Base and Superstructure

Thoughts on production, alienation, and ideology

Month: January 2020 (Page 1 of 2)

Cardi B Bernie Sanders

Bernie and Cardi B: The Iowa Problem

January 30, 2020 /

Last July, a Silent Generation Vermont senator from Brooklyn met with a Millennial Bronx rapper. In a Detroit nail salon, Bernie Sanders and Cardi B talked about a lot of issues. But the conversation hinged on young people, the issues they face, and how they can get involved in electoral politics.

In his 2016 run for president, Sanders earned his reputation as the candidate of young people. It was that election where Cardi B first noticed Sanders, instructing listeners to ‘vote for Daddy Bernie, bitch.’ From the middle of the country to the coasts, Sanders defeated Hillary Clinton again and again among voters under 40. And he’s earning that reputation again in the 2020 cycle. In the most recent polling, Sanders leads young voters by 17 (HarrisX/The Hill), 21 (YouGov/Economist), and 21 (Quinnipiac) points. When young people vote, Bernie Sanders wins. And more broadly, when young people vote, social democracy wins. So, why didn’t Bernie win in 2016? And why is he still running a bit behind Joe Biden in 2020?

Let’s think about this by looking at the Iowa problem.

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donald trump wwe character

Donald Trump: The Character

January 27, 2020 /

“Donald Trump looks and sounds like a professional wrestling character.” People say this figuratively, but they should mean it literally. He looks and sounds like a professional wrestling character because he is one. In fact, the WWE elected him to its Hall of Fame in 2013. His wrestling character isn’t the whole story of Trumpism, but it’s a major part.

Let’s explore that, shall we?

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political currency various pieces of US political propaganda

Using Identity as Political Currency

January 20, 2020 /

There’s a certain line of thought out there in the political ether. The idea goes something like this. People use their identity to take political action, win offices, pass legislation, steer conversations, or direct movements. Or, to put it more simply, they use identity as political currency.

Now, when people say this, they often speak ominously or conspiratorially. By ‘people’ here, they have in mind members of marginalized groups. They think those sorts of people (i.e., others) use their identity as political currency. That’s something we should keep at the back of our minds, because people (and here I mean ‘white people, usually white men’) tend to overlook cases where members of their own group do things like this.

So…what is it to use identity as political currency? How’s it done? Is it a good thing, a bad thing, or both/neither?

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the end of forgetting

The End of Forgetting

January 16, 2020 /

I recently read Kate Eichhorn’s book The End of Forgetting: Growing Up with Social Media. In fact, I picked it up while I was at the 4S conference in New Orleans. It seemed to offer the best of science studies, namely careful analytical work around important issues in science and technology. Good stuff.

I’m curious about the effects of social media on childhood. I’ve seen plenty of evidence social media changes – and perhaps distorts – childhood. What kind of evidence? Young people carefully curating their social media profiles, grandstanding or engaging in other attention-seeking behavior online, using temporary and/or anonymous chat apps, and propagating oddly insular and distorted views about most Americans.

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