Category: Class (Page 7 of 24)

Marx on Modes of Production

December 5, 2022 / baseblogger

In my very first post on this blog, I laid out for readers the Marxist term ‘base and superstructure.’ Lots of people new to leftist ideas could use a 101-level story about many of Marx’s key terms. And that especially goes for any term related to the analysis of economic relations over the course of history. In this post, I’ll approach the term ‘modes of production’ from a similar mindset.

Indeed, Marx didn’t just analyze capitalism and its social relations. He didn’t only talk about the transition from capitalism to a socialist society. He embedded all this within his broader theories of history. ‘Modes of production’ is a key term within Marx’s historical materialism.

A Misconception About Marx on Profit

November 28, 2022 / baseblogger

So, I’ve been listening to (and greatly enjoying!) Mike Duncan’s podcast Revolutions. In particular, I’ve been listening to his series on the Russian Revolution(s). Along the way, Duncan provides a great deal of background on Marxist theory. That makes sense, given the central role Marxism plays in 1917.

Overall, Duncan very skillfully explains Marxism 101, especially thorny terms like ‘means of production,’ and so on. I’d recommend his podcast, along with my own tips for reading Marx.

Quick Note on Mein Kampf and Fascism

October 20, 2022 / baseblogger

I’ve written a few posts on this blog laying out a basic reading of fascism as a political and broader social movement. In short, I see fascism as the ’emergency management’ mode of capitalism. Serious crises and leftist threats to capitalism produce the conditions that allow it to flourish. And fascism tends to arise in specific kinds of countries – peripheral capitalist states facing political and economic crises, credible threats to the capitalist system, et al.

However, competing accounts of fascism tend to emphasize the peculiarities of specific fascist systems, especially Nazi Germany. They point to, for example, some of the mystical elements of the Nazi system. As well as its persecution of religious and ethnic minorities. And they draw from that various general conclusions about fascism as a system.

Reading Du Bois’s Black Reconstruction

October 3, 2022 / baseblogger

So, I recently read W. E. B. Du Bois’s famous 1935 history of the Civil War era, Black Reconstruction in America. Like most leftists, I’ve read a million excerpts from the book over the years. Not to mention many other Du Bois texts – Dusk of Dawn is a personal favorite. But I hadn’t read Black Reconstruction until now. Let’s say a word or two about it.

Means-Testing and the Left

September 19, 2022 / baseblogger

Leftists hate means-testing. If we’ve learned nothing else from listening to leftists talk about policy in the last 5 or 6 years, it’s that. They heap scorn upon it. They claim to avoid it when they work on their own advocacy and mutual aid projects. And they criticize politicians who put it into programs, especially liberal Democrats.

But I think the term ‘means-testing’ carries a lot of ambiguity. Leftists, in particular, tend to use the term interchangeably with ‘paperwork.’ That is to say, they seem to think applying a means test amounts to requiring people to submit (often extensive) paperwork proving they have a low income and thereby ‘deserve’ support.

Let’s talk about that.

Category: Class (Page 7 of 24)

Marx on Modes of Production

A Misconception About Marx on Profit

Quick Note on Mein Kampf and Fascism

Reading Du Bois’s Black Reconstruction

Means-Testing and the Left

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