The Neoliberal Economy and Consumption as Politics

Worldwide Labor Demonstrations Against Phillip Morris, Community Control Over Food Production, Afghanistan Suffers From Unofficial Sanctions

In this episode of By Any Means Necessary, hosts Sean Blackmon and Jacquie Luqman are joined by Monica Cruz, labor reporter with BreakThrough News to discuss an international day of action led by employees of Phillip Morris, the importance of solidarity among international workers and the need to globalize resistance to exploitation, how the Phillip Morris action fits into the context of the rising tide of workers struggle in the US, and the connections between labor, class, and race and their importance in building a working-class movement.

In the second segment, Sean and Jacquie are joined by Celina Della Croce, Coordinator of Tricontinental: Institute for Social Research to discuss an upcoming anti-imperialist week of action focused on food sovereignty, the connections between food and imperialism, how food sovereignty presents a radical shift in thinking around food and community control over food.

In the third segment, Sean and Jacquie are joined by Sohrob Aslamy, a doctoral candidate at Syracuse University in the Department of Geography and the environment to discuss the economic crisis and hunger in Afghanistan, how the US invasion and the unofficial sanctions imposed by organizations like the World Bank have contributed to the crisis, the Taliban’s inability to handle these issues, and the possibility of the rise of extremist groups like ISIS as a result of these unofficial sanctions.

Later in the show, Sean and Jacquie are joined by Devyn Springer, cultural worker, host of the Groundings Podcast, and digital outreach coordinator at the Walter Rodney Foundation to discuss the emergence of both progressive and reactionary movements in the midst of major contradictions within the ruling class and intensifying crises of capitalism, the continued fallout from the Dave Chappelle special on Netflix and the false concern over cancel culture from the ruling class, and how capitalist culture and consumption informs politics.

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