J's Reviews > Blackshirts and Reds: Rational Fascism and the Overthrow of Communism

This is like diet-lite-marxism-for-beginners from ~24 years ago, so not only am I not the right audience, but this also feels dated as hell.

I found myself overwhelmingly agreeing with Parenti's various analyses about fascism, its interrelation with the capitalist ruling class, the horrors of post-soviet privatization, our societies unwillingness to think in class terms, the dangers of climate change, etc.

And yet it still sucked to read.

He's trying to make a lot of big points all at once, often with little data to back any of it up beyond some shaky anecdotes from stories in the New York Times, CNN etc. (way to stick it to the corporate media, bud). This is poorly researched and sloppily written, often veering into rant territory. Which is a shame because when he does manage to pull things together he makes some very sharp, prescient observations.

In Parenti's defense: this came out in the mid 90s, when capitalism was still on a dick-stroking victory march following the collapse of the USSR. I'm sure it was a very challenging time for a Marxist scholar, and this feels less like an incisive analysis and more like a disillusioned outsider engaging in some much needed emotional / theoretical venting.

But there are better, more current, more insightful books that offer deeper investigations of what he's elaborating here.