“Something Deeply Sick In Our Society”: On Mass Shootings in the US

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We catch up once again with anti-capitalist theorist and author of Decolonizing Dialectics, George Ciccariello-Maher of Drexel University, to speak on the phenomena of mass shootings in the United States, among other topics. Several weeks ago Maher argued in tweets that the ongoing murder sprees were linked to feelings of authority, entitlement, and power being stripped away from white men, who in turn are largely carrying out continued mass shootings. Quoting Fanon, Maher argues, “A society that drives it’s members to desperate solutions, is a society to be replaced.” Moreover, we talk about the actual forces behind mass shootings, as well as critique both the usual reasons given for their proliferation such as the “culture war” or “guns.”

We then discuss the right-wing fallout from Maher’s online statements, as well as engines of outrage which unite Alt-Right trolls with more mainstream media such as Fox News. In Maher’s case, false claims were made that he was celebrating the shootings, or believed that those who were slaughtered somehow “deserved it.” In the aftermath of these smears, Maher was placed on leave from teaching at his campus in Philadelphia, however due to an outpouring of support, he has since been allowed to teach online classes but remains barred from physically entering campus.

We also touch on both Milo’s “Free Speech Week” and Richard Spencer’s recent Gainesville event to what is happening with Maher, the poverty of Centrist publications like The Intercept, and talk about the possibilities for antifascist campus organizing. We close out by discussing the current political landscape in regards to both Bannon’s latest push to merge grassroots evangelicals with the far-Right, and the continuing breakdown of Trump’s legitimacy.

More Info: George Ciccariello-Maher on Twitter

Music: Anti-Flag