The Regrettable Century

It doesn't take much to convince someone that the capitalist system has exhausted its progressive potential and is in a state of decline. There are a number of theories that the prolonged state of crisis of the capitalist system is evidence that capitalism has peaked and is on its way out. While we agree that capitalism has entered a state of decadence, does that necessarily mean that it will collapse completely, and if so will anything good come from it? The Theory of Decline or the Decline of Theory http://libcom.org/library/decadence-aufheben-2#:~:text=In%20our%20view%20this%20theory,critique%20the%20theory%20of%20decadence.&text=Essentially%20the%20theory%20suggests%20that,has%20now%20entered%20its%20decline. Revolution or Decadence (Sami Amin) https://monthlyreview.org/2018/05/01/revolution-or-decadence/ A Framework for the Concept of Decadence of Capitalism  (shortest reading) https://www.leftcom.org/en/forum/2013-02-17/a-framework-for-the-concept-of-decadence-of-capitalism ICC Decadence Theory Readings https://en.internationalism.org/tag/28/287/decadence-theory-and-historical-materialism?fbclid=IwAR1bS0PVOixz8j9Lbtfkq7AELvhjOjmMG5COy8sryHHdrAItTcsFi6lbB2M Music: Refused- Protest Song 68 Send us a message (sorry we can't respond on here). Support the show Visit the Regrettable Century Merch Shop

We sat down with our old friend, comrade, and fellow veteran of Trotskist hyperactivsm to discuss the concept of the Republic and whether or not is still useful to Marxist organizing/theorizing. The era of the bourgeois republic has been a simultaneous process of creation and destruction, of liberation and enslavement. As the final epoch of human civilization reaches its nadir, do we still have any use for the republic? The Constitution & The Class Struggle https://socialistcall.com/2018/11/27/the-constitution-and-the-class-struggle/ Looking at Chris Maisano’s “The Constitution and the Class Struggle” https://cosmonaut.blog/2020/12/02/lenin-and-the-class-point-of-view-looking-at-chris-maisanos-the-constitution-and-the-class-struggle/ Fight The Constitution, Demand a New Republic! https://cosmonautmag.com/2021/03/fight-the-constitution-demand-a-new-republic/ Bill of Rights socialism and the future of the republic https://www.cpusa.org/article/bill-of-rights-socialism-and-the-future-of-the-republic/ Abolish The States https://www.jacobinmag.com/2014/08/abolish-the-states/ Abolish The Senate https://www.jacobinmag.com/2014/12/abolish-the-senate/ Music: Paul Robeson- John Brown's Body A Fine Old Conflict Podcast https://afineoldconflict.buzzsprout.com/ Support the show (http://patreon.com/theregrettablecentury) Send us a message (sorry we can't respond on here). Support the show Visit the Regrettable Century Merch Shop

This week we discuss the final chapters of the Twittering Machine by Richard Seymour in the conclusion of our three part series. Seymour's book is an extremely black-pilling look into the trolls, e-celebs, pile-ons, live streamed suicide, and corporate surveillance that make up the social media cesspool. Ultimately we conclude that the internet and its consequences have been a disaster for the human race. Seymour, Richard. The twittering machine. London: The Indigo Press, 2019. Print. Music: Earth Crisis- Destroy the Machines Send us a message (sorry we can't respond on here). Support the show Visit the Regrettable Century Merch Shop

It is clear that our activism has been largely fruitless for the past few decades but what should we be doing instead? Head over to our Patreon and join for $2 a month to hear the whole episode and join the Discord to take part in the discussions. Support the show (http://patreon.com/theregrettablecentury) Send us a message (sorry we can't respond on here). Support the show Visit the Regrettable Century Merch Shop

This week we discuss chapters two and three of the Twittering Machine by Richard Seymour in the second of a three part series. Seymour's book is an extremely black-pilling look into the trolls, e-celebs, pile-ons, live streamed suicide, and corporate surveillance that make up the social media cesspool. Ultimately we conclude that the internet and its consequences have been a disaster for the human race. Seymour, Richard. The twittering machine. London: The Indigo Press, 2019. Print. Music: Indecision- Higher Side of Low  Send us a message (sorry we can't respond on here). Support the show Visit the Regrettable Century Merch Shop

This week we discuss the introduction and first chapter of the Twittering Machine by Richard Seymour in the first of a three part series. Seymour's book is an extremely black-pilling look into the trolls, e-celebs, pile-ons, live streamed suicide, and corporate surveillance that make up the social media cesspool. Ultimately we conclude that the internet and its consequences have been a disaster for the human race. Seymour, Richard. The twittering machine. London: The Indigo Press, 2019. Print. Music: Snapcase- Break the Static Send us a message (sorry we can't respond on here). Support the show Visit the Regrettable Century Merch Shop

This week Chris is temporarily replaced by a special guest that long time listeners will remember from the early days of the pod, Jenny. The gang talks about the loneliness of social distancing, the long term effects of pandemic based hyper-alienation, and  what the political prospects moving forward look like. Society of the Spectacle (sections 28, 172, 221) https://www.marxists.org/reference/archive/debord/society.htm The pandemic has unleashed the age of individualism https://www.livemint.com/opinion/columns/the-pandemic-has-unleashed-the-age-of-individualism-11608132621601.html 22 percent of millennials say they have “no friends” https://www.vox.com/science-and-health/2019/8/1/20750047/millennials-poll-loneliness?fbclid=IwAR1Z7EBeAAXgcUTw5mUA_eOGIQDk_0dM5GUweA6OOv4Fe1B5gbN8qtpCCnc  Pandemic shaming: is it helping us keep our distance? https://www.theguardian.com/science/2020/apr/04/pandemic-shaming-is-it-helping-us-keep-our-distance?fbclid=IwAR3FsljvgtF4TqI2DbwJvZFBISsKk-7anRcP0YO-f0F8xLsgh2bqEOnRGOU  Isolation, Stress, and Poverty: Capitalism and Our Declining Mental Health https://www.socialistalternative.org/2020/11/23/isolation-stress-and-poverty-capitalism-and-our-declining-mental-health/  Music: Joy Divison- Isolation Send us a message (sorry we can't respond on here). Support the show Visit the Regrettable Century Merch Shop

Half the podcast crew and a couple of the extended family get together to steal a bit joy from the future by thinking aloud as to how a small handful of our myriad problems might begin to be addressed. Head over to our Patreon and join for $2 a month to hear the whole episode and join the Discord to take part in more discussions like this one. Support the show (http://patreon.com/theregrettablecentury) Send us a message (sorry we can't respond on here). Support the show Visit the Regrettable Century Merch Shop

Last year during the unrest after George Floyd's murder, we read an article about recuperation and talked about the concept within the context of then unfolding paroxysms of rage against police brutality. Does every movement for social change eventually get recuperated? Yes. Is it still worth engaging in social movements? Also yes.  The Recuperation of Authentic Outrage  https://libcom.org/library/recuperation-authentic-outrage  Send us a message (sorry we can't respond on here). Support the show Visit the Regrettable Century Merch Shop

We are now living in the most watched society in history. Our every move is tracked, our conversations monitored, our purchases logged, every link we click is logged, but its okay because its not the government doing it right?  You Are Now Remotely Controlled -- Shoshana Zuboff https://www.nytimes.com/2020/01/24/opinion/sunday/surveillance-capitalism.html?fbclid=IwAR0N6cbEaABSR2Yb7lEfLRjtWopZQu-bizbl2k7XaJFQOFfwcnV3riBJ7MI Willing servants -- Richard Seymour https://newhumanist.org.uk/5516/willing-servants?fbclid=IwAR3G7zXvBob940xv1ayY1ryPrAfU5Xf5ZU53J2I_bWCwLQ6V8IeUfW_YpEc  Communicative Capitalism and Class Struggle -- Jodi Dean  https://spheres-journal.org/contribution/communicative-capitalism-and-class-struggle/  When the social industry bans the people we hate -- Richard Seymour  https://www.patreon.com/posts/27523240?fbclid=IwAR3M5UICw48xJPlsTWW2at96G0LCjSd8lZ1BQUQ_XGqFfFZ-dIb893Twvas   Your Phone is Listening and it's Not Paranoia https://www.vice.com/en/article/wjbzzy/your-phone-is-listening-and-its-not-paranoia?fbclid=IwAR1UWg7TOU8ocwC1PXYqpBOuVXC9teau250pEynsUPlhyfKGFXwPtXrXb9o  Music- Bauhaus- The Spy in the Cab Send us a message (sorry we can't respond on here). Support the show Visit the Regrettable Century Merch Shop