Thoughts on production, alienation, and ideology
I’m proud to say I’ve got quite an eclectic mix of books for the reading list this month! But I’m less to proud to say that most of the books are from mainstream political and academic figures.
What can I say? With an election coming up, I’ve had the desire to do a bit of reading in mainstream politics and society. Maybe I can pick up some reasons why people do the things they do?
I’ll certainly take understanding over imitation.
In a recent issue of Catalyst, William Avilés and Earlen Gutierrez take up a classic leftist topic. But it’s one that seems to have left the stage decades ago. In short, should the left organize soldiers?
The question left the stage, in part, because of a shift in the base and cultural politics of the left. As the socialist left turned away from organizing, it lost the connections with working class Americans it had built as recently as the 1950s and 1960s. And since the progressives were always grounded in a relatively wealthy and highly educated base, they never had much contact with the sorts of people who become soldiers.
So, the left removed itself from the stage. And the progressives moved in a different direction.
But let’s return to the question. I think it can bring a certain focus.
A couple years ago, I listened to the Russian Revolution season of Mike Duncan’s podcast Revolutions. Readers might recall that I had a few things to say about the podcast when tsk-tsking Duncan about Marx on profit.
In fact, I think it’s overall a great podcast. And I listened to it again, this time hitting all seasons and not just the one on Russia.
As I listened to how the various revolutions strayed off course, I thought about how their leaders engaged with the population. That is to say, I thought about how the revolutionaries related to the average person in these societies. I especially thought about this in light of the French and Russian Revolutions, two revolutions that featured at least some conception of a society built in the interests of the people as a whole.
I never asked my friend Dick Leitsch when it was time to retire from activism. But he did tell me when he decided to retire.
Dick was 40 years old and the gay liberation movement had changed in ways he didn’t like. It went down a radical path to which Dick himself had opened the door, but didn’t want to pass through. By the time he turned 40, Dick felt that he was part of a different generation from the young activists who arose in the wake of Stonewall.
Generations theorists would agree with Dick. They’d call him a Silent Generation guy, while activist groups were led by young, upstart Boomers.
As for me, I recently turned 41. And I’m thinking through some of the same issues Dick worked through about a half century ago. When is it time to retire from activism? Is it time for me to do so? If so, what does that look like? Is there no place in activism for people over 40?
Alas, we’ve reached the fall. But there’s still plenty of reading to do.
For this edition of the reading list, I’ll continue with the themes of baseball and history. Along with those books, I’ve also got some new sci-fi for you.
Enjoy!
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