Base and Superstructure

Alienation, autonomy, and ideology

Page 83 of 133

Super Tuesday

Super Tuesday Disaster: One Year Later

March 4, 2021 /

After winning the Nevada caucuses – his third win in a row – it looked like Bernie Sanders was well on his way to securing the 2020 Democratic nomination. He built a winning coalition. He did really well in the early states among voters of color – especially Latinx voters. And he polled really well in the Super Tuesday states.

In short, everything looked great for Bernie.

But it didn’t happen for him, as everyone knows. After a big win in South Carolina, Joe Biden nudged Sanders out of the lead on Super Tuesday and defeated him handily in the later states.

What happened, and what lessons should the electoral left learn?

Continue reading

sci-fi book series dispossessed

5 of My Favorite Sci-Fi Book Series

March 1, 2021 /

So, I read lots of science fiction books, and therefore lots of sci-fi book series. After all, the sci-fi book series forms of the core of the genre. An author writes a good book, leaves enough on the table to allow for more, the book gets popular, and then: Bam! It’s a series. It’s happened hundreds of times.

But I don’t often write about science fiction in this blog. I did write about the curious implications of one book in the era of COVID-19, and another in the era of automation. But I’ll go a little bigger in this post. Here are some of my favorite sci-fi book series.

Continue reading

self-flagellation solidarity

Solidarity, Not Self-Flagellation

February 25, 2021 /

I’m not big on prayer. I’ve been an atheist since about age 15. That’s more than 20 years ago, so it’s something that probably won’t change. But here’s one situation that comes close to driving me to prayer. It pops up from time to time from social justice activists who take perspectives like this one from DiDi Delgado writing in Medium.

Let’s take a look at what’s wrong with this perspective.

Continue reading

unions vanguard uaw

Unions Aren’t A Vanguard

February 22, 2021 /

Many leftists propose some form of vanguard theory of socialist change. From the Leninist idea that a vanguard party will form working-class consciousness to the identitarian view that certain identity groups will lead the way, leftists have long looked for shortcuts to change. Some – most recently, various DSA caucuses – propose unions as a vanguard. This calls to mind older ideas like workerism or certain forms of class reductionism.

But, whether new or not, is it right? Can unions be a vanguard for socialist change?

No. At least, not in anything like their present form. Nor in any form they’re likely to take in the near future. Let’s talk about why.

Continue reading

Lincoln Project

The Lincoln Project and the Democratic Party

February 18, 2021 /

Let’s follow up on one of those lessons from the Trump Administration. The Lincoln Project – a group of Republican ‘Never Trumpers‘ – ran a ton of anti-Trump ads during the 2020 campaign. Specifically, let’s look at how the Lincoln Project might influence the future of the Democratic Party.

Many mainstream Democrats believe they won in 2018 and/or 2020 because they won those mythical suburban, college-educated white voters who just love squishy, bipartisan moderates. We see this in, among other sources, the public words of Nancy Pelosi. We also see it in local candidates like Abby Finkenauer and national ones like Joe Biden.

Continue reading

« Older posts Newer posts »

© 2026 Base and Superstructure

Theme by Anders Noren — Up ↑