Marxist scholar, political analyst, historian and author Michael Parenti has died at the age of 92. He was an outspoken critic of capitalism, imperialism and class inequities, whose intellectual works were celebrated around the world. He was the author of over 20 books, including “Democracy for the Few” and “Superpatriotism.” This is Michael Parenti on Democracy Now! in 2009.

Michael Parenti: “Well, I argue that one of the functions of a capitalist state is to defend capitalism from itself, to defend capitalism from the capitalists. It was Marx — dare we mention him? I hear he’s coming back in style. It was Marx who said one capitalist will kill many other capitalists, that the system begins to consume itself. We see that with Bernard Madoff and the like. … The free market does not work. It’s not free. It’s not really a market; it’s a plunder. And it has to be done away with.”

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