Two Reviews of Relevant Books
by Francis Panzarella, New Haven activist
In our current times, when MAGA zealots and the Trump authoritarian regime are trying to whitewash and sanitize history, it is more important than ever to defend the rights of all of us to examine the past and learn from it to help prevent making the errors of the past.
That said, we must also understand that all histories are only snapshots of the past, often written by the victors of wars and dominating cultures, and always in need of further research.
For activists looking for interesting reading in this spirit, I have recently read two books on different topics that may add some insights into past events.
One is a book that catalogues a whole group of individuals often ignored in more official histories, namely, anti-Nazi Germans and others who, because they were often young people, socialists, communists, and anarchists, were rarely acknowledged for their sacrifices to fight fascism.
Written by Merilyn Moos and Steve Cushion, “Anti-Nazi Germans” (published by Community Languages, 2020) takes documents even from the Nazi regime and others that reveal the brave efforts of people within Nazi Germany and as part of the French Resistance during World War II. Bourgeois historians have often tried to downplay the role of resistance fighters all over the world in order to promote the myth that it was mainly Western powers who defeated Nazism. Download for free at bit.ly/42KEHbd.
Another book more contemporary is “Technofeudalism: What Killed Capitalism” by Yanis Varoufakis (first published by The Bodley Head, 2023). This book sketches a view of changes in capitalism, particularly since the 2007-8 collapse of the world economy and the rise of IT giants. While I have many more questions than answers from this book, it does point to shifts in economic power from companies that control capital funneled through the internet.
Varoufakis was formerly Finance Minister of Greece. His book suggests a new multi-billionaire class of IT aristocrats is re-shaping the way capital is controlled and accumulated.
The book gives a helpful summary of the insane investing causing the stock market crash of 2007-2008 and charts the rise of influence of the tech giants. It underestimates traditional capitalism’s power over markets through the barrel of a gun.