World Book Day: Rediscovering the Joy of Reading in Modern Times
Come 23rd April and we have the special day for book lovers - World Book Day. The day was established by UNESCO in 1995 to globally celebrate books and reading.…
Life/Philosophy
On the Marxist Critique of Heidegger
How Marxists should approach the critique of Martin Heidegger Martin Heidegger is undoubtedly one of the most creative and influential philosophers of the 20th century. Virtually all areas of philosophy,…
The Immense Hunger
Like all living creatures, people need to eat to live. Some people, eaten from within by a demonic force, try to deny others this basic sustenance. All across the world…
Life and Times of Edith Durham
Edith Durham was an English woman who explored the Balkan region in the beginning of twentieth century just prior to the first world war. Her several writings about the region…
Perceptions of Social Dominance and How to Change Them
It’s surprising that human infants as young as 10 months may be able to identify social rank. Research suggests that infants learn to distinguish who around them is dominant, using relative body…
Deliverance and Divergence – Dr. Ambedkar’s bold retelling of the Buddha story
In seeking to understand the deep-rooted realities of social exclusion and discrimination, Dr. Ambedkar did not hesitate in recasting the traditional narrative of the Buddha story, an account and teaching…
The HPV Vaccine: A Troubled But Trivialised History
The widespread promotion of HPV {Human Papilloms Virus} Vaccines has been successsfully marketed by BigPharma, intially via the vaccine producers of the vaccine Gardasil by Merck & Co, and of…
Why Culture Is Not the Only Tool for Defining Homo sapiens in Relation to Other Hominins
We need a broad comparative lens to produce useful explanations and narratives of our origins across time. While the circumstances that led to the emergence of anatomically modern humans (AMH)…
What Distressed US Children Are Saying to Their Country
Perhaps the single most distressing indicator of the social crisis within the USA is that in this richest and most resourceful country 10 per cent of the high school students…
Canadian Multiculturalism and Social Fabric of Modern Society
Multiculturalism as a Global Phenomenon Multiculturalism is overwhelmingly an attractive global phenomenon and it was enhanced in the early 1970’s by the late Pierre Eliott Trudeau, the Prime Minister of…
Quest of immortality
Quest of immortality has been as timeless as it has remained fruitless. First recorded over 4000 years ago on the Babylonian Tablets, it narrates the tale of King Gilgamesh of Uruk. His…
Is the Pursuit of Happiness Justified in A World of Increasing Injustice
If I get up on a pleasant morning and have all the nice feelings about trying to keep all my friends around me happy then of course such pursuit of…
Widening the ‘We’
by Colin Greer and Eric Laursen Political polarization—the inability of groups such as political parties, religious sects, and cultural identity groups to cooperate even in basic, essential matters—has been a…
Warriors Dream
She has the eyes of a soldier gazing with weathered shock and exhaustion in a war governments could draw to a close. Tess is overworked, underpaid, and sometimes shamed as…
Is Secularism Incompatible with Islam and Vice Versa?
In recent times there have been raging debates concerning secularism and Islam and many especially the protagonists of secularism argue that Islam is an antithesis to the very idea of…
The Biggest Treasure I Found After Five Decades in Archaeology
Flush with my newly minted university degree, I sat down for breakfast with my entrepreneurial grandfather who met me with the question, “So you want to study to be an…
Stories that can bring a positive change deserve to be called news: Binu Mathew
At a time when the Indian media is increasingly being controlled by the rich and dominated by the caste elites, Countercurrents.org has set up an example of giving space to…
LOYAL to the EARTH
If you choose loyalty, bypass being merely patriotic. Patriotism is a political tool used mostly by propagandists to stir emotions and further an oppositional agenda – an ideology. Loyalty is…
India Needs a ‘Romero’ Today!
This year, 24 March, is pregnant with meaning! For a large percentage of Indians, it is ‘Holika Dahan’, the start of the great festival of Holi! For most Christians, it…
Alcohol and other substance abuse can be reduced without imposing any bans
In the course of visits to many remote villages, I repeatedly learnt that women in particular are deeply troubled by the increase in alcohol consumption. A very direct impact they…
Silent Gandhian Rabi Mausa: A Personal Tribute
Rabi Mausa, popularly known as Rabi Narayan Jena, who departed on March 17, 2024, at the age of 79, was a truly unique Gandhian figure. Despite the pervasive influence of…
Ecology And Milk
Introduction Our food habits vary from place to place. What is normal in one region can be unusual or even illegal in another place. Many people think that milk is…
Politics of Confusion and Capitalism
The world is witnessing growing confusion in politics, economy, culture, society, and life on a scale never seen before. There is confusion in different aspects of life perpetuated by the…
Why Artificial Intelligence Must Be Stopped Now
The promise of AI is eclipsed by its perils, which include our own annihilation. Those advocating for artificial intelligence tout the huge benefits of using this technology. For instance, an…
Dilemma of a Rationalist Muslim Man!
Many readers may find the title to be paradoxical as it contains the terms ‘Rationalist’ and ‘Muslim’ together. However, one needs to understand that using these paradoxical terms is not…
The great stink of capitalism
Had a lovely sensory experience outside Trident five star hotel at Bandra Kurla complex last evening. Visual treat as well .The front portion of the hotel has white Champak…
Khalid Hussain, A wandering Yogi
The acclaimed script writer , popular poet and nice person of Pakistan Television Industry Khalil ur Rehman Qamar possesses the intellectual awareness and creative individuality.He is known for his…
Loneliness and Capitalism
The epidemic of loneliness is spreading rapidly in our hyper-connected world of social media. Studies by the World Health Organization suggest that "20-34% of older people in China, India, the…
Former Navy Chief Admiral L. Ramdas Passes Away
Admiral L. Ramdas (90) passed away this morning at the Military Hospital in Secunderabad. He stood up for peace, justice and communal harmony. He was a champion of India-Pakistan peace.…
Baba Adhav’s Work Has Brought Hope to Millions of Workers
93 year old Baba Adhav has led a life of many struggles and efforts made in very difficult conditions, spread over seven decades, which brought hope to millions of workers.…
Sick, and Sick of It All
Sometimes it takes our bodies to return us to our souls. And our little pains to remind us of the indescribable pain of the savage killing and dismemberment of innocent…
The Great Archaeological Discovery of Our Time
An interview with renowned archaeologist Gary M. Feinman on the emergence of a global data set from our past that humanity can use to prosper—and avoid the biggest mistakes. The…
Philanthropy of Ordinary People
Philanthropy is generally associated with rich people, but some of the best work for the poor can be done with the help of small donations given by ordinary people. One…
Why this dalit leader’s achievements are significant for panchayat reform
Although several efforts have been made for reforming panchayats, including reservations for weaker sections, nevertheless several problems persist. It continues to be rare for dalits and other weaker sections to…
Discarding Old Theories on the Path to Finding the First Humans Outside Africa
Spectacular archeological finds reveal the true past of the first Europeans. When I began studying human prehistory in the mid-1990s, little did I know that I would witness a paradigm…
Party Vs Movement, and the Way of Consensus
I strongly believe that the oppressed people particularly the working class have nothing without an organisation. I also subscribe to the Leninist principles of organisation. The foremost being that a…
The Adaptive Value of Teenagers: How Peer Learning Contributes to Primate Success
Anthropological science is our species’ attempt to address our most fundamental questions about who we are and how we got here. It asks for evidence of the evolutionary path we…
A Dialogue On New Socialism
An Interview with the Editor of ‘The New Socialist Reader’ Reader: What are the aims of your journal? Editor: As the bold lines at the bottom of every page in…
Protect donkeys everywhere, but particularly those in Africa
Animal-lovers everywhere and campaigners against cruelty to animals have welcomed the recent ban on slaughter of donkeys for their skins imposed by the leaders of Africa gathered at the African…
Successful labor organizing takes time; take no shortcuts and study your adversary carefully: Interview with Michael D. Yates on Labor – Organization, Negotiation, and Education
by Farooque Chowdhury and Michael D. Yates The following is the concluding part of Michael D. Yates’s four-part interview with Farooque Chowdhury: Farooque Chowdhury: In your organizing work, in your union support work, as a…
Navigating the Digital Age: Balancing Distraction and Innovation in Classrooms
Universities have rapidly adopted technology in recent years, leading to a significant movement towards digitalization in the academic environment. Students are increasingly depending on a variety of gadgets and applications…
How social media is enabling fascist propaganda
YouTube has latched on to TikTok’s winning formula of feeding users’ brains the cheap sugar that it needs to continue swiping up for newer videos, maximizing their time on screen…
Growing Clues That India’s Central Narmada Valley Was a Key Hub in the Human Story
In December 1982, a geologist digging in India’s Central Narmada Valley found something he did not expect. Arun Sonakia, who at the time worked for the Geological Survey of India,…
6 Qualities Which the 21st Century Needs the Most in Humanity
The 21st century is the most important century in human history as humanity is called upon to respond adequately to the unprecedented challenge of checking human made very serious threats…
De -Acadamize Knowledge, De-institutionalize Learning And de-intellectualizing experience!
Let me share with you why the project to de-school, de-colonize or even develop a knowledge system to counter Western hegemony is a failed initiative from the start itself. The…
Interview with Michael D Yates on Labor — Organization, Negotiation, and Education: Begin by Asking Questions about One’s Own Life Circumstances (Part 3)
by Farooque Chowdhury and Michael D. Yates The following is the third of four parts of Michael D. Yates’s interview with Farooque Chowdhury: Farooque Chowdhury: What advice in terms of studying can you give to…
The Evolution of the Human Pair Bond
Our species stands out from the animal kingdom in many ways. Some of them are obvious: we are big-brained primates who use tools and language, a social species with symbols,…
Advances in Archaeology Allow Us to Understand Political Evolution and Social Change in Deep Time
by Gary M. Feinman and David M. Carballo Western society is largely in the grips of an entrenched mythology that premodern non-Western states and empires were organized despotically, markedly different…
Peace Movement’s Two Roles—Reducing Distress in a Big Way and Saving the Planet
Violence causes massive distress in our daily life, as seen in children being beaten and abused, women suffering physical, sexual and emotional assault, school and workplace aggression, bullying, fighting, youth…
Why Are Definitions Problematic? Ask Garrido #2
Hey y’all. This post is part of my series called ‘Ask Garrido’, where subscribers can shoot me questions on philosophy, Marxist theory, and geopolitics to answer through Substack. You can…
Propaganda against workers and unions is widespread, and the entire climate is anti-labor: Michael D. Yates
by Farooque Chowdhury and Michael D. Yates Interview of Michael D. Yates, on labor – organization negotiation education The following is the second of four parts of Michael D. Yates’s interview with Farooque…
Laziness as a Form of Resistance
The productivist ideology lies at the core of the profit-making pyramid of capitalism. It perpetuates a relentless cycle characterized by busy schedules, workplace tension, an imbalance in work-life equilibrium, and…
E. P. Thompson at 100
On the 3rd of February 2024, the late E. P. Thompson who was the seminal intellectual and historian on social struggle would have turned 100 years old. For decades, his insightful and illuminating…
The Butterfly Effect and Transcendent Unity of all Phenomena
Building bonds of positive relationships among different sections of society is crucial for progress. While management gurus have formulated many approaches and methodologies for healthy relationships at workplace and for…
First encounters with capital, in coal mining town, on campus: Interview of Michael D Yates, on labor – organization, negotiation education
by Farooque Chowdhury and Michael D. Yates The emancipation of labor is one of the foremost questions in all exploitative societies and societies in transition. Labor itself demands looking at…
We Can Interpret How Cooperative or Autocratic Mesoamerican Societies Were From Their Systems of Communication
by Gary M. Feinman and David M. Carballo The modes of communication that a society uses can tell us a lot about its political structure. A research study we published in…
How Three New Museums Are Teaching the World About a Paradigm Shift in Our Understanding of Human Origins
New findings and significant advances in research have scientists rethinking our origins, and museums around the world are working to catch the public up. Breakthrough anthropological and scientific findings have…
‘Too Soon to Tell’: On Revolutionary Temporality
It is said that Zhou Enlai once, when asked about the impact of the French Revolution, replied that it was still ‘too soon to tell’. We tend to assume…
It’s Not Personal… Just Business!
Just watched a 2020 documentary entitled ' Dirty Money' that covered a slew of scams perpetrated on American consumers. The segment on Scott Tucker really got my goat. Here's a…
Sperm Whales Have Culture Too: Strong Evidence That Clans, Culture, and Dialects Are Not Unique to Humans
The sperm whale is extreme. They have the largest brains and the largest noses on Earth. The sperm whale’s nose is a huge and sophisticated sonar device that produces the…
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