First off, I want to encourage all readers to check out the new Matthew Lyons essay in the publication Three Way Fight on the ruling class strategies towards insurgency. Matthew explores the carrot and stick approach to co-optation. He deals with the late 1960s period. In a nutshell, the article outlines liberal measures that enjoyed a […]
Archives for June 2020
What Are White Workers Thinking? An Interview with Timothy Lombardo
Timothy Lombardo is a native of Northeast Philadelphia and the author of Blue-Collar Conservatism: Frank Rizzo’s Philadelphia and Populist Politics. We caught up with him to discuss the post-war dynamics that gave rise to blue-collar conservatism, white ethnic support for law and order as a fix all solution to social problems, and the foreclosure of […]
“Schools Are an Extension of Police:” Reflections from an Arizona teacher
This August a former student of mine will go on trial for capital murder in Texas. I have no reason to suspect anything other than that he will receive the maximum sentence in the end, which is death. The thought that hung over my head wasn’t “how did we not see it coming?” but something […]
Here Today, Gone Tomorrow: On The Demolition of the Symbols
When we see something that we are used to seeing being taken away or changed, we tend to pay special attention. In this recent upsurge against police violence, the protestors have been advocating for the removal of statues, flags, names of well-known places like parks and streets, even the titles of military bases in the […]
Police Rebellion, Then and Now
Jarrod: A recent New York Times headline sums it up well: “Facing Protests Over Use of Force, Police Respond With More Force.” Even as America’s cult of cop worship implodes before our eyes, it is clear that many cops across the country have no interest in playing nice for the cameras. Rayshard Brooks was murdered […]
Fireworks
As the murder of George Floyd set the streets alight, revelers in New York City lit up the night skies with volleys of fireworks smuggled in from out of state. The celebration seemed fitting — the people had risen up, the Minneapolis precinct burned. Apparently overnight, the police had lost their legitimacy in the eyes […]