Jeff Richards Web Diary

Politics from the margins of the Australian Labor Party

Adelaide, South Australia

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I write this stuff because I like writing. Its fun. I am happy that anyone bothers reading it and I am also happy for intelligent conversations about political issues. I don't suffer from the delusion that what I write will change the world. What will change the world is theoretically and historically informed political practice. If you are a responsible human being you should find ways to 'get involved'. You can be conservative, socialist, communist, neo-liberal, anarchist, liberal democrat. You choose your political road... just do it!

Last updated:
8/2/2003; 8:23:53 PM

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MY FAVORITE LINKS

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Christopher Hitchens: Controversial journalist now scorned by many on the left. He is an impressive thinker with an acidic style. Good exercise for the left wing mind

Counterpunch: Acidic magazine of the left. Very focused on the operations of the Washington elite.

Le Monde Diplomatique: Want the best thinkers on politics in a monthly magazine. Here it is. The very best.

Z-Net: Excellent e-magazine. Full of useful links and articles by journalists of the left.

London Independent: This is a wonderful newspaper. For Iraq coverage I go to the search engine and type 'Robert Fisk' and then, separately 'Patrick Cockburn'

London Review of Books: Want really good essays on politics and literature. Try this

New Left Review: Intellectual flagship of the western left since the early 1960's

John Quiggin: Australia's most intelligent economist and political commentator.

The Nation: Published in New York. This is the American liberal lefts best weekly magazine. It has been around for more than 100 years.

Monthly Review: Intellectual journal of the left from New York. Independent of mind. Read and praised by Albert Einstein (who, like Helen Keller, aka Patty Duke, was a socialist)

Andre Gunder Frank: One of the great socialist scholars. Still alive and doing productive work, principally in the area of international political economy. He has his own well maintained web page.

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Tuesday, July 29, 2003

Civil War Erupts in Sydney

Yesterday Leo McLeay, a politician whose patch is near Sydneys Kingsford Smith airport threatened early resignation from his seat, saying that there was no consultation with Sydney ALP politicians about the decision to oppose the creation of a new airport at Badgerys Creek.

New South Wales Labor is once again at war with itself over the airport issue, a question that has plagued politicians in both major parties.

An interesting theoretical consideration here is the emergence of conflicts within one cosmopolitan region and the impact that this has within a political party. There are emerging separate sets of interests that are being reflected in politics.

Tuesday, 29 July 2003

10:32:34 AM comment []

Reading about Italian History

I just began reading a very good book on the history of modern Italy, Paul Ginsborg A history of Contemporary Italy: Society and Politics 1943-1948. I first encountered Ginsborg in an essay on the regime of Silvio Berlusconi in a recent edition of New Left Review. I have just started reading the chapters on the end of the Second World War. The situation is very much like Iraq: a devastated economy; a deeply divided society were central authority has broken down; a rising dislike of the occupying authorities (the Allies, primarily the UK). The story of Italy is very much about how the organised interests played out their influence and authority over the next fifty years.

This parallel with Iraq is going to be an interesting consideration when I am reading the book. My main interest will be just how it was that the country with the most powerful communist party in the western world managed to produce a Berslusconi. Of course, Italy is not alone in the phenomenon of Silvio. In fact, it may well be the harbinger of the politician in the era of late capitalism.

Monday, 28 July 2003

10:21:18 AM comment []