Thoughts on production, alienation, and ideology
Welcome to the first reading list of 2025! Yes, the plan here at Base and Superstructure is to continue the tradition of writing about a few books each month.
To be honest, I’ve been doing a lot of reading lately, especially since I just had a few weeks off of work last month to get caught up. So, read on for a selection of what I’ve been reading. And please do let me know what’s on your list!
On an episode of Revolutionary Left Radio, Alyson and Breht review in detail the text of Marx’s 18th Brumaire.
Along the way, they point to one of Marx’s most famous quotes: “Hegel remarks somewhere that all great world-historic facts and personages appear, so to speak, twice. He forgot to add: the first time as tragedy, the second time as farce.”
The quote references the transition in French politics from Napoleon Bonaparte to Louis Bonaparte. But we need not concern ourselves with the details here. Suffice it to say that Napoleon stood in for tragedy – the Napoleonic Wars killed millions – and Louis for farce, as his version of the French Empire paled in comparison to the first.
I find something like this on parts of the sectarian left. Some leftists – some from democratic centralism, some Marxism-Leninism, et al. – look to the historical work of leftist figures for lessons they rigidly apply to the modern world. It’s as though Lenin (or Kautsky, or Engels) speak directly to our time, giving us the secret blueprint for how to finally build the U.S. left into a force ready to take power.
In my 6+ years as a blogger, I’ve never written about one of the more compelling and interesting sources of leftist media: Revolutionary Left Radio (RevLeft Radio). This holds despite the fact that I’m a regular RevLeft listener. And in listening to a recent episode on the political theory of ‘Liberal Socialism,’ I found a chance to rectify my oversight.
RevLeft Radio is hosted by Brecht O’Shea. Politically, Brecht is a bit hard to pin down. But he appears to clock in roughly in the realm of Marxist-Leninist thought. I certainly don’t consider myself a fan of M-L, in general. And I clarify in my FAQ series why I rarely write about the sectarian left.
But Brecht often serves as a happy exception to these problems. On RevLeft radio, he interviews people with a wide range of leftist views. And he excels at drawing out the useful points even the ones he finds wrong. Even when I disagree with Brecht – which happens fairly often! – I find him insightful. I learn from him.
Anyway, readers should check out RevLeft Radio, especially Brecht’s interview with Matt McManus on a view McManus terms ‘liberal socialism.’ A dialogue between a Marxist-Leninist and someone with something similar to Bhaskar Sunkara’s approach to socialism is a thing we should encourage on the left.
We can learn from one another.
For my part, I found myself taking a middle ground between Brecht and McManus. Brecht helpfully points to the key failures of a social democratic route to socialism – its lack of success in the past, its susceptibility to capitalist assault, etc. And McManus serves as a check on the Marxist-Leninist tendency to offer apologia for authoritarian regimes.
Anyway, it’s a great RevLeft episode! And it’s a fine place for listeners to begin.
So, this is the second year of having both a blog and a Medium account. For any reader not in the know, you can check out the Medium page here.
But this 2024 review is all about the blog! Here’s a quick snapshot of how things have gone in 2024. I hope you enjoy and keep reading!
As is my tradition here at Base and Superstructure, I’m going to take a short holiday break from posting.
It’s been a wild year, and I’ll have an end of year post coming out in a couple of weeks. Until then, I hope all of you enjoy some time with family and friends.
I’ll be back in January. Hope you will, too!
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