Base and Superstructure

Alienation, autonomy, and ideology

Page 27 of 117

A Note on ‘Proletarian’ and ‘Worker’

Leftists talk a great deal about the term ‘working class.’ I even included it in my blog lexicon! In this post, I want to say a word about two terms related to all that – ‘proletarian’ and ‘worker.’ I think those terms reveal a great deal about the working class politics of the left.

I won’t exactly define those two terms in this post. But I will take some steps toward defining them. In particular, I’ll argue against using the terms interchangeably. Instead, I’ll suggest thinking about ‘proletarian’ as a subset of ‘worker.’ In doing so, I think we find new insights.

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Epicureanism and Public Office

Thanks to foodies, Epicureanism has been having a moment. We’ve got the Food Network, endless new restaurants serving up every flavor of hipster food, thoughtful reflection upon food, and a resurgence of everything from retro diners to creative new options for the wealthy elite.

It’s a great time to love food! And many of those who talk about food do so in terms of gustatory pleasure.

Thus enters the philosophy of Epicurus and Epicureanism.

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Tribunes of the People

The DSA is full of divides and false dichotomies. So let’s try to intervene against some of that. Some in the DSA world divide the org’s electoral strategy into two possible routes. The first one amounts to collaboration with – and capitulation to – the Democratic Party and its interests.  And the second is a Bolshevik inspired strategy called ‘Tribunes of the People.’ In that latter strategy, a core of united DSA elected officials stick to the party line and agitate the working class into a political force.

Various DSA caucuses, usually obscure and sectarian ones, promote this division. But in light of actions from The Squad and majority factions within the DSA, we’ve seen it erupt in larger DSA blocs and spaces. Such as the recent public event put on by several DSA caucuses.

I share many of the critiques of the DSA ‘majority’ faction’s electoral strategy. That strategy amounts to a shortcut to build on-paper membership in the short term without building a sustainable organization that can win power in the medium or long term.

But I’m hardly more impressed by the Tribunes of the People strategy. Let’s talk about that.

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‘Defund the Police’: A Missing Majority

A couple of nights ago, the city council in my city (Iowa City) voted against budget amendments to freeze the police budget and cancel unfilled positions in the police department. The vote took place in the broader context of the slogan ‘defund the police’ and activist movements since the summer of 2020.

I’ll say a word about all this. But, first, some recent remarks from Cedric Johnson provide us with a useful way to frame the discussion.

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New Medium Profile

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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