Paperback, 165 pages
English language
Published Feb. 27, 1997
Blackshirts & Reds explores some of the big issues of our time: fascism, capitalism, communism, revolution, democracy, and ecology—terms often bandied about but seldom explored in the original and exciting way that has become Michael Parenti’s trademark.
Parenti shows how “rational fascism” renders service to capitalism, how corporate power undermines democracy, and how revolutions are a mass empowerment against the forces of exploitative privilege. He also maps out the external and internal forces that destroyed communism, and the disastrous impact of the “free-market” victory on eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union. He affirms the relevance of taboo ideologies like Marxism, demonstrating the importance of class analysis in understanding political realities and dealing with the ongoing collision between ecology and global corporatism.
Written with lucid and compelling style, this book goes beyond truncated modes of thought, inviting us to entertain iconoclastic views, and to ask why things are …
Blackshirts & Reds explores some of the big issues of our time: fascism, capitalism, communism, revolution, democracy, and ecology—terms often bandied about but seldom explored in the original and exciting way that has become Michael Parenti’s trademark.
Parenti shows how “rational fascism” renders service to capitalism, how corporate power undermines democracy, and how revolutions are a mass empowerment against the forces of exploitative privilege. He also maps out the external and internal forces that destroyed communism, and the disastrous impact of the “free-market” victory on eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union. He affirms the relevance of taboo ideologies like Marxism, demonstrating the importance of class analysis in understanding political realities and dealing with the ongoing collision between ecology and global corporatism.
Written with lucid and compelling style, this book goes beyond truncated modes of thought, inviting us to entertain iconoclastic views, and to ask why things are as they are. It is a bold and entertaining exploration of the epic struggles of yesterday and today.
"A penetrating and persuasive writer with an astonishing array of documentation to implement his attacks."—The Catholic Journalist
"Blackshirts & Reds discusses the great combat between fascism and socialism that is the defining feature of the Twentieth Century, and takes every official version to task for its substitution of moral analysis for critical analysis, for its selectivity, and for its errata. By portraying the struggle between fascism and Communism in this century as a single conflict, and not a series of discrete encounters, between the insatiable need for new capital on the one hand and the survival of a system under siege on the other, Parenti defines fascism as the weapon of capitalism, not simply an extreme form of it. Fascism is not an aberration, he points out, but a "rational" and integral component of the system."—Stan Goff, The Prism
A passionate and well-informed series of essays on fascism and communism and how this struggle continues to this day. Despite being written in the ‘90s, his points are salient and persuasive. I could hear his distinctive manner of speaking as I read it. I really recommend this book, especially if you’re just getting into left politics.
I'd heard good things about this book and have been meaning to read it for awhile. It gives a fairly good overview of Marxist views and history, but is fairly broad and lacks in-depth analysis. I did enjoy it, but I was expecting something a little more dense in it's information. I wouldn't dissuade anyone from reading it, it is an excellent overview. However, I was honestly expecting more after the acclaim I'd heard. With that said, I intend to read more from Perenti as I do enjoy his conversational tone and wit.
I'd heard good things about this book and have been meaning to read it for awhile. It gives a fairly good overview of Marxist views and history, but is fairly broad and lacks in-depth analysis. I did enjoy it, but I was expecting something a little more dense in it's information. I wouldn't dissuade anyone from reading it, it is an excellent overview. However, I was honestly expecting more after the acclaim I'd heard. With that said, I intend to read more from Perenti as I do enjoy his conversational tone and wit.
The first half was my favourite, but it's all very interesting and pretty accessible for politics
I read this book as part of the recommended starting place for Michael Parenti along with History as Mystery which I reviewed here. While I found that book to be a fascinating look at the history of history as a subject, and the ways that it is used as propaganda to support and maintain the status quo, I found myself feeling cold towards this book.
There are certainly a lot of interesting ideas the book, such as the fallacy of conflating Fascism and Communism being dependent on only surface level observations of the goals and actions of each ideology. The look at how the rise of fascism in the 20th century to safeguard capitalism and its use of violence against dissent and consolidation of power in order to expand the ability for wealth extraction by corporations and the Fascist parties, and how this process was being mirrored by the …
I read this book as part of the recommended starting place for Michael Parenti along with History as Mystery which I reviewed here. While I found that book to be a fascinating look at the history of history as a subject, and the ways that it is used as propaganda to support and maintain the status quo, I found myself feeling cold towards this book.
There are certainly a lot of interesting ideas the book, such as the fallacy of conflating Fascism and Communism being dependent on only surface level observations of the goals and actions of each ideology. The look at how the rise of fascism in the 20th century to safeguard capitalism and its use of violence against dissent and consolidation of power in order to expand the ability for wealth extraction by corporations and the Fascist parties, and how this process was being mirrored by the same forces under a different banner after the fall of the Soviet Union was fascinating, and a compelling argument against the idea that the fall of Communism was a liberating event for those in Eastern Europe.
However, a lot of the book, in particular it's defense of Communism, felt a lot less compelling. I do still think that there are some interesting points here, such as the effects of siege mentality on the Soviet Union's development or in discussing how Western leftists attempting to disprove Marx or ignore his relevancy are simply reducing his writings and observations to simply being economic rather than a social science that describes the interrelated nature of politics, culture, and economic forces under Capitalism. On the whole, however, I feel that these sections aren't as well argued, and a lot of it is uncited and relies heavily on hearsay and anecdotal evidence, which is absolutely bizarre given the amount of footnotes and citations Parenti gives in History as Mystery.
I feel that while Parenti is incredible at explaining the systems in place under capitalism, this doesn't necessarily mean that he can defend existent socialism with quite the same ability, at least in this book. I feel that the book is much too short at 160 pages and a little too surface level in it's arguments to do much more than dispel the worst of the ideas that have propagated in the West about the Soviet Union.
6 out of 10.
Clear and clairvoyant - hard to believe it was written in 1997 and yet it perfectly describes the moves of the neo-right that have happened since. The book is mistitled. Though it describes the historical blackshirts and reds, it is more far-reaching, and isn't really a history book as one might think. The book convincingly dissects fascism as authoritarianism in service to capitalism and explains how the intentional conflation of capitalism with democracy has suppressed freedoms all over the world. Very well written with compelling historical examples. A good, challenging read.
Clear and clairvoyant - hard to believe it was written in 1997 and yet it perfectly describes the moves of the neo-right that have happened since. The book is mistitled. Though it describes the historical blackshirts and reds, it is more far-reaching, and isn't really a history book as one might think. The book convincingly dissects fascism as authoritarianism in service to capitalism and explains how the intentional conflation of capitalism with democracy has suppressed freedoms all over the world. Very well written with compelling historical examples. A good, challenging read.
The book didn't really give me much in the way of new information, but I was somewhat impressed to see that these arguments were already fully fleshed out by '97. If you're a too online lefty tho, you're probably already aware of the outlines of this book
The book didn't really give me much in the way of new information, but I was somewhat impressed to see that these arguments were already fully fleshed out by '97. If you're a too online lefty tho, you're probably already aware of the outlines of this book
Parenti is able to say the things I've always thought in the most elequent way.
Parenti is able to say the things I've always thought in the most elequent way.
