The Martyrdom of Michael Parenti

10 June 2026.

The tributary article for the death of our gross and fearless comrade Michael Parenti has been delayed for far too long. It is time that Thoughts of a Comrade kneel before the sarcophagus of this hero of the whole proletarian Workfolk. For whilst the banks are made of marble with brass trimmings and stucco ornaments, the plain concrete of Comrade Parenti's sarcophagus is lavishly adorned with memories and learnings, the ornament in memoriam of those he inspired.

But we are, here, getting ahead of ourselves. For those who have not yet heard regarding the status of Comrade Parenti, it is because he has been struggling with dementia, which even a few years ago seemed to be at an advanced stage to comrades who met him. Finally, on the twenty-fourth of January of this year (2026), Comrade Parenti met the inevitable end of us all. At ninety-two years, the majority spent in depreciated, selfless service to the good cause of the universal masses gainst the parasite- and butcher-classes, our gross, resolute comrade has died. This marks the disappearance of a formidable intellect, the end of, if we may say so, an exemplary, indeed a majestic historical figure— especially at a time when such a staple of the Left appears to be endangered.

This brings us to the demarcation of martyrdom which Thoughts of a Comrade has decided to grace the legacy of Comrade Parenti with. In the plain sense, Parenti became a martyr personally by accepting the cost of a black-listing from the auspices of ,,polite society'', namely in the scholarly sphere of his career. It has been reported by some that Comrade Parenti was not in the best financial situation still, due to the revolutionary sacrifices he made for the sake of mankind. And herein have we arrived at the ominous looming implication of meaning, which is also the reason we, in dread, held off on writing this article for so long. The motionless shadow of another is clouding the remembrance of Comrade Parenti. There is little use in avoind it: the poor decisions of (ex-?) Comrade Chomsky has tinged the already heavy loss of Comrade Parenti with a sense of resentful hurt in betrayal. Comrade Parenti was, in a sense, martyred in part by (Comrade?) Chomsky, but in the larger sense. Chomsky martyred the very concept, the honourable tradition of comradeship on the Left. He treated the wealthy and connected Epstein better than a fellow comrade who was facing social repression, which is a shameful and misheartening affair to be made to observe as this generation has. Add to this the fact that this generation has hit gainst a dearth of both intellectuals and leaders, id est heroes, such as Parenti and the now divisive Sanders, and the few alderly heroes we have left become much dearer, making Chomsky's betrayal also paradoxically his loss for the Left. The apostle that many looked up to when few could be found killed two heroes with one thrust.

The last thing we will say about Chomsky here is that, whilst I was never deeply involved with his thought, I did defend this (erstwhile?) comrade from unjust criticism, and even from ad hominem insult proffered by a vapid anarchist. So, though I did not personally have Chomsky as a hero of mine, I know the feeling of betrayal generated in the wake of the Epstein exposure to an extent. It is loss and a shame all the same.

The question related to Comrade Parenti facing the Left now is this: with so few new heroes to add to the revolutionary pantheon of late, how might we best preserve for propaganda and morale (not to mention the promotion of a high cultural outlook) the legacies of our ald heroes. Once more, this is a reason why the title of martyr was considered. But more than that, it hints at our hope to build an accompanying legend around the legacy of Comrade Parenti. Engaging tales such as those comprising martyrdom narratives is a vital method of inspiring succeeding generations to emulate, cherish, and spread the legacy of heroes. We must fill Parenti's bereft form with ink and paper, until whole volumes about and for him are lining entire cases. They call this form of hagiography a 'lives of the saints' genre of compilation. Of course, when Comrade Wolff, Comrade Hudson, Comrade Foster, and I strongly implore, despite his recent hit in reputation, Comrade Sanders die, they ought to receive the same treatment, until the Left has a lives of the martyrs exceeding at least four volumes. The high culture through veneration of the heroic is virtuous, and prescribes to the wayward that road to betterment— the Way to Communism, which in many senses, we believe, begins from the bottom upwards.

Now, we anticipate the cries of the liberal-infected Leftists and anti-culture anarchists: 'personality cult, cult of personality!'. Allow us to relieve the reasonable in the ranks with but two points for consideration. Firstly, as ought to be clear from our work in Reform-Leninist ideological and cultural Reform, we are aware of the problems which a specifically political or dogmatic cult of personality causes. Have we not challenged and reassessed all five of the Gross Names of Marxism? Further, what is objectionable about venerating a Stakhanov or Lei Feng? The liberal cancer is truly the most fearful of movements, where even the faintest echo of high culture receives the denunciation of ,,Bonapartism'' or ,,elitism'' with a death sentence attached. This is not the place for a tirade on how Bonapartist leaders do not always promote a high culture (one such recent degenerate leader comes to mind, and many conservatives considered Hitler a Bohemian imbecile), and that high culture can come into being, albeit less eathly, even without a strong figure-head promoting it. See Eliot's Notes Towards the Definition of Culture on this obscene hostility to elites. Abolish the ruling-class to produce elites as never before: that is the socialist prospect, the victory of worshipful handicraft over alienated, ,,egalitarian'' mass-commodification. Man strives for the Good and worships it, with or without the ruling-class's and reigning ideology's permission (see one Luigi, the apprentice of Robin Hood). Secondly, we have already critiqued the veneration of living men, hence why Comrade Parenti may be venerated at this point. The whole 'cult of personality' complaint, in light of these two qualifications, is nought more than ideological dogmatism (a purity fetish of liberal Western Marxism and statue-smashing anarcho-vandalism?).

The most pressing task of the comrades to initiate this process of veneration is to begin recording their personal experiences with and of Comrade Parenti, how he inspired them to do good works, and how he taught them the righteous truth. The next stage will consist of making aoths, sagas, poems, odes, and plays. The stage after that is the production of physical memorabilia, crafts of devotion for high culture, including the collection of the former two stages' material into works of multi-volume compendia, eventually published in fine bindings, it is to be hoped. Once all of this is done, the ending stage of cementing Parenti in the revolutionary pantheon will be achieved. This entire process, we suspect, if it happens at all and does not stall at one of the stages, will take about one-hundred years or so. It is a costly and a fightly venture, to be sure, in the minting of heroes for sacred veneration. All of Rome's saints were not ordained in a day, however.

Luckily for us, this process has already begun, for two compilations of Comrade Parenti's words have so been created: The Quotations of Michael Parenti (The Little Yellow Book) and Yellow Parenti Book I. Every one who compiled these two collections ought to be decorated with the Order of Debs (and be the first to receive any prospective Order of Parenti). Every party and organisation, in every library and home, ought to maintain and distribute copies of these two works. They are simply too essential to the cultivation of a Parentian veneration. The 'Little Red and Yellow Set' must become a ubiquitous symbol of the communist household and institution, and given out as gifts during celebratory events. It should be an exceptional stride if a few quality commentaries on these works could be generally recognised as worthy by the communist intellectual gemeanship, but in this æra of anti-social anti-culture, we know not to have much faith in our hopes. Perhaps comrades will surprise us yet.

So ends the esteemed Saga and Martyrdom of Comrade Michael Parenti. May his collected works, his very words of supreme wisdom and vigilant virtue, ever remain in print for those comrades ready to be inspired and educated on the struggles of our class. We are even tempted to say that, heretofore, Comrade Parenti has done the most for the advancement of Marxism in the US, with the granting of the caveat that Sanders has probably done the most for socialist consciousness in the US, at least since Debs himself. Rise in Proletariat, from the shade to the hem of the Crimson Standard, comrade. Long Live Comrade Parenti!