Progress despite hopelessness

Author

Andrew Dodson
November 17, 2023

A world in peril.

With the world in crisis, we couldn’t be silent any longer. One of Moxie Press’s values is amplifying socialist, progressive, and secular lifestyles. Part of it is not shying away from voicing these values ourselves. We have a platform; we have a responsibility to use it.

Some things we want to make clear:

We want a permanent ceasefire now — not a “humanitarian pause.”

We want our tax dollars to fund healthcare, improve our education system, and help our veterans, not fund genocide.

We believe in more aggressive action on climate change, we believe in the rights of the queer community, we believe innocent children should be spared the brutality of war.

We believe that war shouldn’t exist. Period.

We hope the work we do and the books we publish reflect our values and give readers insight into the horrors of our world’s history, our world’s present, and some hope for our future.

Education.

Speaking of education on history and the present, here are three books (not published by Moxie Press, only endorsed by us) that give a pretty comprehensive and clear picture of the modern-day conflict in Israel and Palestine.

Six Days of War: June 1967 and the Making of the Modern Middle East by Michael B. Oren

Though it lasted for only six tense days in June, the 1967 Arab-Israeli war never really ended. Every crisis that has ripped through this region in the ensuing decades, from the Yom Kippur War of 1973 to the ongoing intifada, is a direct consequence of those six days of fighting.

Gaza in Crisis: Reflections on the Us-Israeli War Against the Palestinians by Ilan Pappé & Noam Chomsky

Israel's Operation Cast Lead thrust the humanitarian crisis in the Gaza Strip into the center of the debate about the Israel/Palestine conflict. In this updated and expanded edition, Noam Chomsky and Ilan Pappé survey the fallout from Israel's conduct in Gaza, including their latest incursions, and place it in a historical context.

Except for Palestine: The Limits of Progressive Politics by Marc Lamont Hill & Mitchell Plitnik

Except for Palestine deftly argues that progressives and liberals who oppose regressive policies on immigration, racial justice, gender equality, LGBTQ rights, and other issues must extend these core principles to the oppression of Palestinians. In doing so, the authors take seriously the political concerns and well-being of both Israelis and Palestinians, demonstrating the extent to which U.S. policy has made peace harder to attain.

What’s next for Moxie?

Starting in December, we will be releasing a newsletter every 2-4 weeks, hoping to do some deep dives into current world events and offer a progressive take on what’s happening. We also want to share our thoughts and concerns for the future: Israel-Palestine, climate change, social issues, and more.

We also have two books coming out in early 2024 that we’ll talk about later, but we’re very excited for them and for the authors. And for everything we currently have, please visit moxiepress.biz.

Thank you.

We couldn’t sit here any longer and claim to be a Progressive company and yet be too scared to say anything. We delayed launching the brand, editing our books, and writing emails because of it. Not doing something isn’t a solution; it helps no one.

And we promise we won’t always be this serious, by the way. We’ll find humor in the awfulness in the future, but right now, it’s pretty hard.

With that, please take care, stay safe, and keep moving forward.

The Team @ Moxie Press