Thoughts on production, alienation, and ideology
So, the US saw an attempted coup in 2021. Among other things. And yet, I don’t think I can claim 2021 was weirder than 2020. If anything, it came off as less weird.
Go figure. I guess readers can check out my recaps from 2020, 2019, and 2018 to run a comparison.
Let’s take a look at some of the things happening in the Base and Superstructure world this year. And celebrate, perhaps, the coming of even better things in 2022?
Hello, readers!
I’m taking a vacation from work from today through the end of the year. I think I’ll take a bit of time to rest and recharge. And a bit of traveling back to southern Indiana to visit family.
Along with this, you’ll probably notice a bit of a longer gap than usual between posts. I’ll have a post up at the end of the year, but likely not much between now and then. I expect to return to my regular schedule in January!
Welcome to the final reading list post of 2021! As the year ends, I’ve continued reading books on baseball. But I’ve added to that some books on quarantine and tech politics.
Read on and enjoy!
As some readers might know, Jacobin ran a study of working-class voters. The study hits an unusual depth, and it provides lots of useful info.
In the past I’ve criticized many views on elections and politics expressed in Jacobin. As have many others on the left. But let’s not play up any ‘feud’ with Jacobin. I read the magazine, and I also read Jacobin’s more academic journal Catalyst. And I think they do some great things with this study. They point to some of their own errors, and they show an interest in doing real electoral work that doesn’t fall prey to the magical thinking that’s all too common on the left.
And so, let’s take a look at the Jacobin study. What can it teach us about working-class voters? And what can it teach us about building solid leftist electoral campaigns?
Within the Democratic Socialists of America – especially the very online parts of DSA – there’s been a hot debate lately over whether to expel Jamaal Bowman from the org. Bowman recently won an election to Congress, joined The Squad, and formed a big part of the DSA’s strategy of building membership through electoral engagement.
I won’t recap all the details. Readers can check out coverage from the DSA Observer. But the basic story: Bowman voted for Iron Dome funding for Israel. He took a lobbyist-paid trip to Israel and posed with Israel’s right-wing prime minister, among other things. In response to a rebuff from Bowman and his supporters, the DSA’s Palestine Solidarity Working Group called on him to fix these issues or face expulsion. Some on the online left sided with the WG, while other parts sided against expulsion.
But I think the whole expulsion question arrives far too late. The DSA should look into how it got into this mess in the first place.
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