“The challenge of modernity is to live without illusions and without becoming disillusioned.
I’m a pessimist because of intelligence, but an optimist because of will.”
-- Antonio Gramsci
The old forms of the Left are moribund and the new forms are stupid. We're making a podcast that discusses the need to organize a Dialectical Pessimism and develop a salvage project capable of sparking a new workers' movement for socialism.
A clean, honest, and unsentimental melancholy is required; we are cultivating one and would like to share it with you.
Check us out on Patreon for regular Patron Book Clubs, Regrettable Geopolitics updates, Real Nerd Hours, and more...
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Episodes
Wednesday Feb 24, 2021
Wednesday Feb 24, 2021
This week we team up with our pal Jess to talk about the mixed legacy of the enlightenment and we ultimately determine that the enlightenment was good and also it was bad.
Smith, C. (1996) Hegel Marx and the Enlightenment: An Interim Report
https://www.marxists.org/reference/archive/smith-cyril/works/articles/interim.htm
Sherratt, Y. (2000) ADORNO AND HORKHEIMER’S CONCEPT OF “ENLIGHTENMENT.” British Journal for the History of Philosophy, 8(3), 521–544.
Nielsen, K. (1988) Marx and the enlightenment. Critical Review, 2(4), 59–75.
Hook, S. (1968) The Enlightenment and Marxism. Journal of the History of Ideas,
Music: The Broadways- 15 Minutes
Sunday Feb 07, 2021
Sunday Feb 07, 2021
This week we are joined once again by Adam and Don from Red Library.
We continue our multi part series tackling the monster tome by Eugene McCarraher, The Enchantments of Mammon: How Capitalism Became the Religion of Modernity.
McCarraher believes that capitalism displaced religion and disenchanted the world and that Capitalism then became a religion itself, replacing the sacramental enchantment of the pre-capitalist world with a pecuniary enchantment that he calls Mammonism.
McCarraher, Eugene. The enchantments of Mammon : how capitalism became the religion of modernity. Cambridge, Massachusetts: The Belknap Press of Harvard University Press, 2019. Print.
MUSIC: Jesus Christ- Woody Guthrie
The Lost Horizons Network
https://losthorizonsnetwork.com/
The Lost Horizons Network Podcast
Well... Here we are still, after all.
https://well.transistor.fm/
Red Library Podcast:
https://www.patreon.com/redlibrary/posts
From78 Podcast
https://www.patreon.com/from78
Monday Feb 01, 2021
Monday Feb 01, 2021
This is the second, but only peripherally related, part of our discussion with C. Derick Varn and PH from Radical Thoughts. In this episode we talk about the abysmal state of the left, the bankruptcy of liberalism, and how the hell we can possibly move forward.
The Washington Riot Was a Defeat for the Far Right, Not a Triumph
We Should Be Very Worried About Joe Biden’s “Domestic Terrorism” Bill
The US Capitol riot risks supercharging a new age of political repression
US police three times as likely to use force against leftwing protesters, data finds
Tuesday Jan 19, 2021
Tuesday Jan 19, 2021
This week we are joined by C. Derick Varn, PH from Radical Thoughts Podcast, and Steven from Supreme Leap Forward to discuss how the Capitol Riot wasn't a coup, or a terrorist attack, and admonish the "left" for supporting the expansion of the security state.
The Washington Riot Was a Defeat for the Far Right, Not a Triumph
We Should Be Very Worried About Joe Biden’s “Domestic Terrorism” Bill
The US Capitol riot risks supercharging a new age of political repression
US police three times as likely to use force against leftwing protesters, data finds
Sunday Jan 17, 2021
Sunday Jan 17, 2021
There are many on the left who seem to be incapable of letting a momentary upturn in struggle, or a softening of policy by the ruling class, pass without declaring the end of Capitalist realism.
The common ruin of the contending classes is all we have to look forward to unless we can find a way to assert our agency. Until we realize our world historic mission, capitalist realism and its devastating consequences are here to stay.
On the Current Conjuncture
Capitalist Catastrophism
Coronavirus Is the End of the End of History
Music: Good Riddance- After the Nightmare
Sunday Jan 10, 2021
Sunday Jan 10, 2021
Marxism needs a better system of ethics. We think that virtue ethics are compatible with the project of human emancipation, so does our friend C. Derick Varn.
After Virtue: A Study in Moral Theory
MacIntyre, Alasdair C. After virtue : a study in moral theory. Notre Dame, Ind: University of Notre Dame Press, 2007. Print.
Marxism and Ethics
https://www.marxists.org/history/etol/newspape/isj2/2008/isj2-120/blackledge.html
Philippa Foot, major founder of contemporary virtue ethics, “Natural Goodness”
https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/philippa-foot/#NatuGood
Marx’s Ethic of Freedom
https://www.marxists.org/reference/subject/philosophy/works/us/brenkert.htm
Thursday Jan 07, 2021
Thursday Jan 07, 2021
Head over to our Patreon and join for $2 a month to hear the whole episode and sign up on our Discord to take part in future Patron Roundtables.
We were joined by some of our choicest patrons to discuss the question of the party form. Join us as we solve the party problem.
Join us on our Discord to plan out to plan out the next one, then remember to come join in the discussion. All patrons are welcome!
Sunday Jan 03, 2021
Sunday Jan 03, 2021
Marxism needs a better system of ethics. We think that virtue ethics are compatible with the project of human emancipation, so does our friend C. Derick Varn.
After Virtue: A Study in Moral Theory
MacIntyre, Alasdair C. After virtue : a study in moral theory. Notre Dame, Ind: University of Notre Dame Press, 2007. Print.
Marxism and Ethics
https://www.marxists.org/history/etol/newspape/isj2/2008/isj2-120/blackledge.html
Philippa Foot, major founder of contemporary virtue ethics, “Natural Goodness”
https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/philippa-foot/#NatuGood
Marx’s Ethic of Freedom
https://www.marxists.org/reference/subject/philosophy/works/us/brenkert.htm
Monday Dec 28, 2020
Monday Dec 28, 2020
Everyone knows what the happiness industry is, that vapid misapplication of eastern spiritual practice, adapted to help stave off deaths by despair or convince you that alienated depression is the fault of your brain chemistry and not the crushing weight of capitalism.
As the contemporary left is little more than liberalism turned up to 11, it should surprise no one to learn that there is a "socialist" version of this as well.
We sat down to talk about how it is dumb and bad.
How to pronounce schadenfreude
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d3_DjiLLDfo
Left-Wing Hypomania
https://thebaffler.com/latest/left-wing-hypomania-chaudhary
Is socialism winning?
https://www.tempestmag.org/2020/12/is-socialism-winning/
National Political Committee newsletter — 85,000 members strong
https://www.dsausa.org/news/npc-newsletter-nov2020/
There Was Actually a Lot of Good News for the Left on Election Day
https://jacobinmag.com/2020/11/downballot-socialist-elected-election-day-dsa
Music: Cro Mags- Face the Facts
Wednesday Dec 23, 2020
Wednesday Dec 23, 2020
Head over to our Patreon and join for $2 a month to hear the whole episode and sign up on our Discord to take part in future Patron Roundtables.
We were joined by some of our choicest patrons to discuss the fine distinctions between genres of Tankie.
Join us on our Discord to plan out to plan out the next one, then remember to come join in the discussion. All patrons are welcome!