Truthout
Progressive Picks
Books and films that we find thought-provoking and insightful.
![Progressive Picks](https://truthout.org/app/uploads/2018/01/16444708675_9bda07918c_k-1200x675.jpg)
![Protesters gather at the Starbucks location in Center City Philadelphia, PA on April 15, 2018, where two black men were arrested days earlier. The arrest prompted controversy after video of the incident became viral.](https://truthout.org/app/uploads/2018/06/GettyImages-948002122-400x300.jpg)
Revolution, Not Amelioration, Is Necessary to End Oppression
If the change we need is almost unimaginable, we're in an extremely dangerous situation.
![](https://truthout.org/app/uploads/2018/06/16775321215_d5220ac7a4_o-400x300.jpg)
To Overcome Oppression, the Violent Machinations of the Settler State Must Be Rejected
An excerpt from “As Black as Resistance: Finding the Conditions for Liberation.”
![Neo Nazis, Alt-Right, and white supremacists encircle counter protestors at the base of a statue of Thomas Jefferson after marching through the University of Virginia campus with torches in Charlottesville, Virginia, on August 11, 2017.](https://truthout.org/app/uploads/2018/06/GettyImages-831336742-400x300.jpg)
Henry A. Giroux: The Nightmare of Neoliberal Fascism
It's time we recognized that capitalism is not democracy.
![Donald Trump at CPAC 2011 in Washington, D.C. Photo: Gage Skidmore](https://truthout.org/app/uploads/2018/06/5440393641_6dabcc3f81_o-400x300.jpg)
A Democracy in Exile Fights Against Fascism
There is no change without a broad-based movement of collective resistance.
![Instinct for Cooperation](https://truthout.org/app/uploads/2018/05/InstinctForCooperation_37-1-e1527928257868-400x300.jpg)
Noam Chomsky: Building Spaces of Resistance
Capitalism atomizes society into individuals who accept the status quo.
![An F-16 Fighting Falcon prepares for takeoff from Joint Base Balad, Iraq, June 8, 2010. Including future costs to care for this country's war vets, a staggering $5.6 trillion has gone to the US "war on terror."](https://truthout.org/app/uploads/2018/05/4706951418_c6d66398bd_o-400x300.jpg)
The United States Is a Force for Chaos Across the Planet
The US's endless war has resulted in endless failures.
![A US soldier maneuvers through a smoke screen during live fire exercises in Djibouti, December 27, 2017.](https://truthout.org/app/uploads/2018/05/25040058927_683a369c6d_o-400x300.jpg)
An Empire of Nothing at All? The US Military Takes Us Through the Gates of Hell
Although the peace movement is not a loud voice at this time in the US, it should be.
![A woman passes a mural painted on the wall of the former US Embassy in Tehran, Iran, on May 9, 2018.](https://truthout.org/app/uploads/2018/05/GettyImages-956438466-400x300.jpg)
In a More Rational World, the US and Iran Would Have Full Diplomatic Relations
Now more than ever, it is necessary to understand Iran in the context of its own history and its tumultuous relationship with the US.
![Two US Navy Grumman A-6A Intruder aircraft drop bombs over Vietnam, December 20, 1968. American exceptionalism implicitly includes the notion that the US excels at making war.](https://truthout.org/app/uploads/2018/05/A-6A_Intruders_of_VA-196_dropping_Mk_82_bombs_over_Vietnam_on_20_December_1968_NNAM.1996.253.7047.013-400x300.jpg)
“Making America Great Again” Assumes That It Once Was
The US is exceptional in believing it is exceptional.
![A Trump supporter carries an American flag as police monitor the scene during a "Make America Great Again" rally in Salem, Oregon, on March 25, 2017.](https://truthout.org/app/uploads/2018/05/GettyImages-657803898-400x300.jpg)
The Hubris of American Exceptionalism Devalues the Rest of the World
US exceptionalism is a hubris that reeks of bigotry.