“Taiwan is not now, and never has been, part of the People’s Republic of China. … But whenever any politician on the world stage publicly mentions, or even alludes to, that fact, Chinese politicians rattle their sabers militarily while threatening, ‘diplomatically,’ to throw themselves on the floor and hold their breath until they turn blue. To placate Beijing, western regimes have generally adopted policies of ‘strategic ambiguity.’ They conduct friendly relations with Taiwan while not ‘recognizing’ its status as independent, and provide Taiwan with military assistance of various kinds while very carefully NOT openly saying they’d help it defend itself against invasion. ‘Strategic ambiguity’ is the worst of two worlds when it comes to foreign policy.” (11/23/25)
“The unity that once held the Democratic Party together has given way to ideological meandering, oscillating between ‘woke’ moralistic left-wing populism and technocratic managerialism. These two impulses now define its fractured identity: the former emerging from the Occupy movement and the momentum of Bernie Sanders'[s] presidential campaigns, the latter from the evolution of the Clinton-era ‘New Democrat’ consensus. The 2025 elections crystallized the divide through two major victories — socialist outsider Zohran Mamdani in New York City and Virginia Gov. Abigail Spanberger, who’s more in line with the neoliberal wing. Each has been called the party’s ‘future,’ though their wins more clearly reveal how ideologically hollow the party’s core has become.” (11/23/25)
“In the 15 years between 2009 and 2024, more than 500 people in Texas were exonerated after being imprisoned for crimes they did not commit. … The state paid them just under $156 million …. Last year, New York City paid out $205 million to settle 956 lawsuits alleging police abuse. … I bring up these figures because, according to multiple reports, Donald Trump is about to order the government to pay him ‘damages’ for the FBI raid on his Mar-a-Lago mansion and for special prosecutor Jack Smith’s two investigations of him …. He’s going to pay himself $230 million. So Trump — who didn’t spend a minute behind bars — [is] about to swindle about 50 percent more than the total amount of money paid to the 97 innocent people who were incarcerated for more than 1,200 years in Texas. Or about 12 percent more than the total paid last year to 957 victims of police brutality in New York City.” (11/21/25)
Source: The Peaceful Revolutionist
by David S D’Amato
“Although anarchism is usually treated as an outlier political philosophy, structurally it describes the conditions under which most human groups have actually governed themselves before the formation of the state. Many human communities still of course live beyond the reaches of the murdering, pathological state. … Whatever we think of the way these societies are structured and governed, it is clear that there are elements of intentional power-preemption, centrifugal mechanisms for maintaining a deliberately headless politics.” (11/22/25)
“This year’s G20 Leaders Summit is taking place in Johannesburg, a short distance from Constitution Hill, a former prison complex that once held Nelson Mandela and other South African democracy fighters. As the world’s most powerful leaders meet behind closed doors, this former apartheid prison turned museum will publicly write another page in the history of global economic emancipation. Movements, workers, activists, thinkers, creatives, artists, and communities from across South Africa, Africa, Asia, and Latin America are gathering for a three-day People’s Summit for Economic Justice — a counter to the G20 — to build the power of the 99 percent.” (11/22/25)
“After moderate Republican candidates lost twice to Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton became the favorite to succeed him, the revolt that had begun with the Tea Party during the Great Recession shattered the GOP’s “let us continue as usual” faction and led to Donald Trump’s improbable nomination as the Republican standard-bearer. His longstanding opposition to free trade, international commitments, and mass immigration soon came to dominate a radically changed party. Nobody could accuse Trump of having a well-developed conservative philosophy, but his iconoclastic impulses opened the door to restless intellectuals vying to systematize his impulses into a New Right.” (11/23/25)
“Each approaching winter since 2022, besieged Ukrainians have braced for more Russian attacks on the energy installations they rely on to survive the harsh cold of the Eurasian steppe. This year, they are confronting two additional jolts: Anti-corruption agencies have revealed high-level graft, with the equivalent of $100 million siphoned off from funds intended to defend this very same energy infrastructure. And many Ukrainians are discomfited by reports of a U.S.-Russia ‘peace plan’ – negotiated without Ukraine’s involvement. Some Ukrainian officials believe the timing is designed by the United States to use the corruption crisis to pressure the president into concessions.” (11/21/25)
“Every generation rediscovers the dream of purity, and every generation pays for it. The forms change, but the rhythm remains the same. We’re currently watching a small version of that drama unfold again, this time in the theatre of New York City politics. Zohran Mamdani’s election as mayor might seem like an old story of a political party’s young Turks taking on the old guard. But it is also possible to see a mood shift as that party shifts away from incrementalism and sets its sights on more radical, transformational change. Yes, the old machine could be venal and often shabby, but at least there was an occasional pragmatism to it. The new tone is all religious big-tent revival, the old hymns replaced by slogans of justice and liberation — the saviours of the republic are set to unseat capitalism and usher in the age of the redeemed.” (11/23/25)
“Congressional Democrats are openly encouraging anarchy with a new video calling on military and intelligence officials to disobey what they claim are unlawful orders from President Trump. All government officials take an oath to uphold the law, including the United States Constitution and all statutes. There are some examples where orders are plainly unlawful, and a defense of ‘I was just following orders’ is unavailing. An infamous case involved Lt. William Calley, who led the horrific My Lai Massacre during the Vietnam War. Democrats’ call here, however, is staggeringly dangerous and invites a coup. But exactly which orders do Democrats believe are unlawful? Are ICE raids part of these supposedly unlawful orders? The Supreme Court recently stayed an order by leftist Judge Maame Ewusi Mensah Frimpong in Los Angeles that had curtailed such raids.” (11/21/25)
