INTRODUCTION

This is a modified version of an essay published in French as the 7th Lettre de Troploin, June 2006, called Le Présent d’une illusion. The English title is inspired by Fredy Perlman’s The Continuing Appeal of Nationalism, which first came out as an article in The Fifth Estate in 1983 and then as a Black & Red (Detroit, USA) pamphlet the following year.

At the risk of passing for narrow minded Marxists, we recommend reading the first part of The German Ideology.

On the particular issue of Judaism and Jewish history, a stimulating essay: “The Perplexities of the Middle Eastern Conflict”, was published in The Communicating Vessels, # 16, Spring 2005 (3527 NE 15th Avenue # 127, Portland, Oregon 97212, USA), and is also available on this site.