The Sword & The Dollar

Historian Chalmers Johnson wrote: “As distinct from other peoples on this earth, most Americans do not recognize that the United States dominates the world through its military power. Due to government secrecy, they are often ignorant of the fact that their government, which has a vast network of American military bases on every continent, actually constitutes a new form of empire. The new American empire has been a long time in the making. Its roots go back to the early 19th century, when the U.S. declared all of Latin America its sphere of influence and enlarged its own territory at the expense of indigenous people.”

Recorded at Washington State University.

Speaker: Michael Parenti

Michael Parenti was a leading independent political analyst and scholar. Cornel West called him “a towering prophetic voice.” He taught at major colleges and universities in the U.S. and abroad. He is the author of numerous books, including Democracy for the Few, Power and the Powerless, and Against Empire. He passed away on January 24, 2026, at the age of 92.

Questioning the Unquestionable

“It is not demanded of readers that they embrace my views, but that they reflect upon their own. How seldom we bother to explore in some critical fashion the fundamental preconceptions that shape our understanding of social and political life. How frequently, as if by reflex rather than reflection, we respond to certain cues and incantations, resisting any incongruous notion. Our opinions shelter and support us; it is an excruciating effort to submit them to reappraisal. Yet if we are to maintain some pretense at being rational creatures, we must risk the discomfiture that comes with questioning the unquestionable, and try to transcend our tendencies toward mental confinement.” – Michael Parenti

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