Thoughts on production, alienation, and ideology

Month: June 2023 (Page 1 of 2)

DSA Criticism of Anarchism

If nothing else, we know DSA has lots of internal faction fights and rivalries. Many of these are expressed through the caucus system, which I’ve written about a number of times.

But we see another rivalry between more national-focused, centralizing factions and rival views those factions often call ‘anarchism.’ I use quotes for ‘anarchism’ because the view they discuss doesn’t appear, at least to me, to trace all that well to any historical or contemporary anarchist views. It seems to me more of a shorthand for a ‘let’s not do anything’ view.

To get a bit more specific, I think lots of people in DSA see a kind of anti-politics that comes from the anti-globalization movement of the late 1990s and early 2000s. And they see a strain of the same kind of politics coming from Occupy Wall Street and related movements. We can trace critique of that to Jacobin and, even earlier, to its founder, Bhaskar Sunkara. See, for example, this article and this response to it.

Let’s briefly address these issues. What’s going on here?

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After Black Lives Matter

Cedric Johnson dropped After Black Lives Matter into an ongoing debate between a ‘woke’ and ‘anti-woke’ left. It’s an older debate, but one running hot in the last few years. Unlike many other authors, Johnson tries, at least in some ways, to work around and between the two camps.

Not that he always succeeds. And it’s pretty clear which side he prefers (the ‘anti-woke’ side). But I think he wrote After Black Lives Matter in an effort to move the debate forward.

Let’s take a look.

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Burgis on Canceling Comedians

Podcaster, author, and philosopher Ben Burgis recently published a short series of essays called Canceling Comedians While The World Burns. In this body of work, Burgis positions himself as a critic of certain tendencies on the left. But he critiques these tendencies from a strategic, (genuinely) sympathetic, and constructive perspective.

I think that’s a good idea. In fact, I try to do it myself from time to time. And not just because I’m also a philosopher and we like that sort of thing. Though I am also a philosopher, and we do like that sort of thing. Rather, because it’s a practical, useful skill for the left. We should think more deeply about strategy. And we should think about how our choices and public presentation affect how and whether we recruit new members, appeal to target audiences, and achieve results.

Burgis writes Canceling Comedians While The World Burns with these things in mind, and I’ll keep them in mind in discussing his book.

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Turning 40

On my Dad’s 40th birthday, my Mom took out an ad in the newspaper poking fun at him. I got a laugh out of it – as did the rest of my family – but the whole notion of turning 40 seemed absurd to me. 40 was just a giant number I’d presumably never reach.

Hey, I was 14. 40 was old. Now I’m turning 40 myself.

Let’s talk about that.

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