afellowkid

These quotes are all from Davison Budhoo's 1988 public resignation letter from the IMF, "Enough is Enough", which is around 100 pages long. He goes into detail on the institutional fraud in the IMF taking examples from around that time. It's available on archive.org here and ProleWiki's library here.

Unfortunately, I'm not very well-read on the topic (yet) so I don't have much else I can point you to. I do know this site focuses on this topic: Committee for the Abolition of Illegitimate Debt. They have some articles like this: "The International Monetary Fund (IMF): an ABC.". And I haven't read these books yet, but they're on my list to check out: "50 years is enough : the case against the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund" and The World Bank : a critical primer.

Former IMF economist Davison Budhoo:

Once we set ourselves up as part of the State Machinery that would deny benefaction to certain groups while promoting the welfare of others - and we necessarily do this when we force the government to bite our bullet - we become, by definition, a domestic political force in the job of redistributing national wealth among social groups in a particular way that can enhance the effectiveness of our "program". We may say that we are merely out to ensure that adequate adjustment occurs in the economy - ie, that "economic and financial balance" is restored - but that's only a fancy way of saying that we are taking a direct hand in reallocating the national cake to suit our own purpose and that we are punishing certain groups and rewarding others so as to further our own cause.

You know, not so long ago, the colonial power, in circumstances where the colony concerned was perceived to be errant, would just go ahead and suspend the constitution and take over power directly and brazenly and unceremoniously. We don't operate that way today; internationally that is unacceptable, and logistically it is impossible, but we get the same results through other means. And unlike the colonial power of yesteryear, we can fine-tune our intervention so that we take away today only those rights and constitutional guarantees that it is necessary to take away in order to achieve our immediate ends (which of course may change from time to time). In other words, we undermine constitutional rights gradually, and in a non-visible sort of way. And before we know it (if our relationship with the country concerned is intensive and sustained enough, and if we perceive that Great Things are at stake for us) we render the government naked and defenseless and on its knees before us, and we go about our business of doing absolutely as we please. And nobody, in retrospect, would seem to know how on earth we could have managed to subjugate both government and peoples thus, and how such a state of affairs could ever have been made to exist in the first instance.

More under spoiler tags:

Remember there is c/documentaries! You might find something good there too.

Taken for a Ride - The U.S. History of the Assault on Public Transport in the Last Century - This documentary takes a look at the old public transport system of Los Angeles and follows the step-by-step process by which it was dismantled by General Motors. IMO it's a good one for seeing a concrete example of the actual steps that privatization can take -- GM bought the streetcars after a campaign calling them inefficient/run down etc., then after buying them, let them degrade in quality and service, then replaced them with a supposedly superior bus system. Then they allowed the buses to give poor service, ultimately promoting individual cars over buses and highway expansions as the solution to traffic congestion.

Former CIA Agent John Stockwell Talks about How the CIA Worked in Vietnam and Elsewhere - This interview clip is only 15 minutes long but gives a very concise and specific example of how the CIA manipulates the media by having contacts with reporters and passing them a mixture of true and false stories, basically coming up with bullshit and fake photos that will go viral and spread CIA talking points while the "source" of the information becomes more and more obscured as the story is passed around different news agencies, as well as how the CIA have funded the production of countless books, whose authors were allowed to write whatever they wished as long as they included this or that specific point, and that these authors have gone on to have solid and respected careers in academia.

Cybersocialism: Project Cybersyn & The CIA Coup in Chile - From what I recall it gives a good overview of what happened in Chile. In my opinion, due to Chile's case being so well-documented, it's a case which people without a lot of background knowledge can start to learn about the process of CIA coups from and how it relates to protecting the interests of the bourgeoisie. A viewer of this documentary can then start applying that knowledge to many other cases where a similar pattern comes up (country tries to nationalize industries/resources which are in foreign imperialist hands => economic loan denial/asset freezes/sanctions are implemented by the imperialists & opposition groups and terrorists in the country are funded & coups are orchestrated by the imperialist power.)

The Human Face of Russia - Simply, lots of footage of everyday life in 1980s USSR. As I recall, it was a foreign group going there to film and fact-check about the living standards and learn about various political and social activities of the people. IIRC it was a pretty calm and positive documentary, a good one if you need some time away from more heavy and upsetting topics.

The Weight of Chains - About the breakup of Yugoslavia.

The U.S. School That Trains Dictators & Death Squads - About the School of the Americas.

Gaza Fights For Freedom - About the Great March of Return.

The Lobby - Four-part undercover investigation into Israel's covert influence campaign in the United States.

My Life and Faith by Ri In Mo.

It's the memoirs of a guy who grew up in rural poverty in Korea under Japanese colonization, and from a young age was involved in resistance movements, starting communist/anti-imperialist reading groups as a child, etc., and wanted and tried to join the guerrillas. After Korea's liberation from Japan, he lived in DPRK's early days until 1950 when the war escalated and he went to south Korea as a war correspondant. During his activities following this, he was captured and spent almost 40 years imprisoned in south Korea, being tortured along with other political prisoners in an attempt to get them to renounce communism. Finally in 1988, he was released, and then eventually repatriated to north Korea, where he wrote this memoir of his experiences.

I am only part way through this one, but so far I have found it a very interesting first person account of the liberation struggle against Japan and the early days of DPRK's development in the post-liberation period prior to 1950, and the mentality of someone who grew up trying to find a way to end colonization by Japan since his childhood, and saw the resistance develop and participated in it, and saw the various reforms/developments being made under DPRK. I recommend it for anyone curious about Korean history or in reading the first person experiences of someone fighting colonial rule (at least from what I have read in it so far).

Also, coincidentally I just recently added a book by Gerald Horne to my reading list, but I have a few other things to get through first. He also has been interviewed several times on this channel though I have only seen one of the interviews and don't know much about the channel.

Man I hate this dude

The history of the Middle East since 1948 shows Israel constantly striving for peace, only to be rebuffed time and again by the Arabs.

-- Antony J. Blinken, "Lebanon and the Facts", 1982

Israel is not, has never been, nor will ever be the irreproachable, perfectly moral state some of its supporters would like to see. Israelis are, after all, only human. Still, one pedestal the Jewish state can stand on--and stand on alone in the Middle East--is that of a democracy. Yes, there are tragic excesses in the occupied territories. True, the invasion of Lebanon claimed many innocent lives. The fact remains, though, that Israelis question themselves and their government openly and honestly. Eventually, as in other democracies, those responsible for wrongdoing are held accountable.

-- Antony J. Blinken, "Israel's Saving Grace", 1982

The summer of 1982 may be remembered in history as the time Israel passed from adolescence to adulthood. The illusions of a child are left behind. But the Jewish state remains special, an oasis in a desert. Its citizens have built a working democracy from scratch in a region that has no others. Israelis must treasure that democracy, protect it with all their will. For if they don't, the growing pains that are Lebanon, Shatila and Sabra, the repression of Arabs and the feud between Ashkenazim and Sephardim could turn into a plague.

-- Antony J. Blinken, "The Danger Within", 1983

I recommend Geopolitical Economy Report.

Edit: Just remembered there is also People's Dispatch, whose articles I sometimes read, but they also have a YouTube channel. I haven't really watched their videos though. Maybe someone else can comment further about it.

/c/socialistmusic: "A subreddit dedicated to sharing and appreciating music that is socialistic either in nature or in spirit."

/c/tankietunes: "The music must apply to one or more of these categories: Communist Propaganda Music ... Music from Socialist countries ... from an anti-capitalist group supported by MLs ... anti-capitalist songs and artists (real ones not grifters like Tupac, make sure of that), or music that is absent of politics entirely(shaky one here, don’t toe the line) like classical or instrumentals, and remixes of the previously listed items ... You must put the Name of the song, and artist on the title (in that order)."

Personally, I like the simple rules of socialistmusic, which seems like if it has a socialist vibe ("in spirit") you can post it. While it's totally fine with me that tankietunes has such specific rules, it led me to personally not post there as much.

I do like having a catch-all socialist music sub for things like songs from labor union and civil rights movements, because sometimes those can be enjoyable or historically interesting, likewise for mainstream songs and anarchist songs and others which just strike the poster as socialist "in spirit" even if it wouldn't qualify for tankietunes' rules.

Edit: Just to clarify, I'm not making arguments for or against anything specific, just trying to lay out my initial thoughts.

Not sure of my favorite but check this out

Lyrebird mimics construction sounds

Yes, that link you posted says some of the info. Additionally, the "shot in Evers' back" refers to the killing of civil rights activist Medgar Evers by a Klansman in 1963. The Klansman went to trial twice but was not convicted, and walked free. (Though was finally convicted in a 1994 retrial.)

And as your link says, "Mr. Charlie" is an old term for referring to condescending/abusive/exploitative white people.

I just found out about this guy today, and after a cursory look into his work, I thought of your post because it seems he is potentially covering this kind of thing, Prof. Oliver Boyd-Barrett. This page lists the courses he teaches as "The Political Economy of Mass Communication", "The Political Economy of Hollywood and the Press", and "Media Representation and Propaganda in Times of War and Terror". And when I looked him up he has books titled (for example) "Media Imperialism", "Approaches to Media", "Conflict Propaganda in Syria: Narrative Battles", "Western Mainstream Media and the Ukraine Crisis: A Study in Conflict Propaganda".

Considering that I only just now found out about him, I can't exactly vouch for his work, but he wrote this 2021 article about Ukraine which is how I found him.

Ultimately it means meet/talk with other people and engage in planning and work to accomplish something together, whether that thing is big or small.

Easiest thing to do is look around for people who are already organized, e.g., a party or other org focused on a particular issue. IMO if someone has no experience with organizing whatsoever, then they can benefit from joining almost anything, even something run by liberals, anarchists, etc., just simply to see what kind of dynamics are at play when people are trying to work together to accomplish something. A lot of orgs and such are not easy to find online. It's better to just go to protests and demonstrations or to community projects and start meeting people and learning about what they are doing by word of mouth. People who are involved in organizing are typically going to be open to teaching/involving new people. A demonstration is the kind of place where people are purposely trying to educate and involve the public. Just don't come across as a cop and be wary that some people trying to involve you in things might be cops themselves lol. Approach groups with a critical eye, join a small-scale/low-risk org whose goals you support to learn about the practical dynamics of how organizing works and to build up a network of acquaintances and friends, and keep learning from there. Trying to organize something from scratch with no experience is possible but if you don't have a clear idea of what you're doing nor have a group of other people who are keen and intrinsically motivated to work on the goal, it's going to be pretty difficult.

Here's a documentary about it that leaves out most of the blood and gore that you could easily find if you looked: Donbass (2016). You will see a bit of people being burned to death in this documentary and some other injuries but not to the extent you could find in other videos of the time.

Here's a scene of the burning of the trade union building in 2014. Russian speakers were protesting regarding the repeal of a law which protected Russian as a minority language (or as the Ukrainian former soldier in the video states, they were "contesting a ban on the Russian language in Ukraine.") The protestors hid in the trade union building when Ukrainian right wing nationalists showed up. Eventually, the Ukrainian nationalists set fire to the building and many of the protesters burned to death, with those who jumped out of the windows getting beaten to death by the Ukrainian nationalists. (See also: "Burnt Alive in Odessa").

If you can stomach seeing bodies blown up in the streets, limbs removed, dead babies, and footage of people dying, there are other documentaries around which show it. It's not hard to find footage like this from 2014 onwards. E.g., Result of a 2014 shelling by Ukrainian military (CW: Numerous dead bodies); More aftermath of a shelling (CW: Extremely graphic, numerous mutilated bodies, and footage of a person dying).

You can make up your own mind about the conflict's particulars as you learn about it, but it's a mistake to ignore events happening before 2022 or treat them as insignificant.