Base and Superstructure

Alienation, autonomy, and ideology

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2022 Election Reaction: GOP Blew It

November 10, 2022 /

2022 McCarthy election reaction

With the 2022 election a couple of days behind us, it’s time to take a look. And the look runs parallel to last time: the GOP blew it.

They more or less had a House and a Senate majority in the bag. And while they probably (barely) managed the former, they’ve probably missed the latter again. In most parts of the country, they performed worse than the polls suggested and far worse than they could have done with better candidates and messaging.

I won’t say much else about national elections in the rest of this post. But read on for ballot initiatives and the state of things in Iowa!

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Election Predictions: 2022 Edition

November 7, 2022 /

Here we are again: another election. Like all other recent elections, this one, of course, is the most important in our lifetime.

I guess that with another one around the corner, it’s time for a new round of election predictions! And as much as we had to discuss Trump in 2020, he remains a big factor in this one, too. Since 2015, we haven’t been able to discuss U.S. electoral politics without placing Trump near the center.

Imagine traveling back in time to 2008 and telling someone that.

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4 Ballot Initiatives for Leftists to Watch

November 3, 2022 /

As we approach the 2022 election, it’s worth remembering that elections aren’t just about candidates and offices. Voters also choose whether to adopt various issue-based ballot initiatives. Pundits (and voters) often ignore these initiatives.

Let’s take a look at 4 of these ballot initiatives for leftists to watch. I’ll point out that the outset that there are a few abortion initiatives on the ballot in certain states. California and Michigan, for example, have initiatives on the ballot that would guarantee reproductive freedom if enacted.

But I’m going to set these aside for the moment. They’re important, but they’re already getting a fair bit of attention in light of the Supreme Court’s decision overturning Roe v. Wade. Instead, I’ll look at initiatives many leftists probably haven’t noticed.

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The Return of Halloween?

October 31, 2022 /

halloween

Today I have a very brief Halloween post before we head into November with more discussion of elections.

Anyway, I don’t know about the rest of you, but my house was pretty busy on Halloween before the pandemic. We never saw hundreds of kids visiting. But usually at least 50 or 60 stopped by for candy.

All that changed in 2020, when no one stopped by. Even last year, no more than 4 or 5 kids in total came around the neighborhood knocking on doors. We live in Iowa City, where people took the pandemic very seriously. In previous posts, I’ve described Iowa City as a liberal bubble and elaborated on some of the details of its activist scene.

To be clear, I’m not complaining about any of that in this post. It’s good we took the pandemic seriously. But all that had the unfortunate side effect of taking away the kids and their costumes on Halloween.

I have to admit – I’m hoping to see the return of the kids and their costumes this year. It’d be nice to get back to handing out candy to 50 or 60 kids each year. Here’s hoping!

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corporate politics 101 ceo roman emperor

Corporate Politics 101: CEOs are Roman Emperors

October 27, 2022 /

Like many readers out there, I’ve taken an interest in Mike Duncan’s podcast The History of Rome. Among other merits, Duncan effectively describes the Roman world as it transitioned from Republic to Principate to Dominate.

This takes me to today’s topic in the Corporate Politics 101 series. For anyone who doesn’t know quite how to think about a CEO and their role, try starting with a Roman Emperor. Especially a Roman Emperor of the Principate era.

Like the Emperors of the Principate, CEOs usually don’t demand the total subservience of their employees. They take care to create at least the illusion of worker (or at least middle manager) governance. But they’re still CEOs, not consuls or (god forbid) tribunes.

And much like in the Roman Empire, the overall experience of what it’s like to work at a company can change quite a bit based on the whims of the CEO. The company run by a Caligua or a Commodus feels much different from one run by a Marcus Aurelius or Hadrian. This holds true even if – again, much like the Roman Empire – broader social forces govern the actual performance of the company.

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