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Every Wednesday at 7:00 pmAbout the Show
Alternative Radio
A weekly one-hour public affairs radio program that provides analyses and views that are ignored or distorted in most media. Guests have included Dar Jamail, Michael Pollan, Noam Chomsky, Antonia Jusef, Naomi Klein, Vandana Shiva, Jeff Cohen, David Zirin, Bill Moyers and Howard Zinn.
Imperialism derives from the Latin, imperium, which means to rule over large territories. Historically it has taken many shapes and forms. From the Assyrians to the Greeks to the British one constant is that the imperial state denies it is imperial. It finds a set of euphemisms to obscure its intentions. Often the conquest of another country is cloaked in humanitarian rhetoric. Women are being abused; we must save them. Children are being exploited; we must rescue them. The other technique is to defeat an unmitigated evil. A propaganda system insures that the population of the aggressor state is bombarded with messages that make them feel good about what their armies are doing. The propaganda exaggerates and lies about the dangers posed by the country being attacked. Ancient history? Hardly. Think of the U.S. invasion of Iraq and weapons of mass destruction.
Tom Mayer is a scholar activist. He taught sociology for forty years at the University of Colorado at Boulder. He is the author Analytical Marxism. He has written numerous articles in academic and political journals and in newspapers. He is the recipient of the Lifetime Achievement Award from the Rocky Mountain Peace and Justice Center.
