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Open Forum: Discussing Solzhenitsyn’s Life and Politics

Toward Freedom August 11, 2008 Toward Freedom

After the August 6th publication of Alexander Solzhenitsyn: ‘Let us change our course!’ on Toward Freedom, TF board members and advisors began an interesting and productive discussion regarding Solzhenitsyn’s life and political views. Solzhenitsyn is a controversial and complex figure, and under discussion was to what extent he can be claimed by progressives and the peace movement given that he was a supporter of the Cold War.

To offer alternative viewpoints on Solzhenitsyn’s life and times, we have provided a list of links to other articles and videos. Please check back for updates to this list and forum. If you would like your comments to be added here, or would like to suggest another resource on Solzhenitsyn’s life, email [email protected] read more

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Alexander Solzhenitsyn: ‘Let us change our course!’

Rene Wadlow August 7, 2008 Rene Wadlow

I want to push through

To the very essence of everything:

Straight to the core of days gone by,

To what made them,

To the foundations, to the roots,

The heart of the matter.

– Boris Pasternak

The Russian author Alexander Solzhenitsyn, who died on August 3, 2008, wrote in his most autobiographical novel The First Circle, that "A great writer is, so to speak, a second government. That is why no regime anywhere has ever loved its great writers, only its minor ones." The writer as the conscience of the people has a long tradition in Russia both in Czarist and Soviet times. Turgenev was compelled to live much of his life abroad, and many of his works were suppressed. Chekhov felt this duty of public conscience so strongly that, even though suffering from tuberculosis, he insisted on making a long journey to the Sakhalin Islands to report on the conditions of exiles there. Leo Tolstoy was regularly censored and finally excommunicated by the Russian Orthodox Church which banned any prayers at his funeral. read more

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From Europe to Canada: The Misery Continues for Roma

Reuel S. Amdur August 5, 2008 Reuel S. Amdur

Gypsy Boy in Kosovo
The Nazis did not kill them all, but racists in Eastern Europe and Italy are intent on making life miserable for those that are still around.  I'm speaking about a people variously known as Rom, Roma, Romany, Sinti, and Gypsies. The slaughter of the Roma by the Nazis is poorly documented; figures from 200,000 to a million and a half have been cited, which may have amounted to as much as 80% of their population in Europe at the time. Their ongoing persecution has led to a burgeoning demand for refugee status in Canada. 

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The Philosophy of Perpetual Revolt

Jeff Nall August 4, 2008 Jeff Nall

"Freedom only comes through persistent revolt, through persistent agitation, through persistently rising up against the system of evil." - Martin Luther King

Nothing is inevitable, including peace and justice. In fact, history proves that exactly the opposite is the case. War and oppression is inevitable, unless…. Unless we heed the call for Perpetual Revolt; Perpetual Revolt against war and oppression.

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On The Lower Frequencies: An Interview with Author Erick Lyle

Matt Dineen July 30, 2008 Matt Dineen

"Every time there's a natural disaster you see this wave of people suddenly organized into this help-mode… It's in moments of crisis that the system is actually peeled back and you see people naturally organize into these situations of mutual aid…It's interesting that the government is always trying to sell itself to us, that without the government it would instantly be like Mad Max and we'd all be killing each other for the last drops of oil. But I'm not so sure that that's true." - Erick Lyle