Thoughts on production, alienation, and ideology
These are posts on blogging from the blog Base and Superstructure. Mostly these are meta-blogging posts, where I’ll be writing a bit about what it’s like to run a blog.
As is my tradition here at Base and Superstructure, I’m going to take a short holiday break from posting.
It’s been a wild year, and I’ll have an end of year post coming out in a couple of weeks. Until then, I hope all of you enjoy some time with family and friends.
I’ll be back in January. Hope you will, too!
I have to admit I’ve come to enjoy writing these yearly blog anniversary posts!
We’re at six years and running, and I don’t intend to stop soon. With that said, readers probably noticed the change of post frequency in the past year or so. I used to write twice per week, but I’ve written at a place of once per week for quite awhile now.
What gives?
I made the change for basic reasons of sustainability. I still write at least twice per week (sometimes three times). But those other writings appear on my Medium profile. For readers looking to access that content, do reach out! I’m happy to share it with you, especially those of you who are a part of the Patreon!
And so, without further ado, let’s talk about the past year.
Hi all!
This is normally the time when I’d be dropping this week’s blog post. However, I’m taking a week off this week for travel. I’m attending a family reunion in the Houston area!
My family holds the reunion every year around this time, but this is the first year I’ve been able to actually attend. So, I’m pretty excited to be in town for it.
I’ll be back on my regular schedule starting next week. Hope everyone’s having a great spring.
OK, so 2023 was a big year for the blog! Not only did I put in another year of blogging, but I also opened a new Medium page. You can check that out here.
But here’s a quick look at some of the things that happened on the blog this year.
I know it’s a regular theme, but once again, the most popular posts in 2023 were mostly written in 2019 or 2020. However, with that said, here are a few posts from 2023 that did especially well with readers:
1. Why Is The DSA Shrinking?
2. Socialism Isn’t Ultra-Progressivism
3. DSA Criticism of Anarchism
In short, the most popular posts this year have been about socialist organizing and theory! Readers turned to theory in these troubling times. This is a contrast to the usual split, where the most popular posts of past years were a mix of socialism, local activism, and international politics.
I should note that there’s a huge divide between number 1 and number 2 on that above list. ‘Why Is the DSA Shrinking?’ hit at something like the right time. Not only was it widely read and shared among DSA members before the 2023 Convention, but it is also cited in the Wikipedia article on DSA! That brought it to a much wider readership than my usually much smaller group of readers for most ordinary posts.
So, I no longer select an annual theme for the blog. But that doesn’t mean the posts aren’t thematic!
What’s coming up next year?
I have some ideas, but it’s mostly open ended at this point. I’ve hit most of the major themes I intended to cover in this blog. So most new posts will likely apply those fundamentals to new developments in our world and politics.
At the very least, it’s an election year in the U.S. I’ll surely have a few things to say about the lead up to that.
That means readers could be in for some surprises in 2024!
Happy (late) Saturnalia, readers!
As I often do this time of year, I’m taking a short break from blogging for the holiday season.
I’ll still have an end of year review post popping up in about 10 days. But aside from that, this will be my final post of 2023. I’ll be taking some time for family and travel over the next few weeks.
Expect a return to the regular posting schedule by the second week of January.
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