Counterpunch Alexander Cockburn and Robert Pollin remember Paul Sweezy
The Guardian Obituary by John J. Simon
Memories from the New School for Social Research posted by Claudio Puty
Monthly Review Biographical article by John Bellamy Foster
New York Times Obituary by Louis Uchitelle
A Radiant Passage A memorial poem by Cyrus Bina, to mark the passing of Iranian poet A. Shamlu, now rededicated to Paul Sweezy
POLITICAL ECONOMY OF THE OTHER LEADING BRAND "Many major Kerry donors actually give more to Bush," according to a recent article in the NY Times. The big money and Democratic National Committee (DNC) political support lining up behind Kerry are interesting. One that caught my eye was: "past Kerry donor Bernard Schwartz, chairman of Loral Space and Communications—the tenth leading donor to the Democratic Party, giving $5.3 million over the years."
Now from an old New School for Social Research point of view—for those of you acquainted with one of NYC's historic "Left institutions"—the Schwartz/Kerry connection is ominous. The New School University (as it has now been sanitized) has its own Schwartz dilemma. But this time it's not with John Kerry, the war "hero," but Bob Kerrey, the war criminal and incongruous president of the New School. Schwartz has given bundles to the economics department and the Center for Economic Policy Analysis (CEPA) and has funded a lecture series on which he and Bob Kerrey collaborate very closely.
The Schwartz funded Program on Markets, Equality and Democracy at CEPA has a mission to promote "constructive capitalism." This is the slogan of the other leading brand. The Democratic Party wants to contrast its Kerry/Kerrey/Schwartz/and-so-on vision with the escalating anarchy of the Bush administration. This is crap that ignores the debilitating secular tendencies of capitalism and the realities of rising global poverty and inequality. Sara Burke | 3.10.2004 | 4:43pm