Base and Superstructure

Alienation, autonomy, and ideology

Page 13 of 135

A photo of a large mausoleum with columns, used as a symbol for the death of academia.

Is Academia Dying?

October 6, 2025 /

Academia looks like it’s dying.

But let’s start much earlier.

Back in the early to mid 2010s, I was a professor. I taught my final class a decade ago, as a part-time Visiting Assistant Professor at The University of Iowa. It was my departure from academia. After that, I’d only see it from outside the academic priesthood.

The changes rocking academia in the 2020s would’ve affected me differently had I not left. But hopefully there’s some value in the reflections of one who once knew the world from the inside.

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A photo of Sigmund Freud wearing a hat, intended as a representation of the local politics of small differences and his views on the narcissism of small differences.

The Local Politics of Small Differences

September 29, 2025 /

We’re in the middle of a city council election cycle in Iowa City. Plenty of people are getting worked up about it.

In some ways that’s a good thing.

It means we live in a politically engaged city. And there are lots of issues for us to tackle. On top of this, the previous election – a special election between Ross Nusser and Oliver Weilein – offered deep, meaningful differences on how to run a city in a revanchist era. Its results emerged from a realignment of our local politics.

But this election strikes me in a different way.

At least four (and possibly five or six) of the six candidates aren’t very different from one another. They practice broadly similar politics. However, people think they’re different. This calls for a closer examination of the forces that push people to over-invest in local electoral politics.

Let’s do that.

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A photo of 7 Gen Z teenagers wearing loud fashion.

Gen Z and Risk Aversion

September 22, 2025 /

Every generation criticizes the generation after it. We all know it. We have evidence of it dating back to antiquity. To boot, the criticism follows the same rough outline: the kids these days don’t respect their elders, tradition, or society, etc.

But the world has changed in historically unique ways over the past few generations. The rise of the Internet – and later social media – ushered in changes that surely stretch beyond those of the radio or television. The neoliberal era brought finance capital to power in a way never before seen.

In other words, our everyday experience of the world is changing. And it feels like it’s changing faster than it used to.

Anyway, that’s the thought behind much of the generational critique. But we should get to the bottom of it.

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A photo of red banners at Harvard University, intended as a representation of professors in the Trump era.

Professors Won’t Save Us

September 15, 2025 /

In a short Current Affairs article titled “Don’t Expect Art to Save Us,” RS Benedict argues that artistic or cultural expression cannot meaningfully substitute for concrete political action.

It’s not a new claim. Nor, in my view, is it a very controversial claim, though, as with even most accurate claims, it draws its detractors.

However, I think we can learn a few lessons from the very first reason Benedict gives in favor of the claim.

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