“It is some of the best well made propaganda I have ever seen…We are looking into this gentleman and this incredible propaganda against me.” -- Glenn Beck

Check out the very funny cartoon above. The maker, Jonathan McIntosh, says:

“This is a re-imagined Donald Duck cartoon remix constructed using dozens of classic Walt Disney cartoons from the 1930s to 1960s. Donald’s life is turned upside-down by the current economic crisis and he finds himself unemployed and falling behind on his house payments. As his frustration turns into despair Donald discovers a seemingly sympathetic voice coming from his radio named Glenn Beck.”

Glenn Beck is one of the most successful conmen and lunatics in the US, who we of course have mentioned once or twice before. He’s not afraid to use his shows on radio and TV, plus best selling books and live appearances, to dole out all kinds of hate filled propaganda and lies against anyone he doesn’t like -- mainstream Democrat politicians (who he deludedly calls socialists, when they’re anything but), non white people, his wife etc.

But when someone turns the tables and makes some propaganda against him (which, by the way, is funny, and is nowhere near is bile filled as his rants), he’s not happy. Maybe he’s not happy that they were able to make him look bad just by sampling directly what he’s said on his own show. Anyway, here’s Glenn’s comments on it, and how he’s going to try and fuck with the genius behind the cartoon:

From the looks of his site, Jonathan McIntosh has done loads of good stuff, it’s worth a look at http://www.rebelliouspixels.com

Dangerous Minds is a blog I have a lot of time for, which generally features stuff about music, funny videos, and general not-that-political fun. They do have a political agenda though, particularly chiming with SSY’s views about drug prohibition.

Each week they do an interview with an interesting person, usually someone who has a new book out or something. This week they’ve spoken to Prof. Michael Lebowitz, who has just published ‘The Socialist Alternative: Real Human Development.’ I’ve not had the chance to get hold of a copy yet, but his previous one ‘Build it Now: Socialism in the 21st Century,’ was absolutely brilliant.

Prof. Lebowitz has done a lot of work as part of the ongoing revolution in Venezuela, and a major focus of his work is recapturing the idea of socialism as a society that would allow everyone to develop their maximum potential. He sees socialism as a direct democratic system that allows people to take control of their own lives and gives them the freedom to determine their own future, much like we do. He writes about the need in workplaces to have real worker control by breaking down the division between those who think and those who do, so that everyone is deciding together about the way forward, and then making it happen together. His work is really worth a look, and to give you a flavour I’ve embedded the interview with him above. Some of the questions are a bit North America-centric, but it’s still worth a watch.

The Royal Society for the Arts has been recording talks given by important public intellectuals and adding animation to make them a bit more accessible. Three of the talks so far have been by leading Marxists, and they’re really worth a watch.

If you’re friends with a lefty person on Facebook, there’s a good chance you’ve seen the first of these two videos, it was doing the rounds a couple of weeks ago, but it’s worth putting up for those that haven’t seen it. David Harvey is Professor of Anthropology at the City University of New York, and one of the world’s leading figures in geography and the social sciences. He’s also a Marxist, and his work has done a lot to put Marxism back on the academic map. Here’s his take on the current global economic crisis:

Barbara Ehrenreich is one of the leading feminist and socialist authors in the US. She regularly writes important pieces of journalism, and is the author of 22 books. Her latest one is about how positive thinking has undermined society, especially in the US, and the sinister side to the self-help industry that encourages you to have “a good attitude.”

The newest in the RSAnimate series is a talk by Slavoj Zizek, a senior researcher at the Institute of Sociology at Ljubljana Uni, Slovenia. He’s one of the world’s most important philosophers and critical theorists. His talk is about how modern capitalism turns people’s worries about the impact of consumerism in the world into a way of making money. Paying a higher price for organic or fair trade food might make you feel good, but in fact it upholds the idea that we can solve the ecological and social crises facing the world through our existing society, which is pish.

The animations are a great idea, and there’s more from other people here (although I didn’t agree with absolutely everything in it, I thought the one by Jeremy Rifkin was also great.)

Obviously the talks are ultimately aimed at an academic audience, but I think there still pretty accessible and make a lot of interesting points. Any language or concepts that you don’t quite get or aren’t familiar with yet, make a note of it and then ask in the comments. Collectively we can educate ourselves.