this post was submitted on 24 Jan 2026
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[–] MaoTheLawn@hexbear.net 26 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago)

For all the kind words in this thread, I think there's one quality of his that is quite underappreciated.

His charisma. Go back and watch his old lectures, he is such a calm and cool speaker - who could get fired up or shoot a biting comment from the hip whenever it was needed.

Just completely in his element in public speaking - if it weren't such a waste of time to become a politician (in his own words), he could have certainly gone far. I would've loved to have seen him go up against some of the public figures around today - though I'm sure in years preceding his old age he was probably already blacklisted from most media outlets.

[–] MaoTheLawn@hexbear.net 31 points 1 day ago (1 children)

Sucks to hear but you can't complain about 92, and his dementia was quite bad too so I'm sure it was his time.

Meanwhile Chomsky lives on. Pedo blood magyk.

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[–] KoboldKomrade@hexbear.net 98 points 1 day ago (3 children)

Genuinely one of the greats. Sad he couldn't have retired into a socialist world. Sadder he didn't live to see us free.

Yellow Parenti is still as relevant as when he delivered it 40 years ago.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xP8CzlFhc14

[–] WIIHAPPYFEW@hexbear.net 77 points 1 day ago (3 children)

He lived to the point where hundreds of thousands of people in the most deeply propagandized country in the world are organized enough to go on strike together stand against domestic repression unseen since at least the Nixon era, if not earlier. He made it long enough for people even here to develop class solidarity en masse, organized largely by socialist organizations with plenty of members radicalized by his works. Call me overly bloomerist if you want, but I think he left a legacy he could be proud of fidel-salute-big

[–] microfiche@hexbear.net 37 points 1 day ago

sankara-salute

Thanks for the optimism

[–] gingerbrat@hexbear.net 38 points 1 day ago

I needed that bloomerist of a comment to cheer me up a bit. Thank you rat-salute

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[–] Omegamint@hexbear.net 23 points 1 day ago

Still gets me as angry as it did the first time I saw it. It’s a good kind of anger though, the kind that reminds you to keep pushing

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[–] somename@hexbear.net 26 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago)

A death like this is sad, but there's also positive. Advanced dementia is not a pretty thing. A lot of times I roll my eyes at people calling death peace, but cases like this, where the mind goes, it really can be a true reprieve.

Better to celebrate his life, and be glad in it.

[–] miz@hexbear.net 83 points 1 day ago (4 children)

in the afterlife, there are no technical issues with the audio or video equipment.

rest in peace Michael Parenti, you will be missed but your contributions continue to enlighten people every day

[–] KurtVonnegut@hexbear.net 48 points 1 day ago

In life, he was surrounded by a yellow haze. In death, he is surrounded by a golden shroud.

[–] SuperZutsuki@hexbear.net 41 points 1 day ago

In the afterlife, the yellow value is not limited to 255

[–] quarrk@hexbear.net 31 points 1 day ago

Whenever I have audio issues from now on, I will be glad knowing Michael Parenti is haunting / watching over me specter

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[–] Awoo@hexbear.net 80 points 1 day ago (2 children)

I don't think it can be understated how important this dude has been to the western left.

The tens of thousands of marxists he created will now have to work twice as hard collectively just to be as powerful as he was all by himself. He's earned his rest.

[–] AssortedBiscuits@hexbear.net 3 points 20 hours ago

He legit kept the torch burning at the lowest point of the Western left.

[–] newacctidk@hexbear.net 52 points 1 day ago

He really has been a lifeline for post-collapse communists in the english speaking world.

[–] Cowbee@hexbear.net 42 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago)

Rest in peace, comrade. You were vital in my growth into a Marxist, and it cannot be overstated how many people you've made into communists. May we carry on your legacy!

parenti

"Yellow Parenti" Speech and Blackshirts and Reds | Audiobook

[–] astronot@hexbear.net 17 points 1 day ago (2 children)

Blackshirts and Reds was probably the tipping point in my becoming a Marxist. I owe this man a lot. I'm beyond sad to hear of his passing, but comforted to hear he passed peacefully while surrounded by family. May he rest in peace.

[–] TheLepidopterists@hexbear.net 9 points 1 day ago* (last edited 18 hours ago)

"The revolution that feeds the children gets my support," was what did it for me. It just immediately clicked that if only one political ideology had ever implemented a government that made it a priority that all children absolutely had to be given the necessities of life then that ideology had to be (I know this isn't very Marxist of me, but I was raised Christian, sue me) righteous, and anyone who opposed it was evil or deluded.

I know that Marxists falter and make mistakes, and if they're running a country then joining the party is a necessity to certain kinds of social climbers, so there can be careerists, but down deep, Marxists are fighting on behalf of humanity and liberals just aren't.

He just had a way of distilling very important ideas into consise and understandable language.

[–] sewer_rat_420@hexbear.net 8 points 1 day ago

It was the same for me. That book disarmed my anti communist brainwashing as well as teaching me the connections between capital and fascism.

[–] Socialism_Is_The_Alternative@hexbear.net 18 points 1 day ago (1 children)

RIP. Michael Parenti was definitely one of our greatest US leftist writers, along with William Blum, who also sadly passed away back in 2018.

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[–] Johnny_Arson@hexbear.net 44 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago)

During the cold war, the anticommunist ideological framework could transform any data about existing communist societies into hostile evidence. If the Soviets refused to negotiate a point, they were intransigent and belligerent; if they appeared willing to make concessions, this was but a skillful ploy to put us off our guard. By opposing arms limitations, they would have demonstrated their aggressive intent; but when in fact they supported most armament treaties, it was because they were mendacious and manipulative. If the churches in the USSR were empty, this demonstrated that religion was suppressed; but if the churches were full, this meant the people were rejecting the regime's atheistic ideology. If the workers went on strike (as happened on infrequent occasions), this was evidence of their alienation from the collectivist system; if they didn't go on strike, this was because they were intimidated and lacked freedom. A scarcity of consumer goods demonstrated the failure of the economic system; an improvement in consumer supplies meant only that the leaders were attempting to placate a restive population and so maintain a firmer hold over them.

If communists in the United States played an important role struggling for the rights of workers, the poor, African-Americans, women, and others, this was only their guileful way of gathering support among disfranchised groups and gaining power for themselves. How one gained power by fighting for the rights of powerless groups was never explained. What we are dealing with is a nonfalsifiable orthodoxy, so assiduously marketed by the ruling interests that it affected people across the entire political spectrum.

-Michael Parenti

[–] KurtVonnegut@hexbear.net 75 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago) (2 children)
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[–] StillNoLeftLeft@hexbear.net 22 points 1 day ago

Listened to him just yesterday again.

Thank you Mr Parenti for being a true light in the darkness. You were such a great guide for a lib like me. I wish I had found your work a lot earlier in life, it changed everything.

RIP

heart-sickle

[–] SpookyBogMonster@lemmy.ml 32 points 1 day ago

RIP to a fucking real one o7

I'm off to reread Blackshirts and Reds, after having to listen to some lib today, prattle on about how supposedly undemocratic the USSR was.

[–] Midnight_Pearl@hexbear.net 42 points 1 day ago

kitty-cri this one hurts

[–] GalaxyBrain@hexbear.net 19 points 1 day ago

Genuinely a hero

[–] Majestic@lemmy.ml 29 points 1 day ago

Rest in power. Quite probably the most important, impactful Marxist in the west post 90s. His words changed many lives. His words changed my life. May we live to see another speaker who can communicate as he can in the English world soon.

[–] awrf@hexbear.net 30 points 1 day ago

Rest in peace. If it wasn't for him, I probably wouldn't have made my way out of the dark reactionary hell hole that I was in as a lost teenager during 2015-2016. Fly high, you deserve it fidel-salute-big

[–] Civility@hexbear.net 14 points 1 day ago

Rest in power.

[–] git@hexbear.net 19 points 1 day ago (1 children)

Damn. One of the greatest. RIP.

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[–] Spike@hexbear.net 23 points 1 day ago

The passion and anger he had during his speeches has never been matched. What a legend and a hero fidel-salute-big

[–] ourtimewillcome@hexbear.net 21 points 1 day ago

memory eternal

rosa-salute

[–] jjsandwich8@hexbear.net 52 points 1 day ago

Damn. Glad he lived a nice long life, rest in peace 07

[–] ElChapoDeChapo@hexbear.net 27 points 1 day ago

Worst news to wake up to kitty-birthday-sad

[–] happybadger@hexbear.net 50 points 1 day ago

Rest in power. He was a brilliant writer.

Peace be upon him and his family, may his name never be lost to history.

[–] ColonelKataffy@hexbear.net 38 points 1 day ago (6 children)

racism-finished critical shout out to Choking Victim (stza bad) for sampling Parenti's rants and spreading them to the punk scene

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[–] ConcreteHalloween@hexbear.net 34 points 1 day ago

Damn 92, that's a full life

party-parenti

sankara-salute a great loss

[–] NKpop@hexbear.net 41 points 1 day ago

Yellow_parenti1986.avi rosa-salute Rest in power parenti

[–] SorosFootSoldier@hexbear.net 43 points 1 day ago

I'm glad he got to live a nice long life, I hope he rests easy now 07

[–] thefunkycomitatus@hexbear.net 43 points 1 day ago

One of the best to do ever do it.

[–] RobnHood@hexbear.net 41 points 1 day ago

“Now he is in what he used to refer to as ‘the great lecture hall in the sky,’” his son, Christian, reflected

[–] Bartsbigbugbag@lemmy.ml 11 points 1 day ago

It’s very sad, but it sounded like he was suffering for a while, so in a way, it’s a relief. He put in his time, in the grimmest of times for communists in the west. It is our turn to carry his legacy forward.

[–] FourteenEyes@hexbear.net 35 points 1 day ago

Portrait should be yellow and grainy as a sign of respect parenti cri

[–] TheaJo@hexbear.net 7 points 1 day ago

Damn good run

[–] fort_burp@feddit.nl 26 points 1 day ago

RIPower. I can see how his shift would be over right about now.

[–] WideningGyro@hexbear.net 29 points 1 day ago

A final rest for a great soul fidel-salute-big

[–] GenderIsOpSec@hexbear.net 23 points 1 day ago

rip to a real one catgirl-salutecatgirl-cry

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