Scott H.’s Writings

Essays, articles, reviews, etc., on philosophy, economics, politics and other topics,
all from the perspective of revolutionary Marxism (i.e., Marxism-Leninism-Maoism)

      This is intended to be a complete list of all my writings, together with links to each item. The list is not yet nearly complete, but I am working on it! I am creating this list primarily for my own convenience, not because I believe my “collected works” are of any special importance. However, there may be others who are curious about my comments on this or that topic, and this list will also help them find the items they are interested in.

      Most of my writings are posted on either MASSLINE.ORG or MASSLINE.INFO. Both of these sites contain materials written by me as well as materials written by other people. MASSLINE.INFO is devoted to the specific topics of the mass line method of revolutionary leadership and having a mass perspective, while MASSLINE.ORG has sections covering many other subject areas, including philosophy, political economy, and politics. Here are the primary links for each subject area:

• Philosophy: https://www.massline.org/Philosophy
• Philosophical doggerel (limericks, clerihews, etc.): https://www.massline.org/PhilosDog
• Political Economy: https://www.massline.org/PolitEcon
• Politics: https://www.massline.org/Politics
• The mass line: http://www.massline.info

      To make suggestions, comments or criticisms about this site or any of my writings, please contact me at:   scotth@massline.org

      Note: Some of the documents and essays below are fairly long and are much easier to read and consider if you print them out first. That will also give you the margins you’ll need to write down your criticisms. (I would very much like to hear from you about those criticisms!) Also note that some essays are listed more than once in the subcategories below, since they address more than one topic.

      For those interested, here is an 11-page summary (as of April 2017) of the status of my many incomplete “Writing Projects ‘In Progress’ (?)”: PDF Version,   MS Word (.docx) Version

      —Scott H.

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Section 1: GENERAL WORKS ON MULTIPLE TOPICS

• Dictionary of Revolutionary Marxism — Includes a growing number of terms in philosophy, politics, and political economy.

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Section 2: PHILOSOPHY

Philosophy - General

• [To be added.]

Philosophy - The Theory of Knowledge (Epistemology)

• “Can We Really Understand the World?” (3/20/89) — Discusses questions such as: “Could the world be such that we might not be able to understand how it really works?”
• “Do We Know For Certain that the Earth Goes Around the Sun?” (11/14/97) — Opposes “epistemological agnosticism”, the view that says we can never know anything (or at least that we can never know anything for sure).
• “Studying a Totally Unknown Language” (10/6/08) — A letter to friends together with an article about a graduate class at U.C. Berkeley studying an almost unknown African language.   PDF Version [59 KB];   MS Word Version [37 KB]

Dialectics

• “Are All Things ‘Connected’?” (1/21/08) — An brief exchange of letters discussing whether it is true that “all things are interconnected”, and if so what that must mean.   PDF Version [151 KB];   MS Word Version [44 KB]
• “Musings on Dialectics - 1”, a letter to friends written on Sept. 25, 2010, 7 pages. Argues that there are many laws in dialectics (though just one central one), and that the “negation of the negation” is a useful and rational concept if correctly understood.   PDF Version [164 KB];   MS Word Version [49 KB]
• “Engels’s Confusion of Logical Contradiction with Dialectical Contradiction” [S.H.] (11/19/18) — An essay occasioned by a study of chapters 12 & 13 of Engels’s great work, Anti-Dühring, 7 pages.   Searchable PDF format [78 KB]

Materialism & the Philosophy of Mind

• “On the Analogy Between Mind/Brain and Software/Hardware” (12/4/92) — Defends a dialectical materialist version of functionalism.
• “Mental Decisions and Physical Effects” (2/9/10) — A letter to a friend explaining how it is that my body can raise my arm when my mind decides to do so, and how somebody can use their mind to move a cursor on a computer screen.   PDF Version [161 KB];   MS Word Version [42 KB]
• “Inverted Color Spectrums” (02/23/10) — A letter to friends disputing the possibility that there might be “inverted color spectrums”, and commenting on recent brain research relevant to the topic.   PDF Version [104 KB];   MS Word Version [40 KB]
• “Brain Scanners and Free Will” (04/13/08) — A letter to friends discussing recent brain research that shows that when you make a decision the initial process is unconscious and that you are only afterwards consciously aware of your own decision. Explains why this does not show that free will is an “illusion”.   PDF Version [151 KB];   MS Word Version [168 KB]
• “Brief Review of: Stanislas Dehaene: Consciousness and the Brain (2014)” (1/22/16) — About an excellent book on consciousness, but with a couple critical comments.   PDF Version [118 KB];   MS Word Version (.docx) [30 KB]

Philosophy of Science & “Metaphysics”

• “Chopping Onions and Pragmatism” (April 2007) — Applying the scientific approach to an everyday task.
  • Critical Letter about the above essay, and Scott’s response. (April 2007)
• “A Scientific Philosophy of Science: Some Comments on Keith Campbell” (June 1986) — Some fundamental points about the nature of science and “metaphysics”.
• “The Impossibility of Infinitely Small Particles” (3/5/89) — Argues that no physical particle is ever really a “point”.
• Review of: Michio Kaku — Hyperspace: A Scientific Odyssey Through Parallel Universes, Time Warps, and the Tenth Dimension [1994] (9/11/95)
• Review notes by Scott H. of: Robert B. Laughlin, A Different Universe: Reinventing Physics from the Bottom Down [2005] (11/10/06)
• “Scientific Theories” (1/2/09) — A response to a friend who raised the question “Why can’t I put my hand through the top of the table if it is mostly made up of empty space?”, and a couple other interesting issues.   PDF Version [147 KB];   MS Word Version [34 KB]
• “Mysticism and Modern Physics” (10/11/88) — Comments on Fritjof Capra’s The Tao of Physics and Ken Wilber’s Quantum Questions.

Religion

• “Ethics and Religion” (10/10/12) — An email discussion between Scott and a friend about the relevance of religion to ethics.   PDF Version [63 KB];   MS Word Version [40 KB]
• “Physics and Atheism” (10/20/09) — Response to a letter from Scott’s friend Kirby about a book by Victor Stenger.   PDF Version [208 KB];   MS Word Version [52 KB]
• “How to Disprove the Existence of God” (02/07/10) — A short exchange between Scott and his friend Kirby, which is sort of a follow-up to the above item.   PDF Version [104 KB];   MS Word Version [38 KB]
• “Logical Puzzles and the Concept of God” (March 24-25, 2010) — A short discussion between Scott and three friends about paradoxes and the question of the existence of God.   PDF Version [298 KB];   MS Word Version [59 KB]
• Review of Richard Dawkins’ The God Delusion [2006] (6/25/07)
• “The ‘Higher Criticism’ Revisited” (3/22/98) — A review of: Charles Pellegrino - Return to Sodom & Gomorrah [1994].
• “On the ‘Spiritual Aspect of Reality’ and Pantheism” (6/12/02) — Letter arguing that even the most abstract forms of religion are unscientific.

Ethics

• The Marxist-Leninist-Maoist Class Interest Theory of Ethics, (As of 6/9/08) — The beginning portion of a book in progress. (Draft of the first two chapters only, in PDF format or in Microsoft Word format.)
  [Other excerpts from the draft of this book:]
  
  • “The Origin of Classes and the Origin of War” — From chapter 4 of the book, in both PDF format and Microsoft Word format.
  • “A ‘Family Tree’ of Ethical Theories” — Section 10.10 from chapter 10 of the book, in both PDF format and Microsoft Word format.
  • “Alain Badiou: A Pseudo-Maoist Obscurantist” — A brief discussion of Alain Badiou’s book Ethics: An Essay on the Understanding of Evil. This is section 12.10, in both PDF format and Microsoft Word format.
• “Ethics and Religion” (10/10/12) — An email discussion between Scott and a friend about the relevance of religion to ethics.   PDF Version [63 KB];   MS Word Version [40 KB]
• “The Origin of Morality, and the Morality of Revolutionary Violence” (12/17/08) — A letter about two topics not yet included in the posted portions of the book in progress on MLM ethics.
• “The ‘Problem of Altruism’” (12/27/93) — Opposes the view that “really” there is no such thing as altruism.
• Review of Bob Avakian’s “We Need Morality, But Not Traditional Morality” (1/23/96) — Includes some comments on Marxist-Leninist ethics in general.
• “Report on a Discussion between Bill Martin and Raymond Lotta about Martin and Avakian’s book, Marxism and the Call of the Future” (4/29/07) — Includes some criticism of Kantian ethics.
• “Principles: The Hobgoblin of Little Minds?” (05/24/10) — A letter to friends on the issue of principles in morals and politics, and whether absolute consistency is appropriate in upholding such principles.   PDF Version [125 KB];   MS Word Version [46 KB]
• “Some Questions on Ethics, Religion and Politics” (12/19/08) — A letter to an overseas friend on some questions he raised.   PDF Version [105 KB];   MS Word Version [38 KB]

Political Philosophy

• “A Virtual Debate With Gandhi About Non-Violence” (12/11/88) — About 35 Gandhi quotations critically analyzed.
• “Are Cops Really That Bad?” (11/24/01) — Letter discussing the nature of the police.
• “Social Pressure as a Moral & Political Tool” (6/12/98) — Defends the use of social pressure when it advances the cause of the people.
• Excerpt from an unfinished document focusing on people’s interests and the scientific method applied to Marxism. (8/23/98) — Inspired by a dispute within a circle of revolutionaries in the 1990s over the question of whether or not MLM can properly be considered a science.
• “Why Marxism-Leninism-Maoism is a Science” (2/6/97) — Explains why Marxism is properly considered a science.
  • Translation into Bengali, done by a comrade in India. PDF format   [34 pages; 587 KB]
• “Notes on Notes on Political Economy” (2/25/00) — A critique of an RCP document about the errors they made in their “1980s analysis” and their current views on the world economic situation. Focuses on philosophical and methodological issues.
• “The Phony ‘Marxist’ Windbag Zizek” (11/20/07) — An exchange of letters discussing the academic “leftist” superstar Slavoj Zizek.   PDF Version [231 KB];   MS Word Version [69 KB]

Aesthetics

• [To be added.]

Other Topics in Philosophy

• Philosophical Doggerel Home Page — Limericks, clerihews, ditties and other doggerel on philosophic themes.

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Section 3: POLITICAL ECONOMY

General

• “What Qualifications are Required to Talk about Political Economy?” (Dec. 3, 2009) — A posting on the “Uhoh” email list, 2 pages.   PDF Version [66 KB];   MS Word Version [33 KB]
• The Definition of ‘Capitalism’ (March 2003) — A letter to friends.

Capitalist Imperialism and “Globalization”

• “Lenin on Imperialism” (2007) [PDF 237 KB] — A 10-page discussion of Lenin’s views on imperialism in light of the new evidence and changes since his day.
• “The Three Contemporary Forms of Capitalism” (January 2010) — A discussion between Scott and a friend over the varying types of capitalism in the world today.   PDF Version [73 KB];   MS Word Version [37 KB]
• “What Really are ‘Economic Reforms’?” (1/31/01) — Some brief comments accompanying a Reuters report forwarded to friends.
• “Globalization and Deglobalization” (2/20/09) — Introductory comments to an extensive article from The Economist (included) about the new trend toward “deglobalization”.   PDF Version [146 KB];   MS Word Version [126 KB]

China’s Economy

• “The Intra-Capitalist Struggle in China”, (June 4, 2012), 6 pages. About the conflicted feelings of the Chinese bourgeoisie over state capitalism vs. “private” monopoly capitalism.   PDF version: [235 KB];   MS Word version: [283 KB]
• “Western Fears and Criticisms of State Capitalism in China”, (Dec. 9, 2011), 4 pages.   PDF version: [105 KB];   MS Word version: [39 KB].
• “Chinese Government Takes Foot Off Economic Brakes”, (Nov. 30, 2011), 4 pages. Comments accompanying an article from the New York Times.   PDF version: [85 KB];   MS Word version: [40 KB]

Crises — Capitalist Economic Crisis Theory

• An Introductory Explanation of Capitalist Economic Crises (2008) — This work discusses both the underlying and surface contradictions involved in capitalist crises. [The first 5 chapters are now available. More will be added later.]
  • Introduction
  • Chapter I: The Basic Contradictions Underlying Capitalist Economic Crises
  • Chapter II: The Surface Layer of Contradictions
  • Chapter III: How Are Capitalist Economic Crises Overcome?
  • Chapter IV: Capitalist Economic Crises in the Imperialist Era
  • Chapter V: The Industrial Cycle Has Split in Two!
• “What is it about Capitalism that Requires the Creation of Huge Debt Bubbles?” (10/03/08) — A letter answering this question.   PDF Version [138 KB];   MS Word Version [37 KB]
• “Bourgeois Fantasies about Economic Bubbles” (Sept. 9, 2009) — A letter explaining that economic bubbles are inherent to capitalism and not just some irrationality that people are from time to time prone to—as is claimed in an article in the New York Times.   PDF Version [90 KB];   MS Word Version [61 KB]
• “What is the ‘Overproduction of Capital’?” (4/14/09) — A question from a friend and my answer.   PDF Version [125 KB];   MS Word Version [32 KB]
• “Irrational Capacity Extension” (4/26/09) — A very short letter commenting on an article condemning Chinese steel “dumping”.   PDF Version [86 KB];   MS Word Version [28 KB]
• “Question About the ‘Falling Rate of Profit’ Theory?” (3/26/10) — A query from a friend and my answer.   PDF Version [153 KB];   MS Word Version [33 KB]
• “Record Corporate Profits at Time of Crisis Show ‘Falling Rate of Profit’ Theory of Crises is False” (11/29/10) — Two letters to friends, 8 pages.   PDF Version [233 KB];   MS Word Version [58 KB]
• “Patnaik’s Aricle on MRZine” (1/14/09) — Criticism of an article by a left-Keynesian who thinks that overproduction crises can be ended by Keynesian deficits.   PDF Version [122 KB];   MS Word Version [39 KB]
• “False Lessons from the Great Depression” (7/14/03) — A criticism of two main points in Peter Temin’s book, Lessons from the Great Depression.
• “Was Marx’s ‘Early Theory’ of Overproduction/Underconsumption Dropped by Him Later On?” (4/9/01) — A letter arguing that he did not do so, even though he did add other extraneous theories to his overall theory of economic crises. Also discusses the limitations of the crisis theory put forward in Engels’ Anti-Dühring.
• “The Difference Between Rosa Luxemburg and V.I. Lenin on Economic Crisis Theory” (2/25/01) — A letter to a friend.
• Letter to Bob Avakian on Imperialist War and Capitalist Economic Cycles (12/2/79).
• “The ‘Capital Shortage’ Myth: A Dangerous Error in Political Economy” (Jan. 1977).
• “Comments on Sison’s ‘Contradictions in the World Capitalist System and the Necessity of Socialist Revolution’” (1/23/02) — Discussion of Jose Maria Sison’s view of the world economic and political situation, as well as a critique of the “General Crisis of Capitalism” thesis.

Crises — The Current Economic Crisis

• 2008:
  • “Some Important Articles about the Current Economic Crisis” (4/9/08) — A letter recommending several articles about the developing crisis that appeared in Monthly Review and elsewhere. Also includes some of my predictions about how this crisis will develop, eventually into a depression.   PDF Version [86 KB];   MS Word Version [32 KB]
  • “The Developing Crisis Brings about More Intense Disagreements among Economists” (7/6/08) — Letter about how bourgeois economists are growing more and more testy with each other, together with a column from the Financial Times.   PDF Version [62 KB];   MS Word Version [41 KB]
  • “Is the Current Economic Crisis a Crisis of Overproduction?” (7/11/08) — This letter responds to a question about the nature of the currently developing crisis, and also addresses the issue of the means that imperialist powers use to dump the effects of their own crises onto the backs of people of the countries they exploit.
  • “Too Big to Fail — the Continuing Story...” (7/20/08) — Letter about how the U.S. government is being forced to bail out Fannie Mae & Freddie Mac, etc.   PDF Version [111 KB];   MS Word Version [43 KB]
  • “The Onion is More Correct Than They Realize!” (7/24/08) — A serious commentary about a satirical article from The Onion entitled “Recession-Plagued Nation Demands New Bubble To Invest In”.
  • “Bankers Caught between Hope and Despair” (8/24/08) — Letter about how central bankers are unsure if the financial crisis will affect the “real economy”, together with an article from the Financial Times.   PDF Version [52 KB];   MS Word Version [33 KB]
  • “The Economic Merger of Corporate Capital and the Capitalist State” (9/8/08) — Letter about the bailout of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac and the larger implications.   PDF Version [141 KB];   MS Word Version [34 KB]
    • “Do the Right and Left Agree on the Economy?” (9/17/08) — A letter from a friend in response to the above item, and my reply.   PDF Version [62 KB];   MS Word Version [31 KB]
  • “The Crisis has Become an All-Out Panic” (9/18/08) — Letter about the deepening financial crisis and the ever more serious overall economic crisis.   PDF Version [114 KB];   MS Word Version [41 KB]
  • “Government Bailouts are Nothing New” (9/19/08) — Letter commenting on a point raised in an article forwarded by a friend.   PDF Version [150 KB];   MS Word Version [38 KB]
  • “Will the $700 Billion Bailout End the Crisis?” (9/20/08) — Letter pointing out that the bailout is just one of many and that it certainly won’t end the underlying economic crisis.   PDF Version [95 KB];   MS Word Version [39 KB]
  • “Top Execs at Bailed-Out Firms Made $27 Billion over Past 5 Years” (9/25/08) — Letter about the obscene looting of bailed-out financial corporations by their top execs.   PDF Version [67 KB];   MS Word Version [32 KB]
  • “Is It Socialism?” (Sept. 25-27, 2008) — An email discussion between Scott H. and his friend Kirby about whether the bailouts and partial nationalization of several banks and financial institutions by the U.S. government should be considered “socialism”.
  • “Fed Buying Up Corporate Debt” (10/7/08) — Letter discussing the Federal Reserve’s move to purchase “commercial paper”.   PDF Version [93 KB];   MS Word Version [39 KB]
  • “Can the Crisis be brought under Control?’” (10/11/08) — Letter raising the real possibility that this crisis will eventually develop into a depression, or else predicting that one of the next few recessions will.   PDF Version [185 KB];   MS Word Version [39 KB]
  • “On Mike Davis’ Essay ‘Can Obama See the Grand Canyon?’” (10/16/08) — Letter commenting on an essay written by the well-known socialist writer Mike Davis.   PDF Version [125 KB];   MS Word Version [32 KB]
  • “Wallerstein Says we have Entered a Depression” (10/17/08) — Letter discussing Immanuel Wallerstein’s view, together with his article.   PDF Version [95 KB];   MS Word Version [39 KB]
  • “On Naomi Klein’s Theory that Public Infrastructure will be ‘the Next Bubble’” (10/24/08) — A letter pooh-poohing this notion.   PDF Version [136 KB];   MS Word Version [33 KB]
  • “The Crisis is an Overproduction Crisis” (10/29/08) — Letter about how the current crisis is most essentially due to the overproduction of capital, and is not merely an financial crisis. Includes an article from the Financial Times about overproduction in the automobile industry.   PDF Version [69 KB];   MS Word Version [34 KB]
  • “Are Bankers Idiots? And How About Us?” (11/10/08) — Letter briefly comparing the wisdom of Marxist political economy to the foolishness of bourgeois economics.   PDF Version [106 KB];   MS Word Version [44 KB]
  • “The Worst is Yet to Come” (Nov. 22, 2008) — A Reuters article about the top IMF economist predicting the worst of the current financial/economic crisis is yet to come, together with my brief commentary.
  • “Saving Capitalism No Sure Thing...” (12/22/08) — Letter commenting on an article from Bloomberg Business News reporting deep worries about what the crisis will mean for “private enterprise”.   PDF Version [214 KB];   MS Word Version [42 KB]
• 2009:
  • “The Significance of Perpetual Trillion Dollar Deficits” (1/7/09) — Comments on a Washington Post news report saying that Obama expects trillion dollar deficits for years into the future.   PDF Version [59 KB];   MS Word Version [38 KB]
  • “Is It a ‘Depression’?” (Feb. 7, 2009) — An email agreeing with a friend that the current economic crisis is now quite appropriately considered to be the early stages of a new depression comparable to that of the 1930s.
  • “Marxist Analysis at Business Week???” (Feb. 8, 2009) — A short commentary on an article by Peter Coy in Business Week magazine which pointed out that, contrary to what most (bourgeois) economists think, overcapacity is a major reason for the current economic crisis. My commentary agrees with this claim, but thinks that Coy doesn’t go far enough, and that he’s inconsistent in his views.
  • “The Worst Depression in Over 100 Years” (2/11/09) — A contribution to a discussion of an article from The Independent newspaper (U.K.) which reports a prediction that the current economic crisis will be the worst in over 100 years.   PDF Version [138 KB];   MS Word Version [37 KB]
  • “Comments Accompanying a Notice of the Posting of a 1976 Chinese Pamphlet on Inflation” (02/17/09) — Together with a response to a correspondent.   PDF Version [146 KB];   MS Word Version [34 KB]
  • “Financial Aspect of Crisis Far From Over” (2/23/09) — A Bloomberg article forwarded to friends with my own brief summary of some of its highlights.   PDF Version [193 KB];   MS Word Version [56 KB]
  • “‘Dr. Doom’: U.S. Financial System is Insolvent; L-shaped Semi-Depression Possible” (March 5, 2009) — A column by the bourgeois economist known as “Dr. Doom”, together with my introductory comments, which I forwarded to friends.   PDF Version [122 KB];   MS Word Version [45 KB]
  • “Job Loss Curves” (March 7, 2009) — A letter about how jobs are being permanently lost in the current economic crisis, together with an article from the New York Times about how job recoveries after recessions are getting slower and slower.   PDF Version [124 KB];   MS Word Version [49 KB]
  • “Chinese Seriously Worried about their U.S. Holdings... A Sign of What’s to Come” (3/13/09) — A letter to friends about the need for a scientific organizing theory to understand the crisis and about increased Chinese worries that their investments in the U.S. might not be safe.   PDF Version [148 KB];   MS Word Version [68 KB]
  • “Stiglitz’s Exposure of New Obama Bailout Program” (4/1/09) — A letter discussing how the big Obama bailout of Wall Street and big banks amounts to a financial merger of finance capital with the bourgeois state on top of its already existing political merger.   PDF Version [141 KB];   MS Word Version [42 KB]
  • “China’s Stimulus Program” (4/12/09) — A letter to a friend about the signs of improvement in China because of its massive “stimulus” program, and about the differences between the Keynesian and Marxist explanations for this. Also briefly discusses the importance of being able to make correct predictions in scientific political economy.   PDF Version [107 KB];   MS Word Version [38 KB]
  • “NY Times: Worries Rise on the Size of U.S. Debt” (5/4/09) — A short introduction to an article forwarded to friends.   PDF Version [216 KB];   MS Word Version [183 KB]
  • “Chomsky on the Economic Crisis” (5/10/09) — A response to a request from a friend to evaluate Noam Chomsky’s views on the current economic crisis.   PDF Version [111 KB];   MS Word Version [33 KB]
  • “The Ever-Worsening U.S. Government Debt Problem” (5/24/09) — A letter about the attempts of the government to both “stimulate” the economy through massive Keynesian deficits and also cut the ever-growing government debt, together with an article from the San Francisco Chronicle on the massive government debt problem.   PDF Version [67 KB];   MS Word Version [44 KB]
  • “Contraction Slows as Sluggish U.S. Recovery Nears” (July 31, 2009) — A letter explaining that the bourgeois claim that the “Great Recession” is nearly over depends on their superficial notion of what recessions are. (Article from Bloomberg.com is included as an appendix.)   PDF Version [144 KB];   MS Word Version [40 KB]
  • “Job Seekers Exceed Openings by Record Ratio” (Sept. 27, 2009) — A letter accompanying an article from the N.Y. Times about the seriousness of the unemployment situation.   PDF Version [230 KB];   MS Word Version [218 KB]
  • “Fantasies About the Economic ‘Narrow Escape’” (Dec. 21 & 24, 2009) — A letter to friends arguing that all the comments about the U.S. and world economies having “narrowly escaped” a Second Great Depression are not just grossly premature, but actually an outright fantasy! Includes a second letter explaining in more detail my theory why this is so.   PDF Version [268 KB];   MS Word Version [67 KB]
• 2010:
  • “‘Underwater’ Mortgages—Why Don’t People Just Walk Away?” (Jan. 24, 2010) — A short letter to friends commenting on an article in the New York Times (included as an appendix) about how surprisingly many people are continuing to pay their mortgages on homes that are worth less than they still owe on them!   PDF Version [219 KB];   MS Word Version [62 KB]
  • “Growing Permanent Unemployment” (Feb. 21, 2010) — A letter introducing an article from the N.Y. Times entitled “Millions of Unemployed Face Years Without Jobs”.   PDF Version [163 KB];   MS Word Version [76 KB]
  • “Which Economists are Most ‘Responsible’ for the Current Economic Crisis?” (Feb. 24, 2010) — A short letter to friends commenting on an article posted on the Monthly Review “Zine” website (included as an appendix) about a facetious “award” presented to Alan Greenspan for “causing” the current economic crisis.   PDF Version [115 KB];   MS Word Version [39 KB]
  • “The Collapse of Bourgeois Economics” (March 26, 2010) — My short letter commenting on an op-ed article in the New York Times by David Brooks about the failure of “modern economics”. (Brooks’ column is included as an appendix.)   PDF Version [137 KB];   MS Word Version [100 KB]
  • “Asian Firms Gaining on U.S. in Innovation” (April 18, 2010) — An article from Business Week, together with my introductory comments which also connect up this development with the current economic crisis.   PDF Version [106 KB];   MS Word Version [45 KB]
  • “Large Sections of the ‘Middle Class’ Sinking into Poverty around the World” (April 22, 2010) — A 2-page letter discussing the state of the “middle class” in Japan, the U.S., and around the world, and linking to two N.Y. Times articles on that topic.   PDF Version [127 KB];   MS Word Version [32 KB]
  • “Mortgage Securitization in the 1920s” (April 28, 2010) — A short letter introducing an article from the NBER Digest which brings out that the securitization of mortgages was also important in the financial aspect of the Great Depression of the 1930s, and is not at all the qualitatively new thing that it is often imagined to be.   PDF Version [125 KB];   MS Word Version [40 KB]
  • “Krugman on the Looming ‘Lost Decade’ for the U.S.” (5/21/10) — A discussion of the fallacies and misconceptions in an op-ed column by Paul Krugman.   PDF Version [170 KB];   MS Word Version [45 KB]
  • “Half-Assed Keynesianism” (6/9/10) — A letter about the half-hearted, and thus only moderately effective “stimulus packages” that the government has been using to try to improve the U.S. economy, along with an article from the New York Times about how the ruling class consensus has turned toward cutting deficits rather than intensifying the “stimulus”.   PDF Version [95 KB];   MS Word Version [47 KB]
  • “Crisis Economics — A Review” (7/26/10) — My 5-page review of the new book by Nouriel Roubini and Stephen Mihm about the financial crisis.   PDF Version [169 KB];   MS Word Version [52 KB]
  • “Comments on an Interview with Steve Keen” (9/15/10) — A letter to a friend about the views on the current economic crisis expressed by the Australian post-Keynesian economist Steve Keen in an interview by Max Keiser, 3 pages.   PDF Version [104 KB];   MS Word Version [34 KB]
  • “Will California Go Bankrupt?” (11/20/10) — A letter to a friend in response to a question about the state of the California economy, 2 pages.   PDF Version [65 KB];   MS Word Version [32 KB]
• 2011-2014:
  • [To be added.]
• 2015:
  • “Negative Interest Rates, and Abolishing Cash Money” [S.H.] (4/26/15) — A letter describing the recent trend within the ruling class media to talk about the need to establish negative interest rates “in order to get people to buy and invest”, and the resulting need to get rid of printed money.   PDF Version [96 KB];   MS Word Version [41 KB]

Debt

• “The Other National Debt” (6/16/10) — A commentary on an article about the federal government debt that appeared in the arch-reactionary magazine, National Review.   PDF Version [99 KB];   MS Word Version [49 KB]
• “Comments on an Interview with Steve Keen” (9/15/10) — A letter to a friend about the views on the current economic crisis expressed by the Australian post-Keynesian economist Steve Keen in an interview by Max Keiser, 3 pages. I dispute Keen’s view that the crisis can be resolved by “cancelling” debt.   PDF Version [104 KB];   MS Word Version [34 KB]
• “Will California Go Bankrupt?” (11/20/10) — A letter to a friend in response to a question about the state of the California economy, 2 pages.   PDF Version [65 KB];   MS Word Version [32 KB]

Japan’s Economy

• “Japan’s ever more dangerous debt problem foreshadows that of the U.S.” (10/21/09) — A letter accompanying an article from the New York Times about the alarming growth of Japanese government debt.   PDF Version [139 KB];   MS Word Version [62 KB]
• “Following the Japanese Economic Path” (7/11/08) — A letter about how it is becoming continually clearer that the U.S. (and world) is following the path of Japan, in and out of recessions interspersed with only short and shallow recoveries.   PDF Version [92 KB];   MS Word Version [38 KB]
• “Japan’s Economy Gets Worse — So Does World’s” (9/10/01) — A letter to friends.
• “Japan Shows that Capitalist Stagnation is Indeed Possible” (2/08/01) — A letter to friends.

The Labor Theory of Value

• “Steve Keen on Marxist Economics, & a Mini Essay on the Labor Theory of Value” (9/3/03) — A very one-sided review of Steve Keen’s Debunking Economics, focusing on the single chapter on Marxist economics, and the labor theory of value in particular. Puts forward the theory that past labor (in the form of tools and machines) can also contribute to surplus value in the current labor process.
  • Letter to Frank S. about the labor theory of value (12/8/03) — My friend Frank criticized my theory about machines being able to contribute to surplus value and my comments about Say’s “Law”. This is my response.
  • “Additional Comments on Say’s ‘Law’—and the Consequences of Failing to Recognize its Fallaciousness” (1/15/04) — A continuation of the above, after a discussion with Frank.
• Letter on the Morality of the Continued Exploitation of Labor Through the Use of Machines Created by Past Labor” (1/16/09) — A further discussion of some ethical issues related to my modified version of the LTV.
• “Some Continued Discussion” (1/19/09) — A continuation of the above discussion about the LTV and related topics, between Scott H. and a correspondent, 4 pages.   PDF Version [101 KB];   MS Word Version [39 KB]

Monthly Review School and Keynesianism

• “Monthly Review and Keynesianism” (April 12, 2010) — A 3-page email discussing the varying degrees of Keynesian influence on economists associated with the magazine Monthly Review.   PDF Version [84 KB];   MS Word Version [38 KB]
• “The Monthly Review School and Blaming the Economic Crisis on the Financialization of the Economy” (Feb. 24-26, 2010) — A 7-page discussion of financialization, the distorted MR conception of the crisis, and some political issues related to the economic crisis.   PDF Version [169 KB];   MS Word Version [52 KB]
• Letter on the Relationship of Marxism and Keynesianism (1/15/09).
• “Patnaik’s Aricle on MRZine” (1/14/09) — Criticism of an article by a left-Keynesian who thinks that overproduction crises can be ended by Keynesian deficits.   PDF Version [122 KB];   MS Word Version [39 KB]
• “Video Lecture by John Bellamy Foster on the Economic Crisis Available” (12/27/08) — Letter recommending this video from Nov. 3, 2008, but including a few criticisms of it.   PDF Version [94 KB];   MS Word Version [30 KB]
• “Comments on an Interview with Steve Keen” (9/15/10) — A letter to a friend about the views on the current economic crisis expressed by the Australian post-Keynesian economist Steve Keen in an interview by Max Keiser, 3 pages.   PDF Version [104 KB];   MS Word Version [34 KB]

Poverty

• “Situation for World’s Poor Continues to Worsen” (7/17/08) — A short letter accompanying a Reuter’s news article, 2 pages.   PDF Version [123 KB];   MS Word Version [30 KB]
• “World Bank Says You’re Not Poor if You Make $1.26 per Day” (8/28/08) — A short commentary on an article in The Economist.   PDF Version [124 KB];   MS Word Version [33 KB]

Statistics and Demography

• “A Survey of Some Graphical Socioeconomic Atlases”, (5/11/10), 12 pages. Includes specific commentary on four atlases, including one devoted specifically to China.   PDF version: [160 KB];   MS Word version: [81 KB].
• “Government Admits it has been Underplaying How Bad Recessions Are” (8/1/09) — A letter introducing a New York Times article I forwarded to friends, about some major adjustments to U.S. government statistics.   PDF Version [109 KB];   MS Word Version [48 KB]
• “Humanity Today and Demographics” (12/10/08) [PDF 326 KB] — An 11-page summary of the U.S. and world population growth, fertility, ageing, urbanization, immigration, etc.
• “Harry Dent’s Demography-Based Economic Theory” (12/2/00) — A letter to friends.

Unemployment and Labor Issues [See also: Current Economic Crisis]

• The Real U.S. Unemployment Rate in 2006 (2007) [PDF: 203 KB] — Explains why the real unemployment rate is well over twice as great as the government and media claim.
• “News Flash! Employers Constantly Cheat Low-Paid Workers!” (Sept. 2, 2009) — Short introductory comments to a New York Times article forwarded to friends.   PDF Version [83 KB];   MS Word Version [58 KB]

Other Topics in Political Economy

• “Notes on Notes on Political Economy” (2/25/00) — A critique of an RCP document about the errors they made in their “1980s analysis” and their current views on the world economic situation.
• “First Notes Towards a Critique of America in Decline” (2/12/99) — A review, of sorts, of a major 1984 RCP book on political economy.
• “The Many Types of Capitalist Economic Anarchy” (2/23/83).

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Section 4: POLITICS

Politics in General

• “A Virtual Debate With Gandhi About Non-Violence” (12/11/88) — About 35 Gandhi quotations together with responses.
• “Social Pressure as a Moral & Political Tool” (6/12/98) — Defends the use of social pressure when it advances the cause of the people.

Historical Materialism

• “Comments on the Term ‘Petty Bourgeoisie’”, (4/28/19) — An elaboration of the definition of the ‘petty bourgeoisie’ with discussion of related issues, 18 pages.   Searchable PDF format [218 KB]
• “Further Discussion of the ‘Petty Bourgeoisie’ and Related Issues”, (5/20/19) — A sequel to the paper above in light of criticisms and disagreements by comrades, together with some additional issues including the question of what it means for us revolutionaries to approach MLM in a scientific way, 11 pages.   Searchable PDF format [100 KB]
• “How Children Outgrow Socialism”, (5/30/10) — A letter commenting on a new scientific study showing that younger children are much more sharing, cooperative and favoring of equality than older children.   PDF Version [136 KB];   MS Word Version [44 KB]
• “Human Culture, an Evolutionary Force”, (03/02/10) — A letter commenting on a science article in the New York Times (included as an appendix) discussing how aspects of human culture can actually change human biology and genetics.   PDF Version [124 KB];   MS Word Version [68 KB]
• “New Scientific Views on Our Biological Human Nature”, (12/1/09) — A letter about our human biological nature and our overall biological/cultural human nature, including an article from the New York Times about recent discoveries that tendencies toward cooperation and altruism are innate in human babies.   PDF Version [92 KB];   MS Word Version [65 KB]
• “Sports Concussions Not Dangerous—They Believe! Yet another Demonstration of a Basic Principle of Historical Materialism”, (2/5/10) — A letter commenting on an op-ed piece in the New York Times about how concussions are not being taken seriously in sports.   PDF Version [177 KB];   MS Word Version [46 KB]

The Capitalist-Imperialist System

• The Definition of ‘Capitalism’ (March 2003) — A letter to friends.
• “Political Wisdom in the Bridge Column” (9/14/10) — A short letter commenting on the tendency of imperialists to refer to their conquest of other countries as their “liberation”.   PDF Version [45 KB];   MS Word Version [27 KB]
• “World Hunger Now Exceeds 1 Billion People!”, (6/19/09) — A letter commenting on a news report about the huge and growing number of people in the world who are hungry and the unwillingness of the ruling capitalists to do anything about it.   PDF Version [98 KB];   MS Word Version [42 KB]
• “As Children Starve... U.S. Gives Billions to Banks!” (11/18/08) — A letter to friends, together with a CNN article about all the starving children in the world today.
  • “Is Overpopulation the Cause of Hunger and Starvation?”, an email exchange between Scott H. and his friend Kirby. (11/21/08)
• “College the Easy Way”, (3/5/11) — A letter commenting on an included news article about the dumbing down of a college education in the U.S., and on the decline of American education in general. (3 pages.)   PDF Version [81 KB];   MS Word Version [39 KB]
• “Are Cops Really That Bad?” (11/24/01) — Letter discussing the nature of the police.

Bourgeois Politics, Elections, etc.

• "A Short Introduction to the MLM Conception of Fascism", (12/13/09) — A 19-page essay contrasting the revolutionary proletarian idea of fascism with the standard bourgeois conception.   PDF Version [335 KB];   MS Word Version [122 KB]
• “A Response to the Paper on Elections” (7/4/72) — An old paper urging a policy of critical support for McGovern in the 1972 presidential election, and proposing two criteria which must hold before Marxists support bourgeois politicians.
• Discussion of Leftist Views on the 2004 Presidential Election — Scott H.’s reply to a query from his friend Kirby. Also discusses how serious the threat of full-scale fascism should be taken.
• A Discussion About Whether it Was Correct to Support Kerry in the 2004 Presidential Election — A 3-way discussion between Scott, “Carol” and “Kirby” about how revolutionaries and progressive people should participate in elections.
• “McCain Unsure How Many Houses He Owns”, (8/21/08) — Introductory comments to a news article about Presidential nominee John McCain, and how divorced he and other bourgeois politicians are from the lives of the people.   PDF Version [101 KB];   MS Word Version [29 KB]
• Review of Oliver Stone’s 1986 movie, Platoon (Feb. 1987) — Criticizes the liberal view of the Vietnam War.
  • A letter criticizing the above review together with my response (4/3/02).
  • “Platoon and the 1980s” (4/12/09) — Another letter about this review and a response. PDF Version [54 KB];   MS Word Version [33 KB]
• “Why Nothing is Done about Bush’s Lies Leading to the Iraq War” (8/10/08) — A short letter, which also links to some further revelations about Bush’s lies.

Socialism, Communism and Revolution

• “What is Socialism? What is Communism?”, (5/22/10) — An exchange of letters between several people on these two questions.   PDF Version [65 KB];   MS Word Version [44 KB]
• “What is Socialism?”, (12/20/14) — A letter to Bob Weil about determining whether a country is socialist or not, and specifically focusing on Stalin’s USSR and Castro’s Cuba. 6 pages.   PDF Version [87 KB];   MS Word Version [45 KB]

The American Revolutionary Movement — General

• “Why Marxism-Leninism-Maoism is a Science” (2/6/97) — Explains why revolutionary Marxism is properly considered a science.
• “Expertise and the Mass Line” (7/29/02) — Letter posted during a discussion on the Progressive Economists News List.
• “Expertise and Vanguard Parties” (7/30/02) — Letter responding to a criticism of the item just above. Explains what a vanguard party really is.
• “On the Question of Multiple Revolutionary Parties” (4/11/00) — Explores the question of whether more than one revolutionary party is desirable or necessary, and the issue of factions within the party.
• “How Critical Should Revolutionaries Be of Each Other?” (10/21/04)
• “A Wonderful Old Article from Peking Review”, (6/23/09) — A one-page letter sent to friends on the topic of attitudes that revolutionaries should have toward themselves!   PDF Version [49 KB];   MS Word Version [29 KB]
• “A Discussion about Academia and Revolutionary Politics, and Other Topics”, between Scott H. and a revolutionary student friend, Sept.-Oct. 2009, 14 pages.   PDF Version [245 KB];   MS Word Version [81 KB]

Building a New Revolutionary Party in the U.S.

• [To be added.]

The Revolutionary Communist Party, USA

• Documents from an early struggle: The Expulsion of Scott H. from the RCP in 1977 - Proof that it doesn’t pay to be too enthusiastic about the mass line when you are a member of the RCP!
• “First Notes Towards a Critique of America in Decline” (2/12/99) — A review, of sorts, of a major 1984 RCP book on political economy.
• Book chapter: “The Mass Line, Reformist Struggle, & the Revolutionary Goal”. This is chapter 19 of my book The Mass Line and the American Revolutionary Movement. This chapter is largely a critique of the RCP’s line toward the masses, as expressed in their 1981 Programme (in force until 2001).
• “On the RCP Announcement of their New Programme Project” (11/2/99)
• “How to ‘Fake’ the Mass Line” (12/13/01) — Includes some criticism of the 2001 RCP “draft” programme.
• Debate (of sorts): Between Scott H. and several RCP members/supporters in the spring of 2002 regarding the new RCP programme “draft” and the political line of the RCP. Includes a couple of post-debate exchanges with RCP members about the mass line.
• “Notes on Notes on Political Economy” (2/25/00) — A critique of an RCP document about the errors they made in their “1980s analysis” and their current views on the world economic situation.
• Letter on the Mass Line (10/9/07) — Discussing the RCP’s peculiar understanding of “leadership”, and what it means to have a mass perspective and a deep understanding of what “the masses are the makers of history” must mean.   PDF version [95 KB];   MS Word version [40 KB]

The Freedom Road Socialist Organization — (Actually two groups with this name since the organization split in 1999.)

• “Comments on FRSO’s View of the Mass Line” (9/10/03) — A critique of two FRSO documents presenting and discussing the mass line, and the general political work of the FRSO groups.
• Discussion: Examining FRSO’s Line Toward the Masses (3/16/06) — A discussion of the line of one of the FRSO groups (the one pushing the “Left Refoundation” idea). This discussion began on a blog maintained by a revolutionary friend, “Celticfire”, when an apparent FRSO member or supporter by the name of “Nelson H.” posted a criticism of some of my comments on FRSO which appear on massline.info. (See above reference.) This is my reply.

International Politics

• The National Question:
  • “Some Brief Comments on the National ‘Right of Self-Determination’” (Feb. 23, 2008) — General remarks meant as a preface to a discussion of the Kosovo issue.   PDF Version [120 KB];   MS Word Version [29 KB]
• Bangladesh:
  • “Bangladesh and China” (Oct. 21, 2008) — A question posed by a friend regarding China’s opposition to India’s role in splitting Bangladesh off from Pakistan, together with my response.   PDF Version [128 KB];   MS Word Version [33 KB]
• China:
  • “Letter discussing criticisms made of Ranganayakamma’s article against the Mao personality cult”, by “Warren” (a.k.a. Scott H.). (3/19/07)
• Cuba/Che:
  • “What are Your Thoughts about Che Guevara?” (Jan. 20, 2009) — A question posed by a friend and a reply.   PDF Version [225 KB];   MS Word Version [35 KB]
  • “What is Socialism?”, (12/20/14) — A letter to Bob Weil about determining whether a country is socialist or not, and specifically focusing on Stalin’s USSR and Castro’s Cuba. 6 pages.   PDF Version [87 KB];   MS Word Version [45 KB]
  • “Questions About Cuba” (April 20, 2018) — My response to a letter from a correspondent.   PDF Version [65 KB]
• Germany:
  • “Hitler’s War to the East Based on America’s War to the West” (Dec. 18, 2008) — Comments on a thesis in a book by Adam Tooze.   PDF Version [163 KB];   MS Word Version [38 KB]
• India:
  • Revolutionary Organizations in India (Updated in 2008) — A 30 to 35 page examination of the many Mao-influenced revolutionary groups in India, together with some of their organizational history.
• Philippines:
  • “Comments on Sison’s ‘Contradictions in the World Capitalist System and the Necessity of Socialist Revolution’” (1/23/02) — Discussion of Jose Maria Sison’s view of the world economic and political situation.
• U.S.S.R.:
  • “Mao’s Evaluations of Stalin: A Collection and Summary”, ed. by Scott H. for the Single Spark Collective, (9/6/06) — About 40 pages long.

(More to be added later.)

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Section 5: MISCELLANEOUS

Science Discussions, Commentaries and Reviews

• “The Mathematics of Alice in Wonderland” (10/03/10) — Introductory comments to a forwarded article on mathematical allusions in the Alice stories.   PDF Version [122 KB];   MS Word Version [41 KB]
• “Scientific Theories” (1/2/09) — A response to a friend who raised the question “Why can’t I put my hand through the top of the table if it is mostly made up of empty space?”, and a couple other interesting issues.   PDF Version [147 KB];   MS Word Version [34 KB]
• “Brain Scanners and Free Will” (04/13/08) — A letter to friends discussing recent brain research that shows that when you make a decision the initial process is unconscious and that you are only afterwards consciously aware of your own decision. Explains why this does not show that free will is an “illusion”.   PDF Version [151 KB];   MS Word Version [168 KB]
• “Studying a Totally Unknown Language” (10/6/08) — A letter to friends together with an article about a graduate class at U.C. Berkeley studying an almost unknown African language.   PDF Version [59 KB];   MS Word Version [37 KB]

Humor (or Attempts in That Direction!)

• Living Vicariously, a letter in response to my sister Connie and her husband Jere sky-diving on their 25th Wedding Anniversary. (10/22/91)   PDF Version [115 KB]   MS Word Version [36 KB]
• Christmas Presents, a letter thanking Con & Jere for Xmas presents, that somehow gets a bit off track. (1/2/92)   PDF Version [132 KB]   MS Word Version [42 KB]
• Lobster Dining — (4/18/96)   PDF Version [119 KB]   MS Word Version [36 KB]
• A Very Big Fish Story, a letter to Connie after she caught a huge sailfish in the Atlantic Ocean. (3/1/97)   PDF Version [161 KB]   MS Word Version [45 KB]

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