Alienation, autonomy, and ideology
Adjuncts aren’t slaves. I mention this only because I’ve heard people draw the analogy. Nevertheless, adjuncts suffer under the class war the wealthy wage against workers. Thea Hunter’s story highlights the human toll of the class war on adjuncts. But COVID-19 brings it out in new ways.
As people get ready for the fall semester, let’s look at adjuncts and COVID-19.
Anyone looking for a job – especially in the white-collar world – knows the business literature says they should show they ‘add value.’ The underlying reasoning? Companies search for value. They love it. They pay for it. If workers can show they add value, companies will give them a job and pay them big money.
This is a load of baloney. Let’s talk about why.
The Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) takes more criticism than almost any group on the U.S. left. People likewise criticize those who join the DSA.
They criticize the DSA for good and bad reasons. It’s had several prominent sexual harassment and assault scandals, including coverups from Los Angeles to Lawrence. Progress against harassment remains uneven, but the DSA did pass a new policy and grievance process. Misogyny remains an issue. Others criticize the DSA for its lack of diversity. My impression is that the DSA doesn’t have enough black members and members without a college degree. But it fares much better among Asian, Latinx, LGBTQ, and non-binary people. I also suspect the DSA has very few middle income people – for better or for worse. It seems to draw its members from extremes – low income, precariat workers and wealthier people.
I’m afraid criticism of the DSA quickly goes downhill from there. Plenty of Twitter-based leftists hate the group. They’re likely worried they might have to organize rather than grandstand if they join the DSA. It simply doesn’t fit their vision of ‘politics by voguing.’ Others find the DSA at odds with their brand of leftist politics. And the DSA is also enmeshed within a broader dispute over the role of identity politics and identitarianism. These remain difficult issues, and sometimes DSA people shove their foot in their mouth on it.
But back to the main topic: why you should join the DSA. Most of you should. Not all of you. Some of you can’t get past its problems. And that’s fine. But for most of you, the benefits greatly outweigh the problems.
In On Writing Well – his classic guide to writing nonfiction – William Zinsser quoted Abraham Lincoln on politics and morality. In his Second Inaugural Address, Lincoln said:
It may seem strange that any men should dare to ask a just God’s assistance in wringing their break from the sweat of other men’s faces, but let us judge not, that we not be judged.
Zinsser approved of the quote. I suppose I can’t argue with Zinsser. He didn’t just write the book on writing, he also wrote the book on spring training.
But quotes like this make people nervous. Especially activists who center their politics on issues of identity. Many think that to separate politics from morality is to excuse the worst behavior. Their political dial holds no setting between moral politics and libertarian permissiveness, moral relativism, or apologism.
I tried to buy The ABCs of Socialism one time. I messed up and bought The ABCs of Capitalism instead. Doing the best I could with the situation, I read the pamphlets and wrote an overview. As it turned out, they’re a – decent, not great – socialist overview of capitalism.
This time I bought the real thing: The ABCs of Socialism, from Bhaskar Sunkara‘s Jacobin crew. Like much of what’s going on in the Jacobin world, it’s influential among many people in the social democratic-to-socialist left. And I think it has much to offer people in that camp.
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