https://znetwork.org/author/garyolson/ Independent Left News, Analysis, Vision and Strategy Tue, 17 Mar 2026 13:22:18 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://znetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/cropped-Z_logo_512-32x32.png https://znetwork.org/author/garyolson/ 32 32 https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/the-u-s-has-lost-the-war-whats-next/ https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/the-u-s-has-lost-the-war-whats-next/#respond Tue, 17 Mar 2026 17:00:00 +0000 https://znetwork.org/?post_type=znetarticle&p=1295876 Any objective observer knows that the U.S. has lost the war in Iran, a war fought for Israel. It’s obvious that the U.S. had no overall plan; now it only reacts to Iranian moves and is reduced to endless, ineffective bombing and murdering school children. In one sense, we’re seeing what would have occurred if [...]]]> https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/the-u-s-has-lost-the-war-whats-next/feed/ 0 https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/tax-the-rich-rally-in-albany-where-was-mayor-mamdani/ https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/tax-the-rich-rally-in-albany-where-was-mayor-mamdani/#respond Wed, 25 Feb 2026 17:42:46 +0000 https://znetwork.org/?post_type=znetarticle&p=1295156 Democratic Socialist Zohran Mamdani’s election as mayor of the “capital of capitalism” was a tremendous accomplishment and a blow to Zionists, Wall Street and Democratic Party higher-ups. Even The New York Times described his victory as a “surge of anti-establishment discontent.” Just a few of Mamdani’s frequent pre-election critical comments on capitalism include: Do I [...]]]> https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/tax-the-rich-rally-in-albany-where-was-mayor-mamdani/feed/ 0 https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/minneapolis-epitomizes-dangerously-empathetic-samaritans/ https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/minneapolis-epitomizes-dangerously-empathetic-samaritans/#respond Tue, 10 Feb 2026 17:00:00 +0000 https://znetwork.org/?post_type=znetarticle&p=1294577 The ongoing face-off between federal immigration agents and well-organized neighborhood resistance in Minneapolis reminded me once again of the parable of the Good Samaritan and of how Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. frequently invoked it in his sermons. According to Luke 10:24-37, Jesus told the parable of the Good Samaritan as part of a Socratic [...]]]> https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/minneapolis-epitomizes-dangerously-empathetic-samaritans/feed/ 0 https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/china-is-the-threat-of-a-good-example/ https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/china-is-the-threat-of-a-good-example/#respond Sun, 18 Jan 2026 14:00:24 +0000 https://znetwork.org/?post_type=znetarticle&p=1293617 “Chinese-style modernization presents itself as a possible alternative path to the Western capitalist model, especially important for Global South countries that are seeking to break free from the shackles of colonization and imperialism.– The Editors, Monthly Review[i] China will join hands with all countries to explore ways to reform and improved global governance, working together to [...]]]> https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/china-is-the-threat-of-a-good-example/feed/ 0 https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/the-proof-is-in-the-pudding-a-few-comments-on-socialism-with-chinese-characteristics/ https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/the-proof-is-in-the-pudding-a-few-comments-on-socialism-with-chinese-characteristics/#respond Wed, 24 Dec 2025 18:55:00 +0000 https://znetwork.org/?post_type=znetarticle&p=1292712 Anyone interested in socialism in the twenty-first century must take into account what is happening in China seriously. It’s future economic supremacy will either shape global capitalism, which socialists worldwide will have to respond to or the future of socialism will be determined by China’s planned transformation toward a socialist economy. Jan Turowski1 China has [...]]]> https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/the-proof-is-in-the-pudding-a-few-comments-on-socialism-with-chinese-characteristics/feed/ 0 https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/the-days-of-the-united-states-propping-up-the-entire-world-order-like-atlas-are-over/ https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/the-days-of-the-united-states-propping-up-the-entire-world-order-like-atlas-are-over/#respond Sun, 07 Dec 2025 15:10:00 +0000 https://znetwork.org/?post_type=znetarticle&p=1292107 On Thursday, the White House released the new National Security Strategy for the United States. Others may well give it a different read but here is my quick take: The document is ghoulish, abhorrent, repetitious and sometimes incoherent but I found its honesty refreshing. The mask is torn off sanctimonious bullshit, tall tales about spreading [...]]]> https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/the-days-of-the-united-states-propping-up-the-entire-world-order-like-atlas-are-over/feed/ 0 https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/defending-venezuela-from-u-s-imperialism/ https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/defending-venezuela-from-u-s-imperialism/#respond Thu, 16 Oct 2025 15:52:00 +0000 https://znetwork.org/?post_type=znetarticle&p=1290039 Steve Ellner, one of my go-to sources on Venezuela, cautions that although the Maduro government has unquestionable shortcomings and is not above criticism, the left’s priority today shouldn’t be purity tests. It should be about the struggle against US imperialism, as it invokes the Monroe Doctrine and evidence-free, “narco-terrorist” narratives on behalf of regime change [...]]]> https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/defending-venezuela-from-u-s-imperialism/feed/ 0 https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/cold-war-2-0-is-against-china/ https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/cold-war-2-0-is-against-china/#comments Sat, 06 Sep 2025 14:12:24 +0000 https://znetwork.org/?post_type=znetarticle&p=1288212 “Globally, all available resources are to be focused on a zero-sum increase in U.S. power and on the defeat of China as the newly arising rival.” — John Bellamy Foster, “The Trump Doctrine and the New MAGA Imperialism” On September 3, China staged a grand gathering of over 20 foreign leaders to commemorate the 80th [...]]]> https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/cold-war-2-0-is-against-china/feed/ 2 https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/what-do-we-know-about-zelensky-and-the-seven-dwarfs-visit-to-the-white-house/ https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/what-do-we-know-about-zelensky-and-the-seven-dwarfs-visit-to-the-white-house/#respond Sat, 23 Aug 2025 16:30:07 +0000 https://znetwork.org/?post_type=znetarticle&p=1287651 With the usual qualifier that I could be entirely wrong, my sense is that both the Alaska Summit and Monday’s meeting at the White House were reality checks. They revealed that Putin was finally able to convince the “collective Trump” (Gilbert Doctorow’s term), that the war in Ukraine did not begin with the Russian invasion [...]]]> https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/what-do-we-know-about-zelensky-and-the-seven-dwarfs-visit-to-the-white-house/feed/ 0 https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/will-trump-keep-his-promise-to-end-the-war-in-ukraine/ https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/will-trump-keep-his-promise-to-end-the-war-in-ukraine/#respond Tue, 08 Apr 2025 16:00:00 +0000 https://znetwork.org/?post_type=znetarticle&p=1282162 “Ironically, it was the US under President Trump which has broken with the US national security establishment’s bi-partisan strategy of incremental encirclement and escalation against Russia. That break offered Europe the opportunity to escape the trap created by its past lack of policy vision. Instead, Europe has proved plus royaliste que le roi (more royal than the [...]]]> https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/will-trump-keep-his-promise-to-end-the-war-in-ukraine/feed/ 0 https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/european-leaders-plan-massive-increase-in-defense-spending/ https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/european-leaders-plan-massive-increase-in-defense-spending/#respond Tue, 11 Mar 2025 16:00:00 +0000 https://znetwork.org/?post_type=znetarticle&p=1280850 European leaders meeting in an “Emergency War Summit” in Brussels have agreed on huge increases in arms spending. On entering the meeting, Denmark’s Prime Minister, Mette Frederiksen, declared “Spend, spend, spend on defense and deterrence.” And in response to an interviewer’s question, French Prime Minster Francois Bayrou dismissed the idea that the French public should [...]]]> https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/european-leaders-plan-massive-increase-in-defense-spending/feed/ 0 https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/ukraine-and-us-imperial-strategy/ https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/ukraine-and-us-imperial-strategy/#respond Mon, 02 Dec 2024 14:37:00 +0000 https://znetwork.org/?post_type=znetarticle&p=1276525 In mid-November, the Biden administration (given his diminished mental capacity, whoever is now in charge) authorized the Kyiv regime to launch Lockheed Martin produced Army Tactical Missile Systems or ATACMS to hit targets 190 miles inside Russia. In response, an ICBM was fired in wartime for the first time when the Oreshnik (“Hazelnut Tree”), an [...]]]> https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/ukraine-and-us-imperial-strategy/feed/ 0 https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/california-law-mandates-that-public-school-children-be-taught-about-states-genocide-of-indigenous-peoples/ https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/california-law-mandates-that-public-school-children-be-taught-about-states-genocide-of-indigenous-peoples/#respond Tue, 22 Oct 2024 16:00:00 +0000 https://znetwork.org/?post_type=znetarticle&p=1274090 From the time the Europeans arrived on American shores, the U.S. government authorized more than 1,500 wars and attacks on Indigenous people and at the conclusion of the “Indian wars” in the late 19th century, of the estimated 10 million to 15 million native peoples, fewer than 238,000 remained. In the past I’ve written about [...]]]> https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/california-law-mandates-that-public-school-children-be-taught-about-states-genocide-of-indigenous-peoples/feed/ 0 https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/whither-white-poverty/ https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/whither-white-poverty/#respond Fri, 27 Sep 2024 15:49:00 +0000 https://znetwork.org/?post_type=znetarticle&p=1272894 I joined the Poor People’s Campaign (PPC) in 2018 on the fiftieth anniversary of Dr King’s assassination. Rev. Dr. William Barber II, who Cornell West has described as “the closest thing we have to Dr. King,” envisioned the new PPC as a “re-consecration” of King’s life’s work to “change the coversation about what is possible [...]]]> https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/whither-white-poverty/feed/ 0 https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/what-did-you-learn-in-school-today-and-was-ms-brown-fired/ https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/what-did-you-learn-in-school-today-and-was-ms-brown-fired/#respond Sun, 11 Aug 2024 15:09:34 +0000 https://znetwork.org/?post_type=znetarticle&p=1270663 “Through the centuries, the Republic that eventuated in North America has maintained a maximum of chutzpah and minimum of awareness in forging a creation myth that sees slavery and dispossession not as foundational but as inimical to the nation now known as the United States. But, of course, to confront the ugly reality would induce [...]]]> https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/what-did-you-learn-in-school-today-and-was-ms-brown-fired/feed/ 0 https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/the-student-intifada-links-racism-mistreatment-of-indigenous-people-policing-global-warming-anti-colonial-struggles-around-the-world-capitalism-and-imperialism/ https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/the-student-intifada-links-racism-mistreatment-of-indigenous-people-policing-global-warming-anti-colonial-struggles-around-the-world-capitalism-and-imperialism/#respond Sat, 01 Jun 2024 16:20:38 +0000 https://znetwork.org/?post_type=znetarticle&p=1267213 Those protesters have started a fire that’s going to burn straight through the whole system.  Shahid Bolsen Palestine has become the icon of freedom for the people of the world.        Author Unknown The protest movements — which have spread around the globe —are not built around the single issue of the apartheid [...]]]> https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/the-student-intifada-links-racism-mistreatment-of-indigenous-people-policing-global-warming-anti-colonial-struggles-around-the-world-capitalism-and-imperialism/feed/ 0 https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/us-china-war-is-no-longer-unthinkable/ https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/us-china-war-is-no-longer-unthinkable/#respond Tue, 10 Jan 2023 17:00:00 +0000 https://znetwork.org/?post_type=znetarticle&p=1236614 China offers a threatening alternative model of development that is non-capitalist, non-Western, and non-colonial. As such, it undermines the West’s neocolonial domination of the Third World and its debt-trap-based forced underdevelopment of subverience and exploitation. — K.T. Noh [1] If the United States were to posit that it could eliminate the economic challenge from China [...]]]> https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/us-china-war-is-no-longer-unthinkable/feed/ 0 https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/still-waiting-for-lefty-godot/ https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/still-waiting-for-lefty-godot/#respond Sat, 21 Dec 2019 09:01:50 +0000 https://zcomm.org/?post_type=znetarticle&p=1026811 https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/still-waiting-for-lefty-godot/feed/ 0 https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/the-empire-trump-and-intra-ruling-class-conflict/ https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/the-empire-trump-and-intra-ruling-class-conflict/#respond Wed, 06 Nov 2019 09:01:00 +0000 https://zcomm.org/?post_type=znetarticle&p=1025260 https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/the-empire-trump-and-intra-ruling-class-conflict/feed/ 0 https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/whither-the-resistance-to-our-capitalist-overlords/ https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/whither-the-resistance-to-our-capitalist-overlords/#comments Sat, 24 Aug 2019 09:01:29 +0000 https://zcomm.org/?post_type=znetarticle&p=1023038 https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/whither-the-resistance-to-our-capitalist-overlords/feed/ 1 https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/musing-about-country-clubs-bosses-and-labor-power/ https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/musing-about-country-clubs-bosses-and-labor-power/#respond Fri, 21 Jun 2019 09:01:35 +0000 https://zcomm.org/?post_type=znetarticle&p=1021298 https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/musing-about-country-clubs-bosses-and-labor-power/feed/ 0 https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/why-its-important-to-understand-cultural-capital/ https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/why-its-important-to-understand-cultural-capital/#respond Fri, 07 Jun 2019 09:02:43 +0000 https://zcomm.org/?post_type=znetarticle&p=1020955 https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/why-its-important-to-understand-cultural-capital/feed/ 0 https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/meritocracy-is-a-lie/ https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/meritocracy-is-a-lie/#comments Sat, 04 May 2019 14:20:10 +0000 https://zcomm.org/?post_type=znetarticle&p=1019671 https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/meritocracy-is-a-lie/feed/ 1 https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/why-is-trump-being-portrayed-as-russias-stooge/ https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/why-is-trump-being-portrayed-as-russias-stooge/#respond Sat, 26 Jan 2019 08:59:12 +0000 https://zcomm.org/?post_type=znetarticle&p=1016993 https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/why-is-trump-being-portrayed-as-russias-stooge/feed/ 0 https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/on-the-infantile-politics-of-compulsive-trump-bashing/ https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/on-the-infantile-politics-of-compulsive-trump-bashing/#respond Fri, 11 Jan 2019 09:02:21 +0000 https://zcomm.org/?post_type=znetarticle&p=1016469 https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/on-the-infantile-politics-of-compulsive-trump-bashing/feed/ 0 https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/a-few-thoughts-on-politics-and-personal-identity/ https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/a-few-thoughts-on-politics-and-personal-identity/#respond Tue, 11 Dec 2018 09:02:49 +0000 https://zcomm.org/?post_type=znetarticle&p=1015404 https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/a-few-thoughts-on-politics-and-personal-identity/feed/ 0 https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/are-we-governed-by-secondary-psychopaths/ https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/are-we-governed-by-secondary-psychopaths/#respond Wed, 15 Aug 2018 09:01:17 +0000 https://zcomm.org/?post_type=znetarticle&p=1012442 https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/are-we-governed-by-secondary-psychopaths/feed/ 0 https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/whither-the-poor-peoples-campaign/ https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/whither-the-poor-peoples-campaign/#respond Tue, 12 Jun 2018 09:01:50 +0000 https://zcomm.org/?post_type=znetarticle&p=1010835 https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/whither-the-poor-peoples-campaign/feed/ 0 https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/a-few-thoughts-on-the-march-for-our-lives/ https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/a-few-thoughts-on-the-march-for-our-lives/#comments Fri, 30 Mar 2018 09:02:44 +0000 https://zcomm.org/?post_type=znetarticle&p=1008818 https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/a-few-thoughts-on-the-march-for-our-lives/feed/ 1 https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/an-open-letter-to-the-white-working-class/ https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/an-open-letter-to-the-white-working-class/#comments Mon, 23 Oct 2017 09:01:02 +0000 https://zcomm.org/?post_type=znetarticle&p=1003595 https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/an-open-letter-to-the-white-working-class/feed/ 4