Base and Superstructure

Thoughts on production, alienation, and ideology

Month: October 2021 (Page 1 of 2)

Sacred Texts Marx

The Sacred Texts!

October 28, 2021 /

This is going to be a pretty light Thursday, everyone. Perhaps in recognition of Halloween? Anyway, the left has a complicated relationship with its ‘sacred texts.’ Marx for just about all of us. But also people like Lenin or Mao for some. Or even more recent figures like Angela Davis for others.

Some leftists want to throw the sacred texts out, while others want to revere them. I don’t find either approach especially helpful. So, read the sacred texts. Don’t ignore them. Don’t revere them, either. Learn, apply, and criticize them.

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The Refusal of Work

The Refusal of Work

October 25, 2021 /

For decades, the left has split roughly into a pro-work and an anti-work camp. David Frayne doesn’t exactly frame his book The Refusal of Work as a contribution to that debate. But lots of people on the anti-work side cite it in support of their views. And so, I recently read The Refusal of Work with an eye toward its implications for that debate.

I’ll lay out a few thoughts on The Refusal of Work in this post. I think the book makes some valuable contributions to moral and political debates about work. It lays out some of the problems with work and helps us imagine alternatives. But I don’t think Frayne does many favors for the anti-work socialist camp.

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COVID-19 Data Update (October 2021)

October 21, 2021 /

covid risk assessment age vaccine

I wrote my last update on the COVID-19 data near the height of the delta variant phase of the pandemic in late August. At the time, case numbers were still rising. Since then, they continued rising until September 2. And then they started an extended decline. Let’s revisit the topic of COVID-19 and see where we’re headed.

Readers looking for my full history of posts on the topic can find links here: March 2020, August 2020, January 2021, August 2021.

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faq

FAQ #8: What’s your ideology?

October 18, 2021 /

OK, so one weird thing about leftist blogging? People often ask some version of the old question, ‘what’s your ideology?’

With liberals, this means asking whether you’re a Democrat or [insulting term for the sectarian leftist group liberals are upset about today]. But I’m not going to spend much time on that.

I want to talk about the version leftists ask. Leftists might ask whether you’re an anarchist. Or a communist and/or Marxist-Leninist, Marxist-Leninist-Maoist, or Trotskyist. Or anarcho communist. And so on.

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October reading list 2021 balzac

October Reading List (2021)

October 14, 2021 /

Welcome to the October 2021 edition of the reading (and watching) list! Here are some things I’m reading (and watching) lately, as we move fully into the fall. Hopefully this gives readers some ideas for what to pick up as they lose fall leaves and prepare for colder weather.

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