Kerry Bolton joins us to speak primarily about his book, The Psychotic Left: From Jacobin France to the Occupy Movement. Kerry begins by telling us his motivation behind tackling this subject, which stems from decades of his observations of accusations of the psychotic nature of the rights and conservatives.
[youtube=http://youtu.be/mWMcv0su7OU]
He goes on to explain how Western culture has been shaped by many Marxist-based studies of “normal society,” in which normal values have been identified with psychotic behavior. We discuss the common threads of the guiding forces behind left wing movements, which are big money paired with narcissistic, sociopathic, paranoid personalities. Kerry talks about the Bolshevik and French Revolutions, both revolts against civilization that were surprisingly not led by the downtrodden, but rather the Bourgeoisie and capitalists.
On July 31 of 1846 the merchant vessel Brooklyn arrived at Yerba Buena, California: present day San Francisco. Among the 245 passengers was one Samuel Brannan; an opportunistic businessman, and first president of the LDS mission in California. Among his cargo was a printing press and complete flour mill. Brannan soon started the areas second newspaper, the California Star, and not long after that, the first school in San Francisco; and a dry goods store, the only one in the entire area. In 1847 Sam Brannan expanded, opening a store in Sacramento, and another at Sutter’s fort. In January of 1848 when gold was discovered at Sutter’s mill, Brannan owned the only store between the gold fields and San Francisco. He made a small fortune nearly overnight, selling picks, pans & shovels to the growing numbers of gold seekers.
Just as the 49er gold rush was picking up steam late in that year, a devastating fire broke out which essentially burned San Francisco to the ground. Rebuilding the town of San Francisco was routinely interrupted repeatedly throughout 1850; as a series of fires were started by looters who would essentially mine the ashes for gold and valuables. Though no actual evidence exists, many historians contend that Sam Brannan was behind the fires. At the height of chaos and pandemonium, Brannan steps up, saying he will find those responsible for the arson & thefts; becoming the first and only “lawman” of San Francisco. Almost immediately Brannan began using his new power to eliminate his business rivals and enemies. He gathered a group of hired guns and enforcers, naming them the Vigilance Committee. John Jenkins was a businessman who was Brannan’s main rival – until he was arrested on trumped up charges of arson and robbery, and promptly found guilty & hanged; a callous act which angered many and got him kicked out of the Mormon church.