I sawTariq Ali while watching Democracy Now. Tariq is a British Pakistani intellectual who was discussing Palestine. Tariq Ali shouldn’t be confused with Al Tariq of the Beatnuts.
Are You Ready?
The Rolling Stones wrote Street Fighting Man about Tariq Ali in the late 60’s. Street Fighting Man’s lyrics discuss social revolution against authoritarianism during economic, social oppression and the Vietnam War.
One of my ideas around my ANONROCKNROLL radio show is an idea that Rock N Roll was the soundtrack for Black Panthers, Weathermen, and 70’s leftist social revolution. I applied our reverence for the term Hip Hop determining Rock N Roll is proto-Hip Hop if you respect Panthers and reject COINTELPRO.
I decided I should read Tariq Ali because a left-wing culture was consistent with bands like Turnstile, Clairo, El-Michels Affair, Earl Sweatshirt and Badbadnotgood’s support of Palestine. El Michels Affair, and Badbadnotgood specialize in returning sampling into musicians by studying sampling. I suspect Earl Sweatshirt would like both Tariq Ali and Al Tariq’s debut,the Beatnuts Intoxicated Demons EP.
The DSA’s grassroots is music.
Tariq Ali’s started editing an intellectual journal called the New Left Review in the late 60’s.
I embraced the literal Idea of New Left Review from a cultural critic’s platform while contemplating Run The Jewels, Clairo, and Turnstile.
I decide I should review Tariq Ali.
Tariq Ali’s You Can’t Please All and the Extreme Center arrived. You Can’t Please All is almost 800 pages long. You Can’t Please All is Ali’s memoir from 1980-2024. We weren’t the 50-70’s for this one. I realized I enrolled in an auto-dictate college course. I apologize about the length of this column. Tariq discusses the limitations of 400-word writings about important subjects.
I started reading You Can’t Please All. I found out Tariq wrote book called Street Fighting Years which discusses Tariq’s interactions with Malcolm X and Jean Paul Sartre. I looked at his 800 page book You Can’t Please All in front of me. I compromised. I didn’t know he interacted with Malcolm X and Jean Paul Sartre until I read You Can’t Please All.
You Can’t Please All arrived while Democrat Socialist Mamdani won New York City’s Mayor’s race. Tariq Ali is a British Marxist Pakistani public intellectual.
I found the importance of You Can’t Please All relevant from the discussion of Democratic Socialism in American politics. Bernie Sanders and AOC have both displayed the likability factor in the DSA’s leaders. Mamdani added an overcoming of a local oligarchical political machine in New York City into DSA possibilities.
Democratic establishment leaders Kamala Harris, and Biden supported Mamdani. New York Democratic establishment Congressmen Chuck Schumer and Hakim Jefferies didn’t endorse the Democratic candidate that won the 2025 New York City mayor’s race over the Trump- endorsed Cuomo.
In the United States, our biggest fears of socialists, Marxists, and communists are the following:
1. USSR and Chinese communist leaders used authoritarianism for complete censorship, misinformation, opposition of free speech and oppressions. Censorship allows and finds implementation with oppressive violence.
2. Communist authoritarianism uses economic control and is often completely corrupt. People don’t wanna pay money into something that doesn’t benefit them. People don’t trust coordinated bureaucracy with their money whether it’s government or corporations.
Tariq Ali’s support of Democratic Socialism is an intellectual opinion. Tariq Ali has practical embracement of Marxism. Ali opposes imperialism from a Muslim perspective.
Whether it’s from Soviets, or the United States, Tariq is against imperialism. Tariq is from Pakistan and lives in England. Britain, Soviets and the US treated colonialism like a time-share after WW2.
Americans are indoctrinated against socialism because of the Cold War, Vietnam, Korea, and China. Tariq embraces Marxism as someone who experienced US imperialism in Islamic Countries. Tariq also opposes Islamic dictatorships in Muslim countries. Neither capitalism nor religious fanaticism worked in Tariq’s empirical experiences.
Tariq’s public Marxist intellectualism allowed his entry in communist counties for You Can’t Please All. Tariq is from Pakistan. The KGB knew Tariq doesn’t like American imperialism.
Russia is familiar with Afghanistan, and Pakistan which KGB, and CIA both used imperialistic prongs which eventually empowered the Taliban. Tariq didn’t celebrate 9-11 in You Can’t Please All.
Tariq is an intellectual who doesn’t like the American CIA installing dictatorships which replace democratic governments. Tariq isn’t a fan of the CIA-installed Taliban’s treatment of women.
Soviets, and China allow Tariq entry into Russia, and China because Tariq criticizes American foreign policy in New Left Review, and his Verso Books.
In the You Can’t Please All there are writings about visiting the Soviet Union around Glasnost in 1985-86. In the Soviet Union, Ali finds 1980’s Glasnost removed decades of complete lies which were installed with Stalinist Communist authoritarian leadership. Tariq is aware that that the Russian government lied to Russian people about historic facts for decades via schools and universities. Ali’s conversation is from a Marxist visiting a communist country.
It’s almost a secular cultural pilgrimage where an idealist is aware of the misuse of power by Russia and USA.
If you look at Trump’s attack on education and complete commitment to lying, then you
understand Donald Trump is functioning as an authoritarian, even if socialism or Marxism isn’t the party line of The Republicans. I do think the January 6 Choir at The Kennedy Center is post-modern comedy. The January 6 Choir at The Kennedy Center concept shows a bigger problem which was revealed in Trump’s attack on universities and media outlets.
In You Can’t Please All, Ali discusses Putin as a right-wing fascist whose power was assisted by USA’s desire to destroy them during a time of social change within Russia.
Putin understood the transition from an authoritarian communist country into an authoritarian ultraconservative nationalist country only took an embracement of the idea of oligarchy and bigotry. I keep wondering wtf Russia did with oil money during communism. Putin uses oil oligarch’s leverage in unison with Texas Republicans for fascism.
Putin knew Russians are brainwashed. Putin just needed a nationalist Make Russia Great Movement. I found relevance in You Can’t Please All’s words about US treatment of Glasnost reform during the fall of Soviet Union.
I remembered our countries’ 2017 Trump Russian investigation about Putin installing Donald Trump as our president. Putin’s motivation was perceived as revenge for America’s response to Boris Yeltsin, and Gorbachev softening. Putin was a strong man after the fall of the Soviet Union. Putin still didn’t like America until Trump.
Russia isn’t the only reason people are afraid of the word socialism.
China’s Tiananmen Square’s 1989 massacre of democratic protestors is a reason Americans fear communism and socialism.
Tariq Ali discusses China during Tiananmen Square in 1989 in You Can’t Please All.
The Chinese military was sent in to attack Chinese citizens.
While reading Tariq Ali’s story, I felt Trump’s use of the National Guard, and ICE is similar in the nature of Tiananmen Square. We’ve watched ICE beat people and while the National Guard tear gas protestors who don’t like a secret police violently kidnapping human beings.
Authoritarian violences shows people consequences of opposing the Trump regime.
I’m an American citizen. My priority is where I live.
Trump isn’t a communist like Stalin who installed lies in Russian schools and press or China’s Central Military Commissions Deng Xiaoping who attacked Chinese citizens using China’s military. Trump, Stalin, and Deng Xiaoping are all authoritarians. Government mandated lies, and military attacks are tools of authoritarians. Putin doesn’t need communism for authoritarianism.
Trump is a Putin Republican. Trump was trained by Communist violence.
In You Can’t Please All, Tariq writes sexual assault of women existed in Russia and Chinese political parties. Powerful men who feel entitled to sexually assaulting women is a trait of authoritarians.
It’s true, Mamdani’s was elected in New York City because Mamdani address economic concerns and represented a rejection of dishonesty. There is discussion of a one-party system, in You Can’t Please All. I didn’t take this discussion seriously until I thought about Mamdini/Cuomo. Mamdani was the Democratic candidate. Cuomo was an Independent.
In theory. If Trump finally renders the Republican Party incapable with people then the future political contests in some cities could be Democrat vs. Democratic Socialist. Republican candidate Curtis Silwa only registered Republican in 2025 New York mayor’s election.
Republicans don’t even run anyone in Columbus, Ohio. Democrat centrists win places like Columbus. A Democratic Socialist won New York City.
Perhaps the future of American politics is centrist governors like New Jersey’s Mikie Sherrli and Virginia’s Abigail Spanberger. Of course, all the victories occurred in Democrat leaning states. We don’t know if ICE Raids are popular in red states, yet.
Perhaps New Yorkers just didn’t want Cuomo.
The immediate issue is similar as my disdain for Hamas. Trump, Hamas, and Cuomo all believe powerful men are entitled to sexual assault. Trump repeated his sexual assault imperative during his New York civil case testimony in 2022. Cuomo resigned from office in 2022 after valid sexual assault accusations. You could correctly argue Hamas sexual violence was worse than Trump’s and Cuomo’s sexual violence. Hamas atrocities don’t change the fact the Trump and Cuomo advocate the same entitlements as Russia and Chinese authoritarians.
In You Can’t Please All, Tariq discusses how our country’s soldiers raped plenty of socialists and Muslims in Vietnam and Iraq without the guise of imperialism enforced capitalism.
Perhaps Mamdani won because Mamdani didn’t sexually assault and Rudy Giuliani is a Republican. New York City hasn’t forgotten Rudy was a Republican.
Trump and Cuomo were liars especially about COVID. Rapists are often liars. Covid is said to be Chinese in origin. The entire world shut down because of plague. Trump is using our country’s experience to implement fascism under the guise of protecting us from immigrants and Muslims.
Israel’s genocide of Palestinians is brutal. ICE is kidnapping people in our country and sending them into for-profit prisons. Trump turned our military on our citizens like the Chinese government did during Tiananmen Square.
Trump, Stalin, and Deng Xiaopeng aren’t Democratic Socialists.
Democratic Socialism uses honesty and voting for implementation.
Tariq’s observations about Soviet and American imperialism detail the fact ICE and the military have treated other countries like this for years. Tariq Ali believes that it’s important that the Geneva Convention exists during war is important because USA, Israel, Saddam Hussien, the Taliban, and the Soviets brutalized the same Muslim populations once the violence starts.
I would offer the idea: the Geneva Convention should’ve been applied in Palestine because the various factors that kill Israeli and Palestinian women are in the hands of men who don’t oppose sexual violence.
If you’re looking for insight about Trump’s current ceasefire deal, in The Case Against Tony Blair, Tariq Ali implies that the former British prime minister cultivated an Islamophobia culture in England while agreeing with any American military action against Iraq including the Second Gulf War.
The Case Against Tony Blair appears to have been written somewhere between 2005-2007.
Trump’s ceasefire plan enlists Tony Blair in a Board of Peace which would govern Palestine’s post-war transition. Palestine was a British colony until 1948 until Israel took over. Does Blair solidify Palestine as white supremacy’s continuation of genocide after the horrendous Holocaust? You Can’t Please All discusses England and the Soviets had moments of Nazi appeasement…
You Can’t Please All familiarizes us Yankee brutes with words like Tory, Conservative Party and Labour Party. We only know We Don’t Need this Fascist Groove Thing was a song which opposed Margaret Thatcher after the Sex Pistol sarcastically croon, “The Fascist Regime” about the Queen of England.
Tariq Ali called Tony Blair a war criminal in the Guardian.
Remember Trump established his credibility by defeating Jeb Bush in a 2016 Republican debate using the opposition of the Second Gulf War as fodder for voting against Bush. Will Donald Trump’s legacy be cemented as loathsome as George Bush and Thatcher with punk Yankee brutes?
You Can’t Please All contains writings about Palestinian-American thinker Edward Said, Venezuela leader Hugo Caesar Chavez, Fidel Castro, Edward Miliband, David Miliband, Jeremy Corbyn, Brexit, Lu Xun, BBC, Al Jazeera, Libya, Hijabs with Salacious Clothing, Turkey, Occupy Wall Street, Brasilia, Pissing on Insurgents, Henry Kissinger, and Palestine.
You Can’t Please All details history of various Pakistani governments, Tariq Ali states the cautionary, “Martial Law always begins with the promise of a new order that will sweep away the filth and corruption that marked the previous one.”
After reading You Can’t Please All I determined I should watch Tariq Ali’s The Bandung Files TV Show.
You Can’t Please All maintains a commitment into socialist, and Islamic culture despite proof that all faiths, religions and political structures had capabilities of authoritarianism.
From You Can’t Please All, I ascertained Democratic Socialism is promising because all authoritarians – communist, capitalist or religious, have all failed us. Corporations and governments exist regardless if people are often terrible. People want a truth besides. Rape is possible if powerful men agree. Economic exploitation and colonialism – majority of people can’t do a fucking thing about it if their government is authoritarian.
Democratic Socialism proves people are searching for something which is functional and the voters can control.
Did I mention Tariq made a Wittgenstein movie?
SPOILER WARNING…
I reached the last chapter in You Can’t Please All:
Epilogue: The Ashes of Gaza.
I wondered if October 7th would find mention.
Tariq Ali had avoided anti-Semitism in You Can’t Please All. Tariq Ali didn’t champion 9-11.
Tariq Ali denounced the negatives in authoritarian organizations including Islam. Tariq Ali denounced sexual violence in several cultures including Muslim.
We reach October 7th. Tariq Ali’s first reaction: “At Last.”
Tariq didn’t seem to especially like Hamas during the entire You Can’t Please All. Even after saying “At Last” in reaction of October 7th, Tariq said he didn’t back Hamas like the ANC in South Africa. Tariq made statements which weren’t enthusiastic about Hamas. Tariq’s “At Last” stemmed from a basic idea, if you treat people bad then the oppressed want revenge. Tariq detailed the brutality in Israel’s response. Tariq felt this showed the world exactly how awful Israel had become.
The world despises Israel.
You Can’t Please All is an apt title. I loved the entire book except the conclusion. I don’t think October 7th was strategic in its brutality or the effect on the current state of things. Do you think Netanyahu or Tony Blair will give a fuck if Israel looks bad?
