Base and Superstructure

Thoughts on production, alienation, and ideology

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Who Wants To Defund the Police?

October 5, 2020 /

defund the police

I want to defund the police. So do many friends, especially friends in Iowa City. The idea even made it onto our political agenda this summer. If only briefly. But Iowa City doesn’t represent the nation. Do other places have people who want to defund the police?

It turns out Iowa City politics are pretty misleading. And it’s all symptomatic of how we leftists read the public mood. Leftists don’t really know who’s on their team, and this ultimately amounts to one of the biggest problems with leftist electoralism. Why do leftists do this? They confuse their own friends and social circles for the public at-large. This comes out especially well on issues like trying to defund the police.

We know the liberal bubble is a thing. But it’s not just liberals. There are leftist bubbles, too. And these bubbles harm our efforts at building movements.

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first debate biden trump

Impact of the First Debate

October 1, 2020 /

Going into the first debate between Biden and Trump, it wasn’t clear how the debate could even impact the race. Why? Because the polls have been consistent for months. Most Americans see the election as a referendum on Trump. Most of Trump’s voters love Trump. And most of Biden’s voters hate Trump. Few in either camp hold many strong opinions on Biden.

Americans mostly settled into these opinions months ago – even years ago. Since March 2019, Trump’s approval ratings have never deviated below 41% or higher than 47%. And they almost always move between 43% and 45%. This means about 43-45% of the country loves him, and just about everyone else hates him. The polls proceed accordingly. Presidents rarely overperform their approval rating, and Trump is no exception. And so, we see the polls against Biden put him at around…43%. Big surprise. Biden wins most of the voters who don’t like him. Again…big surprise.

The New York Times tax stories certainly did no favors for Trump, either. As a result of these things, it seemed unlikely the first debate would change anything.

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essential workers

Essential Workers and Wages

September 28, 2020 /

Let’s talk about essential workers. But first, let’s take a look back. A few weeks ago, I wrote about how wages get assigned in the capitalist system. The short version? Capitalism assigns wages to people according to, roughly, the ‘social worth’ it assigns to them. Society makes certain judgments about the acceptable standard of living for certain people. Or, in Marxist terms, the accepted value of their labor power. By contrast, the value workers add has nothing to do with wages.

What’s that got to do with essential workers? Glad you asked.

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faq

FAQ #3: How Much Does Blogging Pay?

September 24, 2020 /

Not much? Blogging hit its height about 10 years ago. But people can still make money on it through affiliate marketing, ads, etc. I do these things. And I have both a Patreon and an offer for freelance work.

However, blogs that make money tend to be ones that hit solid marketing topics or topics that are widely popular. Leftist blogging is a bit narrow, though. I cover topics with a good audience, but a relatively small one. If you’re looking to make big money, you should pick a different topic.

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intersectionality

Intersectionality and the Left

September 21, 2020 /

Kimberlé Crenshaw coined the term ‘intersectionality‘ in 1989 as she used the central metaphor in a paper in a law journal. Crenshaw used the term to pick out the idea that people’s identities overlap to create novel experiences. As a legal scholar, she drew attention to experiences of discrimination. For example, black women may face novel issues neither black men nor white women face.

Since then, the term – and perhaps also the idea it picks out – took on a life of its own. It’s a rallying cry for some social justice movements. People routinely assert things like ‘the future is intersectional.’ Politicians run (usually unsuccessful) campaigns around it. But as leftists, what does intersectionality mean for us? Is it a tool for getting things done? A theory we should accept or reject? How should we handle it?

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