Parenti 3-Pack

Includes:

Capitalism

Discussions about democracy probably started in Athens about 2500 years ago. A truism is that society is democratic to the extent that its citizens play a meaningful role in managing public affairs. Democracy is located within the capitalist economic system, infamous for producing colossal inequality. There's no level playing field, as great income and wealth translate into political power for the haves at the expense of the have-nots. We have procedural democracy: elections, broadcast debates, primaries, etc. Citizens are largely marginalized, overwhelmed by big money and powerful lobbies. Look at the widespread demand to ban assault weapons of war, for universal single-payer health care, to protect the environment, and for affordable housing. People want those things but elites have a simple message. Vote. Then go home and leave everything to us. Actual democracy is hollowed out. A Davos-type class rules. Recorded at the University of Colorado.

Fascism: The False Revolution

Fascism is being mentioned more and more in the context of U.S. and European elections. It is a term that is bandied about often rather loosely. Orwell wrote that it is understood to be "something not desirable." But it is a complex political and economic synergy that has racism, force and nationalism as its animating matrix. It involves heavy doses of propaganda and media manipulation. Mussolini, in one of his more honest moments said, "Fascism should be more properly called corporatism, since it is the merger of state and corporate power." For Americans it is universally associated with despotic regimes in other countries. It can't happen here. Huey Long, the self-styled populist governor of Louisiana, once warned, "If fascism ever comes to America, it will come wrapped in an American flag."

Imperialism

Imperialism is a term not applied by the mainstream media and traditional academics to anything the U.S. does. However, it is liberally applied to contemporary enemies or hoary empires of the past. Michael Parenti defines imperialism “as the process whereby the rulers of one country use economic and military power to expropriate the land, labor, markets and natural resources of another country in order to attain ever greater capital accumulation on behalf of wealthy interests at home and abroad.” Washington is always looking for euphemisms to cloak its real intentions thus “rules-based international order” is gaining currency. U.S. interventions are presented as promoting noble causes such as human rights, opposing tyranny and bringing democracy to others, and on and on. Recorded at College of DuPage.

Speaker

Michael Parenti

Michael Parenti was a leading independent political analyst, scholar, and author. Cornel West called him “a towering prophetic voice.” He taught at major colleges and universities in the U.S. and abroad. He is the author of numerous books, including Democracy for the Few, Power and the Powerless, and Against Empire. He passed away on January 24, 2026, at the age of 92.

Questioning the Unquestionable

“It is not demanded of readers that they embrace my views, but that they reflect upon their own. How seldom we bother to explore in some critical fashion the fundamental preconceptions that shape our understanding of social and political life. How frequently, as if by reflex rather than reflection, we respond to certain cues and incantations, resisting any incongruous notion. Our opinions shelter and support us; it is an excruciating effort to submit them to reappraisal. Yet if we are to maintain some pretense at being rational creatures, we must risk the discomfiture that comes with questioning the unquestionable, and try to transcend our tendencies toward mental confinement.” – Michael Parenti