsky.
I don't know why this types of videos have not get more views, cause it is so valuable and rare nowdays his knowledge and his courage to choose what he does, to be with the majority of the people
"It goes without saying that all mental illnesses are neurologically instantiated, but this says nothing about their causation. If it is true, for instance, that depression is constituted by low serotonin levels, what still needs to be explained is why particular individuals have low levels of serotonin... ...By privatizing these problems - treating them as if they were caused only by chemical imbalances in the individual’s neurology and/ or by their family background - any question of social systemic causation is ruled out." -Mark Fisher
The idiosyncrasy in regards to microphones and amplification is quite funny and endearing. I've watched other Parenti lectures, more than 50% of the time he fucks with the mic :P
I like that he complains about the lights, but because of the video being taken we get to watch this lecture almost 40 years later. worthy tradeoff imo.
@SteppenWolff100 Its not about specific leaders coming to power or staying alive and holding power. It was about the will of the soviet people - remember that traitor Kruschev took power via an undemocratic coup and since introduced profit motives, removed the dictatorship of the proletariat and eroded soviet democracy and democratic accountability within the soviets (councils). While he bypassed the system with his coup, I believe its a valid critique of the USSR that not enough was done to prevent shit like this after Stalins death. The presidium was not accountable enough. As a direct result ppl like yeltsin were able to rise in rank within the communist party and it became full of snakes. In the absence of purges (like in the 30s) the snakes won and Gorbachev became leader and Yeltsin reached the central committee. Combined with the CIA incentives given to these snakes the downfall was sadly inevitable. Point is the USSR was not a dictatorship, and while shit leadership played its part - the shit leadership could only happen because the system allowed it to. I love the USSR as much as the next guy but we must critically analyse its faults to move forwards instead of blaming its collapse on this or that leader not coming to power.
+Karlo Mendoza You know I've been looking all over the place online to try & figure out what exactly it is he is referring to (it sure as sh-t doesn't help that he is paraphrasing from memory in the video either.) Now, I have not been able to find the full source document available anywhere online, though I do believe I have tracked down some of the original sources of the quote (they refer back to either a confidential memorandum and/or private letter from Lansing to Wilson [I've found places referring to it as one & other places as the other so I"m not sure].) So, I will quote the section from one of Parenti's writings that includes the thing I believe he is trying to paraphrase here: " For example, as President Woodrow Wilson contemplated sending U.S. troops as part of the expeditionary force of Western nations to overthrow the newly installed government in Russia in 1917, his Secretary of State, Robert Lansing, recorded in a confidential memorandum the administration's class concerns. Lansing ignored all the blather that U.S. leaders were publicly mouthing about Lenin and the Bolsheviks being German agents. Instead he perceived them to be revolutionary socialists who sought 'to make the ignorant and incapable mass of humanity dominate the earth.' The Bolsheviks wanted 'to overthrow all existing governments and establish on the ruins a despotism of the proletariat in every country.' Their appeal was to 'a class which does not have property but hopes to obtain a share by process of government rather than by individual enterprise. This is of course a direct threat at existing social order [i.e., capitalism] in all countries.' The danger was that it 'may well appeal to the average man, who will not perceive the fundamental errors.' " So the actual quoted parts of the source document are: 1) 'to make the ignorant and incapable mass of humanity dominate the earth.' 2) 'to overthrow all existing governments and establish on the ruins a despotism of the proletariat in every country.' 3) 'a class which does not have property but hopes to obtain a share by process of government rather than by individual enterprise. This is of course a direct threat at existing social order in all countries.' 4) 'may well appeal to the average man, who will not perceive the fundamental errors.' You can find many writings by various people at various places quoting this with citations using those quoted parts when searching all referring back to 1 of 2 books which apparently quote this confidential memorandum/private letter, but I could not find copies of those books anywhere & my local library does not have copy though they are members of some network of libraries & they are supposed to let me know if they find a copy of 1 of them in the network. Just some of the links where I found the quote referred to/cited by with the first link being where I pulled the Parenti quote from above [bottom of page 7 through beginning of page 8) www.kropfpolisci.com/foreign.policy.parenti.pdf canadiandimension.com/blog/view/william-blum-americas-other-glorious-war links.org.au/node/83#note3 www.thecrimson.com/article/1970/4/22/birthdays-lenin-pat-this-very-moment/ books.google.com/books?id=uQyBAAAAQBAJ&pg=PA29&lpg=PA29&dq=1917+robert+lansing+confidential+memorandum+bolsheviks+overthrow+all+existing+governments&source=bl&ots=TN2LkDGh4n&sig=5oakHSKM4uuSEXIBTy2Q-SA4WtA&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjxh87W_tLZAhUxn-AKHX3qA_cQ6AEIJzAA#v=onepage&q=1917%20robert%20lansing%20confidential%20memorandum%20bolsheviks%20overthrow%20all%20existing%20governments&f=false books.google.com/books?id=-UacAQAAQBAJ&pg=PA35&lpg=PA35&dq=robert+lansing+1917+bolsheviks+are+wanting+in+international+virtue&source=bl&ots=qLezCytj4k&sig=ymA5_J8HKuM1T87kyvS26IOMZTc&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjXxaWc_9LZAhXQct8KHXBnBx0Q6AEILDAB#v=onepage&q=robert%20lansing%201917%20bolsheviks%20are%20wanting%20in%20international%20virtue&f=false books.google.com/books?id=E563AwAAQBAJ&pg=PA108&lpg=PA108&dq=robert+lansing+proletariat+of+all+countries&source=bl&ots=jobOrnhY4Y&sig=XoZTi-5U3wEGitt7noSfTDUEAuA&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwi476D9_NLZAhXhc98KHatVD1oQ6AEIJzAA#v=onepage&q=robert%20lansing%20proletariat%20of%20all%20countries&f=false
In 1986 it was too late to debunk anti-sovietism, cos revisionists in USSR "communist" party had already destroyed Soviet Union. They had been doing it since the 60s.
The USSR in 1986 still had a socialist economy and a foreign policy characterized by opposition to imperialism. Just because the CPSU argued after 1956 that Stalin had been an outstanding revolutionary and Marxist-Leninist who nonetheless committed errors and crimes did not magically alter the character of the Soviet state.
Ismail no, my friend. Check Kosygin's reforms (profit instead of a plan), also "dictatorship of proletariat" line was removed from the constitution. Can't provide links now, sorry, but look it up.
Those reforms were just a rather moderate reaction to the input hoarding that was a problem under strict planning. It wasn`t until Perestroika that shit became really serious/disastrous.
Yes, not to mention that the Kosygin reforms were repealed in the early 70s. Also, even though the Soviets argued that the dictatorship of the proletariat gives way under socialism to a "state of the whole people," they held that the workers still played a leading role in society. The logic was that, with the abolition of the exploiting classes, there was no longer a need for a class dictatorship. Here's a good read on the Soviet economy of the 60s-70s debunking the claim that capitalism had been restored: archive.org/details/IsTheRedFlagFlying
36:52 Interesting: my dad, who grew up in the US during the 1960's, will sometimes preach to me, "They couldn't even feed their own people! They had to import grain!". I always wondered how a country with that much farming land couldn't feed its own populous.
Your dad is dumb. There were documented famines in that part of the world for at least a thousand years...and they ended with communism. Now, putz, explain why there are still people in Canada, the US and other rich "Western" countries who don't get enough to eat. Go.
@@krysarak meaning they would have mismanaged the sand redistribution? I've since learned how much nepotism and corruption there was in the top ranks of Soviet leadership and so my old comment seems a bit naïve.
@@knightsofnee8626 Meaning that in the USSR there was a deficit of absolutely everything. Even when there wasn't a shortage of some goods, but due to the inability to store, transport and complete disconnection between an effectiveness of labor and compensation for the labor, the deficit took place anyway. Instead of the economy there were slogans, lies and propaganda. At the beginning of the Soviet state there was a sincere faith in communism, that all today's sacrifices are necessary for tomorrow's people's happiness, but close to the end there was nothing left except hypocrisy, nepotism, stealing and corruption.
Noting the significance of him being hosted at UMass Amherst. In late 70s & early 80s a bunch of econ profs were red-baited/pressured from elite colleges and formed a leftist econ dept at UMass. That dept continues to offer powerful economic analysis & critique of unbridled capitalism today.
1:46 I love ya Parenti and I agree with 99% of your points but your analysis of Godzilla tall very short! The original Godzilla was very anti war, anti nuclear and anti militarism. Later Godzilla movies got very silly but they were fairly anti war, ironically it was Anno's Shin Godzilla that was the most militaristic.
US presidents are like bullets, and the Amerikkkan state is like a gun. You can't put a different bullet in the gun, and expect it to do something other than shoot. For this shit to end, Amerikkka needs to end.
They did it to themselves and that was because among many things one of the most essential is they were ignorant of their own lack of understanding of the way the price mechanism acts in all economies. That ignorance results in a repating feed back loop whereby those in power start believing their own B. S. instead of testing it.
1:38:01 Books: The Red Flag Flying and Human Rights in the Soviet Union - Al Szymansky Cities Without Crises - David Dow American Sovietologists - Sam Handel, Alex Novi Louis Morose and Progress Publishers - Jews in Soviet Union Soviet Life - periodical
Reading Inventing Reality right now. Had to find it in an archive on the internet bc it's unaffordable to even get a used copy! The irony of THAT. Did get a copy of Democracy for the Few. Reading it concurrently with the former. Already read two of his other books. Not enough time in the day. Never heard of him until a couple years ago and I was 20 when he delivered this speech----because? Read his books and you'll find out.
@@GalacticNovaOverlord Give me a few minutes to search---I am not a tech person. I will come back to this thread and put the links (I think I found two?) I buy most of his books from Thriftbooks---but this one particular one is never a decent price and I am on a budget.
God this is such an amazing lecture
hi hakim
I'm here from Spooky Scary Socialist's Debunking Every Anti-Communist Argument Ever video and also look forward to listening to this lecture in full.
And thank you for enlightening me with your excellent videos Hakim. Only actually just discovered them too.
Thanks again Hakim
✊
wow gday king keep up the good work
daddy
@@smhsophie less of the cringe anime “daddy” shite
Someone should do a compilation of parenti trying to get shitty mics to work. Thanks for posting this comrade.
I'm pretty sure that I have never seen a Parenti lecture where he doesn't talk about the PA system lol
And that someone will be you.
TheFinnishBolshevik Guess you got up and did it! great work btw!
I was going to say wait a minute, I just watched a video like that, but then I realized you were the one who made it!
featuring Oliver Stone
Wish Parenti was 20 year's younger. We desperately need him right now. Glad he demolished Hitchens before he quit the circuit
SMERSH the spirit of the revolutionary never dies, it is reborn in the hearts and minds and comradeship of the new revolutionaries they inspire.
when he dies i’ll literally have a breakdown
lol that’s so true but it will be sad to see such an inspirational thinker go.
@@kylebenjamin1136 He looks at least 20 years younger than 80. Don't worry, comrade.
Read his books, learn the argument, share the workload, we must not rely on icons, we all need to take on the fight against capitalism.
*"You wanna know what oppression is? Then sleep in the doorways of the land of the free, the home of the brave!"*
Another smashing quote by the man
Ivo Wilson read that right when he said it
Go try to live in the China,or the North Korea,and write shit like that over there! And see what happens 😉
@@kris8165 Lmao what if I told you I already did? Dumbass
@@kris8165I m pretty sure the average guy in China lives better than the average guy in the US. At least u won t be shot for looking the wrong way.
@@Darloss9508 You mean in the China, where every forth guy, or a woman,is unemployed? In that communist capitalist heaven? Would you be able,to talk like that, actually write like that,in any communist controlled country,or China, for that matter..
Everything he talks about with how the US constantly "reported" on the USSR's pending implosion, skyrocketing prices, etc. is exactly what we're seeing today with China
Hell, some of the anti-China propaganda we see today, is directly recycled anti-Japanese propaganda from the 80s, not even anti-communist propaganda. Just sheer hatred and bitterness than a colored Asian people are better at business than America.
Lmfao nope
www.youtube.com/@ChinaInsiderWithDavidZhang
"What I say to you, ladies and gentlemen, is 'don't mourn, but organize. Organize, educate, agitate.' And when you use Anti-Sovietism to gain your credibility, you ain't gaining any credibility... They'll still come after you if you're a reformist or you want progressive change."
Damn I'm glad this was on camera
1:18:28 if anyone wanted the time stamp!
So true!
"What is this?"
"Orange juice."
"Oh, good. [mighty slurp]"
Parenti is the source of many fantastic quotes, but this may be the one for which he is remembered
We will build a statue of him with a plaque with these words on them. Truly a great mind.
Parenti is what Chomsky should have been.
i wondered most of the time though, cause I believe with his knowledge, his personality, his stance he should be world wild spread more than Chomsky. But it is nothing news, history repeats itself, the oppressed classes or figures did not get to write history.
Chomsky became what he became because of his blind criticism of the USSR, while Parenti who dared to defend their experience (while maintaining moderate criticism in some aspects, which I respect) got thrown out to the back alley.
@@nunomcb140799 I think he talks about this in Blackshirts and Reds lol.
Chomsky went with Hitler-Hearst-Conquest version of the "Soviet history" and adopted all anti-Soviet tropes created by the Nazis and their successors. He really believes that the 'Western values" spell freedom.
@@Zhicano I am yet to read it because I could never find a copy in English for an affordable price (I live in Brazil and it was just recently translated to Portuguese so it was never a widely-known publication) but I’m still looking for it
Poor Parenti having to put up with these questions
I cannot imagine the amount of shitty takes Parenti had to debate being a marxist in Reagan's US
@@synerjuice5205 Is it much better now? I work with people who proudly declare that Joe Biden is a card carrying commie socialist.
yea that german guy at the end end was something else XD
@@xbeheritx8323 He does what he does being a lost German 😂
"It is your mind that is getting boxed in, by your media"- Dr. Michael Parenti , 42:38 min.
Du bist echt überall.
@@LiterarischeAktion Du doch auch, und das auf mehreren Wegen 😂☺️
Good quote
He says people in the USSR in 1986 didn't fear being poor in their old age. By 1991 they certainly did, as Yeltsin and the oligarchs ran riot.
It's cool how millions died in less than a decade to bring them a free market paradise. Now Larry Summers and Jeffrey Sachs can be annoying woke guys on Twitter, to say nothing of the Clintons.
Yes, all backed by the US CIA who can't have any competition. After all, China is beating the hell out of the US and all the US can do is try to collapse it with lies. But keep thinking your psychopath criminal overlords are your saviors.
Excellent speech. How can you not love the man? Great find comrade.
👍🏽
Parenti deserves to be remembered
he does not
@@krysarakyes he does, though I do recognise your counter argument has its merits
@@tblspn He is a run-of-the-mill, typical marxist professor who, instead of real science, interpreted historical events and facts in the interests of leftist propaganda, who hated America and the free market with all his heart and praised the bolsheviks and communists all over the world. And even that he did primitively and talentlessly, so he does not deserve any special memory, although as far as I know he is still alive.
@@tblspn He is a run-of-the-mill, typical marxist professor who, instead of real science, interpreted historical events and facts in the interests of leftist propaganda, who hated America and the free market with all his heart and praised the bolsheviks and communists all over the world. And even that he did primitively and untalentedly, therefore he does not deserve any special memory, although as far as I know he is still alive.
@@tblspn he is disgusting propagandist and liar if it is more understandable. Such people used to be called useful idiots by the communists for a reason. If he deserves to be remembered, it's only as a sample of such.
its interesting to see people use the same anticommunist arguments they use today, back in the 80s
The German guy in the q&a still butthurt that the nazi's lost.
I really hope the members of the group that got Parenti in to give the talk are okay. It must have been really tough being a Marxist through the 90s.
Worse now !
He worked a university/conference circuit back in the 90s. He wasn't in harm's way
It's not worse now, honestly. It hasn't been dangerous for a while in most of the West. It's only dangerous when they think you're a threat. When they don't, they want to keep up an illusion of freedom and they'll let you say what you want. The moment they start taking out people for having opposing views and get found out, that's the moment they show their hand and push people away from supporting them, thereby encouraging the very revolutionary attitudes they want to avert. It's a last resort, though it has happened.
@@Gaff. Pretty accurate. Tho it is important to note the age of information... The internet has changed the dynamic a lot.
@Robert Stan
It has indeed. I'm having trouble interpreting the exact way you intended that to connect to my comment however.
Thank you Dr. Parenti for suffering the blinding lights so I could watch this video!
The struggle for Palestinians to establish a state. 1986. Heartbreaking.
Great lecture. Sad that it's held up so well over 30 years later.
Woah, underrated comment!
So obvious but still..i don't know the right word...poignant? Just sums it up.
More dialog, less bad-mouthing, in various languages - which is hard, yes, but the more time we spend learning languages, the less time we spend figuring out how to strike a target 10k + miles away "efficiently". That should be kind of the point, right? Here i go babbling again...
Definition of a great man! Willing to risk his career, and probably even his life, for truth and advancement of the common good. Thanks to him, and thanks for posting this.
disgusting liar
51:49 for those of you looking for the most touching anecdote of this lecture. so heartfelt and impassioned, peak parenti
48:15 is the real most touching anecdote
Nearly 40 years later and it's depressingly relevant.
There are still people sleeping on the streets. There are still poor patients being turned away because they don't have the right insurance (if any at all). We still see politicians beating the drums of war and shouting their jingoist slogans and we still see the mass media, in lockstep, defending and reinforcing it.
55:15 floating off into reality
i wish this guy could talk to every person in the u.s.a. not just the college students and academics and people who look him up on youtube
9:45 Michael parentis predicts youtube "fuckin RUclips" 1985, colorized
LMAO
Amazing - what a find! There's another 1986 talk on RUclips but aside from that, this is a very rare, old talk. Thanks.
Whenever I see a Michael Parenti video ... it is an automatic RECOMMEND. The man is a genius, and just a beautiful human being.
I can handle the truth. In fact it's all that matters. I'm so glad I found this man. Everyone needs to hear his knowledge of true history. After hearing him talk I no longer respect Noam Chomsky, whom I used to idolize. Parenti is ready to make change, not just talk about it.
So did you curb your enthusiasm in the last two years?
@@florkgagga No. I never tire of the truth. I've since added Michael Hudson to the list.
@@Gkuljian I'm a bit new to the left as I have only followed politics since 2019. I've heard of Hudson before as he appeared on the Grayzone youtube channel to talk about a wide range of topics. Can you tell me more about Hudson and where he lies on the political spectrum? (wiki says he is a marxist economist, some others say he is a trotskyist..etc). I'm a huge fan of Parenti and read few of his books and watched countless lectures. I'd love to hear of what you think about Hudson since you're probably been on the left for longer than I have.
@@Anon123anon wouldn't reccomend trotsky, he isn't as good as stalin and would have probably destroyed the soviet union faster(by accident because he was still a man with a good heart)
Norm "lesser of 2 evils" chomsky.
he was right about the „solidarity” movement in poland, they took power and ruined poland
@@Alexander03312 Poland was doing pogroms before there was a USSR, you stupid fucking kid.
@@Alexander03312 Poland went from a nation defending Eastern Europe from American and western aggression where people owned barber shops and were highly educated under socialism to being waiters for the English
@@JohnKobaRuddy which you gotta admit its pretty great right, being cleaners and waiters for your English and German big brother
@@fun_ghoul So Solidarity did pogroms too? Is that your point?
@@januarysson5633 No. That's your non-point.
If Parenti was still going, he would be going the same about Sinophobia in the media
He is still alive. He isn't able to do what he does now though. Christian Parenti is continuing his fathers legacy.
While I have my criticisms of the Soviet Union and most socialist style leaders throughout history, i accept that no one is infallible. Whether it be Stalin, Ho Chi Minh, or Castro, there is good and bad, and I find that western media has always heavily embellished and exaggerated the bad while either minimizing or completely ignoring the good.
100% spot on!
yeah no shit i thought this is common sense?
I mean Stalin wasn't ideal but he build an extremely strong country and he was in some way a blessing because overwise the radical marxist Trotsky would take power it would be a disaster for entire world ...
Very true!
In case of Stalin, he is an underrated evil
2018 and the russian red scare continues
Thomas Wood Hell world. mccarthyism part 2.
Don't bring McCarthyism into it, that was in hindsight a show to discredit people who had an understanding about what Marxism/bolshevism was really about. McCarthy no doubt was a stooge.
Yea but changes character. Now Venezuela is a red scare target.
Russia is now just Scare, the Red Scare is China, Cuba and Venezuela
@@kuman0110 No. Many Americans still spew anti-communist shit to justify hating the oligarchs' wee man in Moscow.
God I wish I had him as a professor. His talks are always so interesting.
This old lecture tape recording would be such a game changer if it was shown on television in Today's world. Maybe the American people would wake up.
Only if it was on 24/7 for several decades. That's how brainwashing works.
2 hours? 😀😀
People nowadays only get to the 20 seconds mark.
@@henryrollins9177 yeah you can tell online that the knowledge about socialism for most people comes from cheap memes and soundbytes
I feel like a lot of Parenti videos i watch start with an apology to the crowd for braving the weather.
Nice to see someone here from my neck of the woods!
And at some point he faces his worst enemy: Microphone troubles.
Hey shoutout to my upper midwestern comrades in Wisconsin from your friend in MN😁
Gorbachev DID give away the store, which has put us in as much dangerous situation as 1986
For-Knees Very right, with Brezhnev the Soviet Union rottened away, and Gorbachev killed it finally.
George Bush sr promised trade with Russia. Instead millions of Russians lost jobs and were forced to flee.
Treachery killed the USSR. Both within the Communist Party and from the capitalist block
He was hoodwinked far too easily.
Tfw you start watching a parenti video and there are 4 microphones
Lmao,what if they all malfunctioned at once,I could see him start Karate chopping people.
Quite heartbreaking to hear the anecdotes of Soviet and East German citizens making plans for the future and looking forward to their retirements given the corrupt and illegal dissolution of the socialist systems that took place just 5 years after this lecture...
Happened in Detroit a few years ago as well
Those aren’t questions they’re try hard gotcha moments disguised as a question. Poor Parenti.
He's clearly up to the task.
He gives as good as he gets.
@@fun_ghoul Absolutely
"You know for sure when a man is telling the truth; three times: When he is drunk, when he is angry, or when he is joking." Thank you for the wisdom granny Parenti.
He doesn't fight microphones because he can win. He fights them because they're microphones.
Great man. I wish he'd do one last lecture tour or write one more book about the collapse of capitalism
next best thing ... Detailed 3 hr interview from 2012 Hedges on CSpan Book TV ruclips.net/video/xPoIprwyW0Y/видео.html
Hedges with Jimm Dore Oct 2018 disarming/searing 1hr interview ruclips.net/video/nOZ7NSuZp6s/видео.html
Hedges' most compelling interviews re collapse of the empire... the example...Detroit ruclips.net/video/NT_GOWnMgQM/видео.html
@@brianlacy8870 ,love Chris Hedges,that said,I've watched and read hundreds of hours of his work and I don't recall Chris ever name dropping Parenti,like he loves to do with his other sources.
@@jeffsartadventure3634 I've also listened to numerous hours of Chris Hedges, and can't recall him ever mentioning Michael Parenti. Unsurprising, really, considering Hedges is apparently incapable of saying anything remotely "left" or "progressive" sounding without immediately genuflecting to "left" establishment sheepdogs (esp. Chomsky) and reciting an unholy mass of discredited CIA/MI6 anti-socialist propaganda.
@@jeffsartadventure3634 Because Chris Hedges does exactly what Parenti tells the left not to do. He very loudly declares how anti-soviet he is and plays right into the hands of the capitalist ruling class and the imperialism he criticizes.
@@maxmeggeneder8935 Yup if I recall correctly.. he criticizes Hedges and Chomsky by name in his book "Blackshirts and Reds" in the left anti-communism chapter/section. Man I wish I had discovered Parenti during the days where he did regular lectures across universities and published a lot of books. I wasn't political until 2019, and my introduction to politics was through CNN, MSNBC, etc.. and in fall of 2019 I started watching independent media as I figured out that mainstream media was propaganda.. and finally I discovered Parenti in Dec of 2020 or Jan of 2021..
I discovered Chomsky as early as 2019 end or early 2020, but I never took him as seriously. Most of the American left views him as their thought leader, and weaponizes him to get people to vote for dems every election. Parenti really threatens power structures which is why he was never given tenure at universities, fired for his activism, and etc meanwhile Chomsky gets boosted in left media.. Barely any of the independent lefty youtubers ever speak of Parenti. He is a hidden gem, and I wish people listened to this man more than Chomsky.
I don't know why this types of videos have not get more views, cause it is so valuable and rare nowdays his knowledge and his courage to choose what he does, to be with the majority of the people
The struggle of parenti and microphone is the second hardest struggle nect to class struggle
The best in critical analysis!
"It goes without saying that all mental illnesses are neurologically instantiated, but this says nothing about their causation. If it is true, for instance, that depression is constituted by low serotonin levels, what still needs to be explained is why particular individuals have low levels of serotonin...
...By privatizing these problems - treating them as if they were caused only by chemical imbalances in the individual’s neurology and/ or by their family background - any question of social systemic causation is ruled out."
-Mark Fisher
I wish I would have been taught ANY of this stuff back in '86
the man is a king
Hey! What's with the monarchist insults???
*comrade
Ohhh! I've always been self-conscious about my voice. Now I can proudly say that I sound like Parenti! Thank you, Prof!
Really appreciate the upload comrade
Still do!
Why is there no Parenti equivalent today when we need one so badly....
Because the bad joke of communism has been done to death.
This is golden. Thank you so much for uploading this comrade, I fucking love you!
In 2023 this is very actual. Everyone need to watch this
Thank you for this. Its been so long since I've seen this, I honestly thought that a recording didn't exist anymore.
Parenti getting frustrated with that dumb questioner is gold
The idiosyncrasy in regards to microphones and amplification is quite funny and endearing. I've watched other Parenti lectures, more than 50% of the time he fucks with the mic :P
Those microphones were CIA plants. Parenti has done so well to counter both imperialist propaganda and CIA mics
Thank you so much for posting this. His speech has so much truth and power. ✊ workers of the world unite!!!!! Now more than ever!!!!!! ☭☭☭☭
another useful idiot
i’ve said it time and time again … the failure of communism is the greed of capitalism.
I like that he complains about the lights, but because of the video being taken we get to watch this lecture almost 40 years later. worthy tradeoff imo.
Wow, I wish the subway was still 7 kopecks 😢
His word will spread like wild fire 👍🏼
I love this so much.
Molotov should have been general secretary after Stalin instead of revisionist Khrushchev
Completely agree with this
Molotov's wife got blackballed by Stalin.
@SteppenWolff100 Its not about specific leaders coming to power or staying alive and holding power.
It was about the will of the soviet people - remember that traitor Kruschev took power via an undemocratic coup and since introduced profit motives, removed the dictatorship of the proletariat and eroded soviet democracy and democratic accountability within the soviets (councils). While he bypassed the system with his coup, I believe its a valid critique of the USSR that not enough was done to prevent shit like this after Stalins death. The presidium was not accountable enough.
As a direct result ppl like yeltsin were able to rise in rank within the communist party and it became full of snakes. In the absence of purges (like in the 30s) the snakes won and Gorbachev became leader and Yeltsin reached the central committee. Combined with the CIA incentives given to these snakes the downfall was sadly inevitable.
Point is the USSR was not a dictatorship, and while shit leadership played its part - the shit leadership could only happen because the system allowed it to. I love the USSR as much as the next guy but we must critically analyse its faults to move forwards instead of blaming its collapse on this or that leader not coming to power.
@SteppenWolff100 Ah fair enough my misunderstanding then.
@@shaanlalvani was that mocking, too, you supporting the purges?
Does anyone know where to find the Woodrow Wilson and Lansing correspondence he was talking about in the beginning?
+Karlo Mendoza
You know I've been looking all over the place online to try & figure out what exactly it is he is referring to (it sure as sh-t doesn't help that he is paraphrasing from memory in the video either.) Now, I have not been able to find the full source document available anywhere online, though I do believe I have tracked down some of the original sources of the quote (they refer back to either a confidential memorandum and/or private letter from Lansing to Wilson [I've found places referring to it as one & other places as the other so I"m not sure].)
So, I will quote the section from one of Parenti's writings that includes the thing I believe he is trying to paraphrase here:
" For example, as President Woodrow Wilson contemplated sending U.S. troops as part of the expeditionary force of Western nations to overthrow the newly installed government in Russia in 1917, his Secretary of State, Robert Lansing, recorded in a confidential memorandum the administration's class concerns. Lansing ignored all the blather that U.S. leaders were publicly mouthing about Lenin and the Bolsheviks being German agents. Instead he perceived them to be revolutionary socialists who sought 'to make the ignorant and incapable mass of humanity dominate the earth.' The Bolsheviks wanted 'to overthrow all existing governments and establish on the ruins a despotism of the proletariat in every country.' Their appeal was to 'a class which does not have property but hopes to obtain a share by process of government rather than by individual enterprise. This is of course a direct threat at existing social order [i.e., capitalism] in all countries.' The danger was that it 'may well appeal to the average man, who will not perceive the fundamental errors.' "
So the actual quoted parts of the source document are:
1) 'to make the ignorant and incapable mass of humanity dominate the earth.'
2) 'to overthrow all existing governments and establish on the ruins a despotism of the proletariat in every country.'
3) 'a class which does not have property but hopes to obtain a share by process of government rather than by individual enterprise. This is of course a direct threat at existing social order in all countries.'
4) 'may well appeal to the average man, who will not perceive the fundamental errors.'
You can find many writings by various people at various places quoting this with citations using those quoted parts when searching all referring back to 1 of 2 books which apparently quote this confidential memorandum/private letter, but I could not find copies of those books anywhere & my local library does not have copy though they are members of some network of libraries & they are supposed to let me know if they find a copy of 1 of them in the network.
Just some of the links where I found the quote referred to/cited by with the first link being where I pulled the Parenti quote from above [bottom of page 7 through beginning of page 8)
www.kropfpolisci.com/foreign.policy.parenti.pdf
canadiandimension.com/blog/view/william-blum-americas-other-glorious-war
links.org.au/node/83#note3
www.thecrimson.com/article/1970/4/22/birthdays-lenin-pat-this-very-moment/
books.google.com/books?id=uQyBAAAAQBAJ&pg=PA29&lpg=PA29&dq=1917+robert+lansing+confidential+memorandum+bolsheviks+overthrow+all+existing+governments&source=bl&ots=TN2LkDGh4n&sig=5oakHSKM4uuSEXIBTy2Q-SA4WtA&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjxh87W_tLZAhUxn-AKHX3qA_cQ6AEIJzAA#v=onepage&q=1917%20robert%20lansing%20confidential%20memorandum%20bolsheviks%20overthrow%20all%20existing%20governments&f=false
books.google.com/books?id=-UacAQAAQBAJ&pg=PA35&lpg=PA35&dq=robert+lansing+1917+bolsheviks+are+wanting+in+international+virtue&source=bl&ots=qLezCytj4k&sig=ymA5_J8HKuM1T87kyvS26IOMZTc&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjXxaWc_9LZAhXQct8KHXBnBx0Q6AEILDAB#v=onepage&q=robert%20lansing%201917%20bolsheviks%20are%20wanting%20in%20international%20virtue&f=false
books.google.com/books?id=E563AwAAQBAJ&pg=PA108&lpg=PA108&dq=robert+lansing+proletariat+of+all+countries&source=bl&ots=jobOrnhY4Y&sig=XoZTi-5U3wEGitt7noSfTDUEAuA&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwi476D9_NLZAhXhc98KHatVD1oQ6AEIJzAA#v=onepage&q=robert%20lansing%20proletariat%20of%20all%20countries&f=false
excellent lecture
My love for Parenti is perhaps unhealthy
In 1986 it was too late to debunk anti-sovietism, cos revisionists in USSR "communist" party had already destroyed Soviet Union. They had been doing it since the 60s.
Михаил Воробьёв 1953 tbh
The USSR in 1986 still had a socialist economy and a foreign policy characterized by opposition to imperialism. Just because the CPSU argued after 1956 that Stalin had been an outstanding revolutionary and Marxist-Leninist who nonetheless committed errors and crimes did not magically alter the character of the Soviet state.
Ismail no, my friend. Check Kosygin's reforms (profit instead of a plan), also "dictatorship of proletariat" line was removed from the constitution. Can't provide links now, sorry, but look it up.
Those reforms were just a rather moderate reaction to the input hoarding that was a problem under strict planning.
It wasn`t until Perestroika that shit became really serious/disastrous.
Yes, not to mention that the Kosygin reforms were repealed in the early 70s. Also, even though the Soviets argued that the dictatorship of the proletariat gives way under socialism to a "state of the whole people," they held that the workers still played a leading role in society. The logic was that, with the abolition of the exploiting classes, there was no longer a need for a class dictatorship.
Here's a good read on the Soviet economy of the 60s-70s debunking the claim that capitalism had been restored: archive.org/details/IsTheRedFlagFlying
this is a jewel for all historic content and sentiment of the times
Thank you very much for posting this video.
Hey this one isn't yellow!
Does anyone know the exact moment when he talks about Soviet wage increases over the years? I need that exact quote for an essay. Thanks!
@@TJ-rm2rs thanks
@@PC42190 where was it?
@@archusrtm6325 32:20
The US is in for another agricultural crash due to factory farming.
You spelled "the whole world dying due to climate change" wrong.
ruclips.net/video/-S-CwVJxxug/видео.html
36:52 Interesting: my dad, who grew up in the US during the 1960's, will sometimes preach to me, "They couldn't even feed their own people! They had to import grain!". I always wondered how a country with that much farming land couldn't feed its own populous.
Your dad is dumb. There were documented famines in that part of the world for at least a thousand years...and they ended with communism. Now, putz, explain why there are still people in Canada, the US and other rich "Western" countries who don't get enough to eat. Go.
in the USSR they said - if the communists lived in the Sahara desert, there would be a shortage of sand
@@krysarak meaning they would have mismanaged the sand redistribution? I've since learned how much nepotism and corruption there was in the top ranks of Soviet leadership and so my old comment seems a bit naïve.
@@knightsofnee8626 Meaning that in the USSR there was a deficit of absolutely everything. Even when there wasn't a shortage of some goods, but due to the inability to store, transport and complete disconnection between an effectiveness of labor and compensation for the labor, the deficit took place anyway. Instead of the economy there were slogans, lies and propaganda.
At the beginning of the Soviet state there was a sincere faith in communism, that all today's sacrifices are necessary for tomorrow's people's happiness, but close to the end there was nothing left except hypocrisy, nepotism, stealing and corruption.
@@krysarak at the end when socialism was coup'd 😭
the fucking balls on the guy to try and call out the "ignorance" *michael parenti*
the goddamn disrespect jesUS
this is so amazing, we can see this happen in real time
Godzilla is a metaphor for the radiation from the bombs we dropped on them. Radiation is the monster.
Wait he isn’t yellow what’s going on
Noting the significance of him being hosted at UMass Amherst. In late 70s & early 80s a bunch of econ profs were red-baited/pressured from elite colleges and formed a leftist econ dept at UMass. That dept continues to offer powerful economic analysis & critique of unbridled capitalism today.
I wish i come to here of Dr Michael Parenti years ago good stuff .when you got so much right wing rubbish
???
Ocelotl Chimalpahin he might be referring to the uptick in fascism following gamergate and the anti-SJW hysteria surrounding the 2016 U.S. election
Notes:
13:32 - Publicity bureau setup.
27:00ish - About culture in "pluralistic" US vs CCCP.
Parenti vs microphones
We need a video of Parenti dealing with shitty microphones.
No social order can maintain itself without conscious human agency!!!!
Therefore we must keep on fighting, sisters and brothers!
1:46 I love ya Parenti and I agree with 99% of your points but your analysis of Godzilla tall very short! The original Godzilla was very anti war, anti nuclear and anti militarism. Later Godzilla movies got very silly but they were fairly anti war, ironically it was Anno's Shin Godzilla that was the most militaristic.
31:20 40 years later western media is talking about Chinese economy crashing while it has double the growth rate of the US
Thank you.
I would be interested to hear what he would have to say about this subject now.
" . . . because the people keep floating off into reality."
If the nazis only went east the us would not have cared :/
Please never delete this
i like to think the video was cut off because Parenti was about to show that last guy how a new yakk itayyan boxes
This man should have been president
US presidents are like bullets, and the Amerikkkan state is like a gun. You can't put a different bullet in the gun, and expect it to do something other than shoot. For this shit to end, Amerikkka needs to end.
He would have been killed
I never saw this one. so glad i found it.
1:26:21 - I would wear that label proudly if I knew you understood what I meant by Marxist.
Great quote.
The destruction of the USSR was one of the greatest tragedies of the 20h century.
They did it to themselves and that was because among many things one of the most essential is they were ignorant of their own lack of understanding of the way the price mechanism acts in all economies. That ignorance results in a repating feed back loop whereby those in power start believing their own B. S. instead of testing it.
I love how triggered people are getting, especially the German dude lol. And then Parenti's little snack moment. Adorable.
1:59:36 hours of active listening for the video to cut off mid sentence lol
His one weakness, microphones
I am no Murican, nor have I ever lived in Merica, but I can tell that Parenti is most definitely from New York
Yes. East Harlem, Wikipedia tells me, which is the same area where Tupac's parents lived.
Excellent find, thanks for the upload
1:38:01
Books:
The Red Flag Flying and Human Rights in the Soviet Union - Al Szymansky
Cities Without Crises - David Dow
American Sovietologists - Sam Handel, Alex Novi
Louis Morose and Progress Publishers - Jews in Soviet Union
Soviet Life - periodical
Reading Inventing Reality right now. Had to find it in an archive on the internet bc it's unaffordable to even get a used copy! The irony of THAT. Did get a copy of Democracy for the Few. Reading it concurrently with the former. Already read two of his other books. Not enough time in the day. Never heard of him until a couple years ago and I was 20 when he delivered this speech----because? Read his books and you'll find out.
What archive did you find it on?
@@GalacticNovaOverlord Give me a few minutes to search---I am not a tech person. I will come back to this thread and put the links (I think I found two?) I buy most of his books from Thriftbooks---but this one particular one is never a decent price and I am on a budget.
@@GalacticNovaOverlord I put up two links and they are NOT showing up! WTF????
@@GalacticNovaOverlord look up the collected parenti sub on Reddit
@@Adrian_Zenz thanks
The Great Dr. Parenti!
9:26 thank God this was taped