Base and Superstructure

Thoughts on production, alienation, and ideology

Category: Blogging (Page 2 of 7)

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.

Close-up photo of a typewriter with a coffee and flowers in the background. Photo represents the work of a writer making a new Medium profile page.

New Medium Profile

April 3, 2023 /

For readers not already aware, I want to announce that I now have a profile page on Medium! Click here to check it out.

You’ll notice that most of the content on the Medium page started as a blog post here at Base and Superstructure. That, of course, isn’t a coincidence!

With the Medium profile, I want to reach a broader audience than the one I reach at the blog. But I’m still looking to write on roughly the same themes. So, I got my start by taking a fresh look at some of the original content from this blog and then reworking it. At times I’ve even rethought some of my views after discussion with readers.

So, what this means, in the short term, is that readers have two options for reading new content from me.

You can read this blog or Medium! This blog will continue to feature most of my completely new content, while Medium will feature a combination of new content and reworked and/or rewritten posts from Base and Superstructure.

How does that sound?

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A Base and Superstructure Blog Lexicon

January 16, 2023 /

In over 4 years of blogging, I’ve discussed lots of terminology, especially leftist terminology. I try to use terms in a consistent way that people within leftist debates understand.

However, like all analytic philosophers, I occasionally see the need to clarify terms. Some terms stand in need of tidying. Some of them a lot of it. Every now and then, I provide new (and hopefully better!) definitions for familiar terms. And at other times, I use more obscure terms, repurpose terms for new uses, or just create new ones.

And so, I find a need for a blog lexicon! I’ll use this post as an opportunity to collect lots of these terms in the same place. As a bonus, if I introduce additional terms in the future, I can add them to the lexicon.

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2022 Review

December 29, 2022 /

At the end of the year, it’s time to write another year in review. I hope 2022 treated readers well! And for any newer readers, please do check out our previous reviews from 2021, 2020, 2019, and 2018.

For the quick version, I feel pretty good about 2022! For this post, let’s take a look at how things have been going here in the Base and Superstructure blogging world. And perhaps tease a bit of a preview for what’s coming in 2023.

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Thanksgiving, Plus A December Break

November 24, 2022 /

I might start this post by pointing out, as have so many Native Americans, that the real story of the holiday of Thanksgiving doesn’t match the history people in the U.S. give it.

As for the blog, it’s time for an end of year note. Like past years, I’ll take a break around the holidays. My plan is to keep the regular schedule of about two posts per week through early December. And then the second half of December will be a lot slower.

I hope readers have a chance to take a break around the holidays as well.

Corporate Politics 101: Don’t Live To Work

July 21, 2022 /

It’s been awhile since we’ve added to the Corporate Politics 101 series. So here’s the long awaited Lesson #8: don’t live to work!

What might that mean? Lots of people – but especially people who work in the white-collar world – work far more hours than they need to! Sometimes the boss pressures them to do so, and even threatens their job should they refuse. But, at other times, the pressure comes from nothing more than the little boss in their brain. Or, as we might call it in the business world, ‘soft power.’

Many forces we find in the business world today – from HR to process improvement systems – serve as one of their functions the subtle pressuring of workers to work longer and harder. They generate enthusiasm about the business and its product, the company mission, and so on. Many try to take their lead from progressive non-profits and NGOs, which have long boasted of workforces that put in 50-60+ hour weeks.

You want my advice? Steer clear of all that. It’s unhealthy and unproductive to work that much. And it’s bad for your mental health to wrap up your identity so tightly in your job. As much as possible, avoid orienting your life around work.

As workers, you have to work in order to live. That’s part of what it means to live as a worker in a capitalist system. But don’t work more than you have to. Treat the company mission with the right level of respect, but don’t take it too seriously. Your company – even if it’s a non-profit or has a lofty mission – probably doesn’t do much of the good it claims to do. That’s how capitalism works. Fight to overthrow capitalism.

Don’t live to work.

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