Millennials Are Killing Capitalism

In this conversation we speak with a labor organizer and people's historian who covers Latin American movements with connections to Ecuador, Colombia, and Cuba. Folks may know her by the twitter handle @SovietwithSazon. In this conversation she discusses recent struggles and developments in Ecuador. In particular a recent 38 day general strike, and the popular rejection of a recent referendum including measures which would have allowed the US to build military bases in Ecuador and cut public funding for political parties. Our guest contextualizes the current US-backed narco-military regime lead by Daniel Noboa. And she talks about the broader revenge campaign against former Pink Tide governments like Ecuador and Bolivia, now led by right wing forces. She discusses how the tactics we're seeing across Latin America against left-leaning governments, and the disappearances and assassinations of organizers, mark a return of the CIA's Operation Condor tactics. And she discusses how the capitalist class colludes with cartels to create crises that manufacture consent for the state of war decree that Ecuadorians are currently under. We'll include links to follow our guest on twitter, where she will be increasing her reporting on developments in Latin America, and to other episodes where we discuss recent developments with regard to Venezuela, Ecuador, Colombia, and on the topic of general strikes, the general strike Italian workers led a couple months ago. Link to Black Alliance for Peace's Week of Action. As we approach the year end. We're offering up a 40% discount on yearly memberships, or 40% off the first month on monthly memberships for MAKC if you join at the $5 a month level or higher. Buy one for a friend, comrade, or relative. Support our work, help us continue to do more. Use code EOY25. Reminder, if you purchase a yearly subscription for as little as $10.80 per year, you gain access to study groups for all of 2026, our first study group next year won't start until February, but we will have at least 3 study groups you can take advantage of if you are a member. Join now at patreon.com/millennialsarekillingcapitalism

Dalton Lackey and Teagan Murphy, Sociology PhD candidates from the University of Maryland, delve into the intersection of carcerality and crisis, critiquing how prisons exploited COVID-19. They challenge the notion of institutional failure, arguing instead for a narrative of calculated cruelty that exacerbates existing inequalities. They explore how crises evolved prison tactics, revealing deep-rooted issues like overcrowding and isolation. Through inmates' narratives, they highlight the psychological impact of punitive regimes, reshaping our understanding of life within these death-worlds.

In this engaging discussion, labor lawyer and activist Francisco A. Santiago Cintrón and organizer Sebastián Castrodad Reverón dive into the rich history of the Puerto Rican independence movement. They explore the colonial violence that shaped national identity, the influence of Latin American revolutions, and pivotal uprisings like El Grito de Lares. The conversation illuminates class variations in nationalism and the impact of U.S. intervention, touching on labor unrest and the rise of radical leaders like Pedro Albizu Campos, while reflecting on the ongoing fight for independence.

Reverend Darren, a Wisconsin-based minister and biblical scholar, delves into the implications of the Amalek narrative from the Old Testament as it relates to modern genocidal rhetoric, particularly surrounding the Gaza conflict. He compellingly discusses the intersection of faith and politics, critiquing the silence of liberal churches and exploring how narratives of Amalek are weaponized in today’s geopolitical landscape. Darren also addresses U.S. imperialism, the exploitation of biblical stories in political discourse, and the urgent need for solidarity with oppressed communities.

Abdaljawad Omar and Lara Sheehi joined us on the 2nd anniversary of the beginning of Tufan Al-Aqsa! From the youtube livestream (which I encourage people to watch): We will remember the morning of October 7th 2023. In the two years since then there has been a genocidal counterinsurgency war waged against the whole Palestinian population, most acutely through the apocalyptic decimation of the Gaza Strip. There has also been constant resistance in many forms. How do we consider the present moment, the possibilities (once again) of "ceasefire," the attempts to end the "Palestinian Question," the actuality of resistance and the possibilities for a resistance that will produce a liberated Palestine, and more broadly a world that we all want to inhabit. Remind yourself of some of the images from Tufan Al-Aqsa. Abdaljawad Omar is a Palestinian scholar, educator, and theorist whose work focuses on the politics of resistance, decolonization, and the Palestinian struggle. He has written extensively in Arabic. In English, in addition to being a frequent contributor to Millennials Are Killing Capitalism, he has contributed to Electronic Intifada, Ebb Magazine, Material, Mondoweiss, Communis, Monthly Review, and Rusted Radishes among other outlets. Lara Sheehi is a Research Fllow at the University of South Africa. She was the founding faculty director of the Psychoanalysis and the Arab World Lab. Lara's work takes up decolonial and anti-oppressive approaches to psychoanalysis, with a focus on liberation struggles in the Global South. She is co-author with Stephen Sheehi of Psychoanalysis Under Occupation: Practicing Resistance in Palestine (Routledge, 2022) which won the Middle East Monitor's 2022 Palestine Book Award for Best Academic Book. Lara is the author of the forthcoming book, From the Clinic to the Street: Psychoanalysis for Revolutionary Futures (Pluto Press, 2026) Support Palestinians through the Sameer Project or Lifeline4Gaza"

In this engaging discussion, Joe Emersberger, a journalist and co-author of "Extraordinary Threat," dives into the U.S. military's recent escalation in Venezuela. He connects the normalization of aerial assassinations to the post-9/11 era and explores how drug war rhetoric has merged with counterterrorism strategies. Joe reveals the troubling history of U.S. interventions, from the 2002 coup to the recent bombing of boats. He also shares insights on leftist movements in Ecuador, the complexities of political betrayal, and the urgent need for reforms to support Global South development.

In this episode, we speak with Iker Suárez, who authored a searing piece in the Monthly Review titled "The Migrant Genocide: Toward a Third World Analysis of European Class Struggle." In it, he challenges the dominant humanitarian framing of migrant deaths at sea, arguing that it isn't a moral crisis but a structural necessity of late imperialism. What unfolds on Europe's shores, he contends, is but a violent expression of global capital's unraveling. Further, diving into the works of scholars like Ali Kadri and Samir Amin, we explore how unresolved agrarian contradictions in the Global South, the accumulation of waste, and the labor-capital contradiction are converging in the form of the systemic genocide of migrants. We unpack why immigration is not a peripheral issue, but the return of capital's deepest contradiction to the imperial core—and how this rupture shapes Europe's ideological terrain, from the failures of social democracy to the rise of fascism. Iker Suarez is an author and doctoral researcher. He studies neocolonialism in Europe and organizes in socialist, anti-racist and anti-imperialist movements in Madrid and New York. His work revolves around European borders, class struggle, and immigration politics from a political economy perspective grounded in the Third World. He co-authored a book on Spain's southern border enclave in northern Morocco (Melilla), focusing on the neocolonial dynamics that undergird European social democracies. His current research focuses on linking European state racism with a holistic understanding of imperialism to better think through strategy. You can follow his work at @ikersuarz. If you like what we do and want to support our ability to have more conversations like this. Please consider becoming a Patron. You can do so for as little as a 1 Dollar a month. Related: "War Is the Basis of Accumulation" - Ali Kadri on Genocide, Waste, Imperialism, and the Commodification of Death Study Group Ali Kadri's Accumulation of Waste (only about 5 spots left)

Tara Alami, a Palestinian writer and researcher, shares her insights on Jordan's role in the U.S.-led imperial system. She delves into her family's history amidst the Palestinian exodus and explores the challenges faced by marginalized communities in Jordan. The conversation shifts to the implications of Jordan's monarchy, its portrayal of Palestinian identity, and the impact of foreign influences. Alami critiques the custodianship of al-Aqsa and highlights the historical interplay of U.S. imperialism with Jordanian politics and society.

Corinna Mullin, an anti-imperialist academic and member of the Anti-Imperialist Scholars Collective, dives deep into the intersection of Zionism, U.S. imperialism, and global fascism. She explores the complexities of anti-Zionism versus anti-Semitism and emphasizes the significance of historical parallels in understanding contemporary social repression. Mullin discusses the role of education and activism at CUNY in advocating for Palestinian liberation, while critiquing media biases in coverage of global conflicts. Her insights draw connections between colonialism, capitalism, and the fight for justice.

This is the lightly edited audio from a recent livestream episode we hosted with Nora Barrows-Friedman. Nora Barrows-Friedman is a staff writer and associate editor at The Electronic Intifada, and is the author of In Our Power: US Students Organize for Justice in Palestine (Just World Books, 2014). She hosts the Electronic Intifada (EI) Livestreams that we all watch on Thursdays at noon eastern time. In this discussion, we talk about some of Nora's background as a journalist, her work covering student organizing around Palestine, and her recent piece, "Israel abducted starving children at Gaza "aid" sites, then tortured them." Nora also shares some of EI's journalistic methodology covering a war that is so highly propagandized. We also get into some of the differences between "Israeli" media and US corporate media in terms of how they cover the acts of the Israeli military and government and the genocide and war crimes that have taken place in Palestine. And we talk about how merely comparing reporting from the two contexts tears their atrocity propaganda narratives to shreds. As many public officials, media personalities, and governments, who have facilitated and supported the genocide in Gaza shift their tone in recent days, we talk about what we think about this phenomenon. And we discuss concepts of accountability and justice as they relate to this horrific phase in human history. If you appreciate the work that we do, until August 29th we are offering 30% off the first month of a monthly subscription or 30% off the first year if you sign up for a yearly subscription at patreon.com/millennialsarekillingcapitalism. This discount is available for all tiers starting with $5 a month, use discount code: 06E4A. We hear from families in Gaza that prices have gone down a bit as some food has reached the markets in the last couple of days. There is a new tool called Lifeline4Gaza.com that some mutual aid organizers have put together that I wanted to share with folks as well. It allows people to find peer-to-peer authenticated campaigns from Gaza that have not received necessary support. At the top of the page will be campaigns who have received the least over the last 5 days. In a time where many families are in desperate need and where there is food available or purchase, a few dollars - and you sharing these campaigns - can make a critical difference for families in need.