#1340 The Border Between Socialism and Barbarism (Immigration and Empire)
Best of the Left - Leftist Perspectives on Progressive Politics, News, Culture, Economics and Democracy
Jay Tomlinson
4.5 • 3.4K Ratings
🗓️ 28 February 2020
⏱️ 82 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Air Date 2/28/2020
Today we take a look at the historical through-line that has brought us to the present state of border barbarism we're now witnessing. An empire of perpetual expansion has finally reached its limit and decided to close the door. Meanwhile, well-meaning liberals have been playing on the nationalists’ turf for far too long.
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SHOW NOTES
Ch. 1: Border Brutalism with Greg Grandin Part 1 - In The Thick - Air Date 12-24-19
Greg Grandin discusses his book about the history of American racism and policies against migrants.
Ch. 2: Daniel Denvir on All American Nativism - Jacobin Radio The Dig with Astra Taylor - Air Date 1-23-20
Daniel Denvir and Astra Taylor discuss American Nativism and the spiraling harmful policies from our history of racism.
Ch. 3: Border Brutalism with Greg Grandin Part 2 - In The Thick - Air Date 12-24-19
Greg Grandin discusses his book about the history of American racism and policies against migrants.
Ch. 4: Michael Edison Hayden on Stephen Miller - CounterSpin - Air Date 11-22-19
Michael Edison Hayden discusses the impact of Stephen Miller's 900 emails to Brietbart on immigration policy.
Ch. 5: Our Immigration Conversation Is Broken with Paul Kramer Part 1 - TED Talks Daily - Air Date 11-6-19
Paul Kramer discusses our broken immigration system and part of the problem is seeing human beings as valued only for their labor.
Ch. 6: The Politics of Nativism with Daniel Denvir - This Is Hell - Air Date 1-13-20
Chuck and Daniel Denvir discuss America's long history of Nativism and white supremacist policies.
Ch. 7: Our Immigration Conversation Is Broken with Paul Kramer Part 2 - TED Talks Daily - Air Date 11-6-19
Paul Kramer discusses our broken immigration system and part of the problem is seeing human beings as valued only for their labor.
VOICEMAILS
Ch. 8: We have to be for a progressive vision, not just against Trump - James from Sacramento, CA
Ch. 9: Jay didn’t go far enough rebutting - Alan from Connecticut
FINAL COMMENTS
Ch. 10: Final comments on the analysis paralysis of the primary election
MUSIC (Blue Dot Sessions):
- Opening Theme: Loving Acoustic Instrumental by John Douglas Orr
- Wingspan - Bayou Birds
- Inessential - Bayou Birds
- Molly Molly - Barstool
- That Horse Ithica - Sketchbook
- Cicle Veroni - Cicle Kadde
- Gullwing Sailor - Migration
- Voicemail Music: Low Key Lost Feeling Electro by Alex Stinnent
- Closing Music: Upbeat Laid Back Indie Rock by Alex Stinnent
Produced by Jay! Tomlinson
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Welcome to this episode of the award-winning Best of the Left podcast in which we shall |
| 0:06.8 | learn about the historical through-line that has brought us to the present state of border |
| 0:12.2 | barbarism we are now witnessing, and how well-meaning liberals have been playing on the |
| 0:17.6 | nationalist's turf for way too long. |
| 0:21.0 | Clips today come from In the Thick, Jack Bin Radio, Counter-Spin, This is Hell, and a Ted |
| 0:27.0 | Talk from Paul Kramer. Part of what you say is like the American exceptionalism that |
| 0:38.2 | we're so bad-ass, we're so fabulous, that therefore expansion comes naturally to us because |
| 0:45.2 | we're so fabulous and bad-ass. Something like that, I mean, look, the United States is exceptional |
| 0:50.2 | in that no other nation has had such a long run of the ability to use expansion to organize |
| 0:57.8 | its domestic power. When I talk about expansion, I mean expansion in all of its many forms |
| 1:03.2 | across the landed frontier through militarism, through militarism understood as ideological |
| 1:09.1 | crusade, so some kind of philosophical expansion through markets understood as morality. |
| 1:15.8 | No other nation has, not even any empire that even understood itself as expansionist, |
| 1:20.8 | has such an ingrained sense of expansion being central to maintaining what it understands |
| 1:27.1 | as virtue, and virtue meaning an absolute adherence to private property and a certain kind |
| 1:33.0 | of individualism, and that is what is exceptional about the United States. |
| 1:38.1 | Okay, so it seems a little bit of a contradiction when you talk about expansion, when you talk |
| 1:44.6 | about putting up border walls, right? So can you give us some examples like specific juicy |
| 1:50.7 | uglier pretty ones or pretty ugly ones about what this kind of looked like in historical |
| 1:56.6 | moments? Well, the whole thing was expansion across the Atlantic to the Atlantic seaboard |
| 2:02.2 | and across the Appalachias into the Mississippi Valley and then across the Mississippi Valley |
| 2:06.9 | into the Mexican-American War, where the US took over a third of Mexican territory and |
... |
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