Zack Frailey Escobar

October 19, 2023

What does “peace” mean in occupied Palestine?

Since the events of October 7, when Operation Al-Aqsa Flood shattered the illusion of Zionist invincibility, the Western media has unleashed a deluge of bile against anyone who speaks out in defense of Palestinian or Arab lives. This has created an environment in which it is possible for Bernie Sanders, a Jewish man and a descendant of Holocaust victims, to be boycotted as an antisemite by the leader of the German (!) Social Democratic Party for having the audacity to condemn Israel and Hamas equally for targeting civilians.

The libels against Sanders and others serve a dual function. They attempt to define the parameters of the pro-Israel position as constituting only those who support the present invasion and indiscriminate killing of Palestinians. At the same time, they label as anti-Israel (or “pro-Hamas” or “antisemitic”) any view that calls for military restraint on the part of the Zionist occupiers.

September 21, 2023

by Zack Frailey Escobar

A Darkly Comedic Portrayal of Pinochet’s Blood-Soaked Legacy

“El Conde” (Pablo Larraín) depicts former Chilean dictator Augusto Pinochet (Jaime Vadell) as a still-living 250-year old vampire. In the film, “the count” has his real origins in France, where he became the sworn enemy of all revolutions after he deserted the army of King Louis XVI to flee the revolution of 1789. In the present day, Pinochet is finally ready to die, feeling humiliated by his country’s hatred of him, but finds himself unable to do so. What ensues is a properly gruesome dark comedy for its subject matter, at its best when it leans into the lurid behavior of its bloodthirsty main character and his vain, money-grubbing family.

May 31, 2023

by Zack Frailey Escobar

(Mal)entender la derrota: una respuesta a Jacobin sobre el proceso constitucional chileno

Tras años de intensas protestas y revueltas conocidas como el “estallido social”, los chilenos votaron a favor de escribir una nueva Constitución en octubre de 2020 por un margen del 78% frente al 22%. La “Convención Constitucional” elegida como resultado de este referéndum estaba dominada por representantes de la izquierda. Parecía inevitable que la reaccionaria constitución impuesta por el ex-dictador Augusto Pinochet iba a ser sustituida por una de las constituciones más progresistas del mundo, que garantiza diversos derechos sociales

May 29, 2023

by Zack Frailey Escobar

(Mis)Understanding Defeat: a reply to Jacobin on the Chilean constitutional process

After years of intense protests and upheavals known as the estallido social (social outburst), Chileans voted to draft a new constitution in October of 2020 by a margin of 78 percent to 22 percent. The Constitutional Convention elected as a result of this referendum was dominated by left wing representatives. It seemed inevitable that the reactionary constitution imposed by former dictator Augusto Pinochet would be replaced by one of the most progressive constitutions in the world, which guaranteed a variety of social rights and recognized indigenous autonomy. Instead, the final draft was dramatically voted down in a second referendum in September of 2022. Now, a new body has been elected to replace the failed Constitutional Convention, this time dominated by the far-right Republican Party. It is essential for the global left to learn from this catastrophic turn of events, but a recent article by comrade Marcelo Casals in Jacobin and Jacobin America Latina draws some mistaken conclusions.

March 3, 2023

by Zack Frailey Escobar

Crisis in Peru: a Marxist analysis

On December 7th, Peru’s embattled head of state, the left-populist Pedro Castillo, declared a state of emergency and called for Congress to be dissolved and replaced with a newly elected constituent assembly, which would draft a new constitution. The same day, the Peruvian Congress voted to impeach Castillo. After the impeachment, Castillo was arrested on charges of sedition and treason and his vice president, Dina Boluarte, assumed office. The vast majority of Peruvians oppose the impeachment and arrest of Castillo and hundreds of thousands have gone on strike, protested, and set up blockades to resist the power grab of the Congress and Boluarte.

To date, the police and military have murdered at least 47 demonstrators. Boluarte and her new right wing allies want to hold new elections in the midst of rampant political repression under the guise of “restoring democracy”, but the protesters are demanding a new constitution will transform the state itself and deliver real democracy to Peru.

October 24, 2022

by Zack Frailey Escobar

Capital’s Card Tricks: student debt relief amid rising interest rates & inflation

The Democrats have spent the majority of the past two years kissing the feet of the party’s rightmost members, fossil fuel lackey Joe Manchin and Arizona-based narcissist Kyrsten Sinema, and trying to hide Joe Biden from TV cameras. After a total lack of response to the catastrophic overturning of Roe v. Wade, and with their poll numbers in the mud, it seemed like they were a party adrift, no longer driven even by the paper-thin motivation to win elections. In the run up to the midterms, however, the Democrats have shown that they still have a few tricks up their sleeve in the form of (some) student debt relief—that is, if the right-wing doesn’t block it through its allies in the judiciary.

September 21, 2022

by Zack Frailey Escobar

Marx Against Moloch

The fact that the real nature of capital has been completely and utterly mystified is evidenced by the currency of the phrase “human capital.” In the same way that legal titles to income or land become “capital” in the imagination of the landlord or the financial speculator, the liberal press and intellectual class imagine that the development of individual human beings can be classified as such, so that we are perpetually encouraged to see ourselves as little entrepreneurs investing in ourselves as we pay exorbitant costs for a university education and take out loans which only enrich the bankers. Today, however, this logic is being taken to a new extreme. A piece in the New Yorker about a delightful bit of innovation in financial technologies provides a glimpse into the idyllic future capitalism has in store for us: Soon, you will be able to sell yourself!

August 16, 2022

by Zack Frailey Escobar

The Long Shadow of Michael Harrington: A Review of A Failure of Vision

Doug Greene’s new biography of Michael Harrington brings crucial historical context to debates on the socialist Left today. It is essential reading for newly minted socialists and seasoned activists alike.
Even among socialists, Michael Harrington is an obscure figure, but his work has enormous relevance today, for better and for worse. Harrington rose to national prominence as “the man who discovered poverty” with his 1962 book The Other America, a moving expose on poverty in the United States. In today’s context, his most important contribution is his role as the prominent founder and ideologue of the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA). The DSA has in the last few years become the largest self-described socialist organization in the U.S., since the heyday of the Socialist Party in the early 20th century.

June 30, 2022

by Zack Frailey Escobar

Victory for Colombia’s Left, but the Fight is Just Beginning

In a historic outcome, Gustavo Petro, a self-declared socialist and former guerrilla, has been elected president of Colombia. After decades of bloody repression against the left, Petro is considered to be Colombia’s “first leftist president.” While the mainstream press is rushing to stoke fears of Petro as a threat to democracy in Colombia, some on the Left are eager to hail the victory as a model for an electoral path to power for “left populism” and a vindication of the politics of “pink tide” social democracy.

March 29, 2022

by Zack Frailey Escobar

Reactionary Theater of the Absurd

Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson is in the midst of confirmation hearings to become the next Supreme Court justice. If confirmed, she would be the first black woman on the Supreme Court. The liberal press is already hailing her nomination as a triumph, while Republicans in the Senate are frothing at the mouth at the chance to publicly attack her. The whole charade is a farcical exercise, which only serves the interests of both capitalist parties.
Out of the judges linked with the nomination, Ketanji Brown Jackson is thought to be one of the most progressive. Her politics, in addition to being a black woman, makes her a perfect target for Republicans eager to demonstrate their right wing bona fides to their reactionary base.