Base and Superstructure

Thoughts on production, alienation, and ideology

Month: October 2020 (Page 2 of 2)

Roseanne Season 10

Roseanne and the Working Class

October 12, 2020 /

Roseanne Barr is no stranger to controversy. She’s upset people on all parts of the political landscape, though more recently she’s leaned toward conspiracy theories and racism. And so, U.S. liberals didn’t enjoy the return of Roseanne – the TV show – for a 10th season in 2018. And by the end of that season, the show booted Barr and the network renamed it The Conners.

I recently watched Season 10 – along with a selection of episodes from the first nine seasons. My sense is that most of the show’s critics either didn’t watch it or didn’t get it. Many American liberals and progressives want their TV shows to practice prefigurative politics – they want TV to reflect their ideal visions of the world. In some rare cases, as with liberals and The West Wing, this degenerates into complete fantasy politics.

Roseanne never did that, and it certainly didn’t do that in Season 10. The show engaged with the world as it is, with the world’s biases, prejudices, and bad systems. And it often criticized those biases, prejudices, and systems in helpful ways.

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alderman the power october reading list

October Reading List (2020)

October 8, 2020 /

Like many people still largely staying at home, I spend lots of time reading. And for any Iowans out there, remember the derecho back in August that took out power across the state? Good times. And another opportunity for reading.

And so, these little reading/listening list posts have probably moved from seasonal to monthly. If you like them, enjoy! If you don’t…read something else?

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Who Wants To Defund the Police?

October 5, 2020 /

defund the police

I want to defund the police. So do many friends, especially friends in Iowa City. The idea even made it onto our political agenda this summer. If only briefly. But Iowa City doesn’t represent the nation. Do other places have people who want to defund the police?

It turns out Iowa City politics are pretty misleading. And it’s all symptomatic of how we leftists read the public mood. Leftists don’t really know who’s on their team, and this ultimately amounts to one of the biggest problems with leftist electoralism. Why do leftists do this? They confuse their own friends and social circles for the public at-large. This comes out especially well on issues like trying to defund the police.

We know the liberal bubble is a thing. But it’s not just liberals. There are leftist bubbles, too. And these bubbles harm our efforts at building movements.

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first debate biden trump

Impact of the First Debate

October 1, 2020 /

Going into the first debate between Biden and Trump, it wasn’t clear how the debate could even impact the race. Why? Because the polls have been consistent for months. Most Americans see the election as a referendum on Trump. Most of Trump’s voters love Trump. And most of Biden’s voters hate Trump. Few in either camp hold many strong opinions on Biden.

Americans mostly settled into these opinions months ago – even years ago. Since March 2019, Trump’s approval ratings have never deviated below 41% or higher than 47%. And they almost always move between 43% and 45%. This means about 43-45% of the country loves him, and just about everyone else hates him. The polls proceed accordingly. Presidents rarely overperform their approval rating, and Trump is no exception. And so, we see the polls against Biden put him at around…43%. Big surprise. Biden wins most of the voters who don’t like him. Again…big surprise.

The New York Times tax stories certainly did no favors for Trump, either. As a result of these things, it seemed unlikely the first debate would change anything.

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