The Regrettable Century

We received a really thoughtful and challenging question/comment from one of our Patrons and we decided to give it the attention it deserves, in the form of a full episode.  We discuss "pessimism of the intellect/optimism of the will," mourning, melancholy, the church-like euphoria of the mass meeting, and how much it is necessary to bum people out.  If you have a question or concern you'd like us to address, send it to our email address regrettablecentury@gmail.com or message us on Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, or Patreon.   Send us a message (sorry we can't respond on here). Support the show Visit the Regrettable Century Merch Shop

We read a bunch of stuff about Walter Benjamin and Enzo Traverso and tried to have a conversation about it.  We've only managed to reinforce the idea that "The organization of pessimism" is the only slogan that can save us from death.  Traverso, Enzo. Left-wing melancholia : Marxism, history, and memory. New York: Columbia University Press, 2016. Print. Against Revolutionary Pessimism and Optimism: Revolutionary Realism by J. Moufawad Paul http://moufawad-paul.blogspot.com/2016/10/against-revolutionary-pessimism-and.html An Invisible Underground River: On Left-Wing Melancholia- Michael Lowy https://www.versobooks.com/blogs/3289-an-invisible-underground-river-on-left-wing-melancholia How to kill a zombie: strategizing the end of neoliberalism- Mark Fisher https://www.opendemocracy.net/en/how-to-kill-zombie-strategizing-end-of-neoliberalism/  Walter Benjamin’s Gothic Marxism and The Organization of Pessimism: Michael Lowy https://www.radicalphilosophy.com/article/walter-benjamin-and-surrealism Victor Serge: Indispensable Critic of Leftist Illusion- Mitchel Abidor https://www.nybooks.com/daily/2019/02/28/victor-serge-indispensable-critic-of-leftist-illusion/  Four Reasons the European Left Lost- Wolfgang Streeck https://jacobinmag.com/2019/05/european-parliament-elections-results-left?fbclid=IwAR0IIEH5W8SrlH9EfJ31XDLDFjvTZ2lp-ucok0GtxtpDsWzsrSMHQ_oB9DM The Organization of Pessimism: Profane Illumination & Anthropological Materialism in Walter Benjamin https://www.academia.edu/33848834/The_Organization_of_Pessimism_Profane_Illumination_and_Anthropological_Materialism_in_Walter_Benjamin Send us a message (sorry we can't respond on here). Support the show Visit the Regrettable Century Merch Shop

We sat down with C. Derick Varn and solved all the problems that are currently ailing the left. We reconciled the divergent currents of Marxism and wove together the materialist and idealist dichotomy with resounding success, but then lost an hour and a half of audio and were forced to restart the recording; what resulted was a meandering, but entertaining, discussion about just about everything... and religion. Varn's Podcast "Symptomatic Redness" http://zero-books.net/blogs/zero/tag/symptomatic-redness/ and his poetry. http://www.unlikelystories.org/unlikely-books/apocalyptics Music: Des Geyers Schwarzer Haufen- Bauernkreig (German Peasant Revolt Anthem) Further Reading: MacIntyre, Alasdair C. Marxism and Christianity. Notre Dame, Ind: University of Notre Dame Press, 1984. Religion for radicals: An interview with Terry Eagleton https://www.dissentmagazine.org/article/the-gospel-according-to-terry Roland Boer on Marxism and Religion http://isj.org.uk/the-full-story-on-marxism-and-religion/ Lenin: The Attitude of the Workers Party To Religion https://www.marxists.org/archive/lenin/works/1909/may/13.htm Boer, R. (2014). Religion and Socialism. Political Theology, 15(2), 188–209. Fitzpatrick, F. (1967). A. V. Lunacharsky: Recent Soviet Interpretations and Republications. Soviet Studies. Vol. 18. No. 3. pp 267-289 Send us a message (sorry we can't respond on here). Support the show Visit the Regrettable Century Merch Shop

After our Socialism From Below episode, Jason and Chris thought they could have used more time to talk about the 4th Comintern congress and the question of "Workers' Governments." What resulted is an impromptu discussion that we posted on our Patreon.  Head on over and sign up for $2.  Send us a message (sorry we can't respond on here). Support the show Visit the Regrettable Century Merch Shop

From Babeuf and Blanqui to Bakunin; from Karl Marx and Kautsky to Kropotkin, an ideological battle rages over the true nature of socialism!  But why though? This week we discuss whether or not there really are only "Two Souls of Socialism" and if idea of "socialism from below" is a useful analytical framework around which to organize our politics. Hal Draper’s “Two Souls of Socialism” https://www.marxists.org/archive/draper/1966/twosouls/  Marxism, Anarchism, & the Genealogy of “Socialism From Below” https://uppingtheanti.org/journal/article/02-marxism-anarchism-the-genealogy-of-socialism-from-below Building Socialism From Below- Ben Tarnoff https://www.jacobinmag.com/2018/12/nicos-poulantzas-socialism-from-below-democratic-power Socialism From Below: A Delusion? -Mike McNair https://weeklyworker.co.uk/worker/1071/socialism-from-below-a-delusion/ Music: Back in the USSR by Crisis   Send us a message (sorry we can't respond on here). Support the show Visit the Regrettable Century Merch Shop

This is part one of a series in which we will chart the history of fascism and attempt to dissect and discuss it in greater detail than we have previously been able to. Our goal is to analyze some of the scholarship done by mainstream and Marxist scholars alike, in order to better understand the phenomenon. In Part one we synthesize a list of the ideological characteristics of Classical Fascism from similar lists that are employed by fascism scholars, in an attempt to understand what gave historic fascism the unique appeal that it had and attempt to construct a working definition that we can use to define our terms for the rest of the series. If this ends up going well, the series will trace the history of fascism from its roots in the societal ferment of the 19th century to the modern day post-fascist movements. Payne, Stanley G. A history of fascism, 1914-1945. Madison: University of Wisconsin Press, 1995. Print Sternhell, Zeev, Mario Sznajder, and Maia Ashéri. The birth of fascist ideology : from cultural rebellion to political revolution. Princeton, N.J: Princeton University Press, 1994. Print. Paxton, Robert O. The anatomy of fascism. New York: Knopf, 2004. Print. Griffin, Roger. The nature of fascism. London New York: Routledge, 1993. Print. Send us a message (sorry we can't respond on here). Support the show Visit the Regrettable Century Merch Shop

The Gang Gets Underwhelmed by Zizek v. Peterson.  It wasn't the "Debate of the Century" we wanted, but it's the one that we deserved.   Music: Kerber- Ratne Igre Send us a message (sorry we can't respond on here). Support the show Visit the Regrettable Century Merch Shop

We are currently witnessing what appears to be the death of the micro sect form of political organization, a bastard form of the Leninist party that has all but dominated the minuscule and embattled American radical left for the past half century. The political landscape has changed in a way that has rendered these groups obsolete, removing the sectarian left's monopoly on socialist politics in the US, but what will replace it? Dare we be hopeful for a bright new era? LOL The New Communist Movement: An Obituary https://www.marxists.org/history/erol/ncm-7/mrl-obit.htm?fbclid=IwAR21HRylPBOW_OuyET7G4gIdgQnTHI_Qfy430OQnF9f_vScuQG3zIunN_q4 Hal Draper’s the Anatomy of the Microsect https://www.marxists.org/archive/draper/1973/xx/microsect.htm Hal Draper’s the Alternative to the Microsect https://www.marxists.org/archive/draper/1971/alt/alt.htm Warning about microsect organizing from David McNally in 2009 http://davidmcnally.org/p=1077&fbclid=IwAR1giyezHhZfnQPDzKvu2YvJoBp31_JWtnSXDBqypJ_saOd8GIlZeih7mt0 Socialism In One Organization https://failedharvest.com/blog/socialism1org John Riddell on the SWP Part One https://johnriddell.wordpress.com/2012/07/05/the-u-s-swp-attempts-an-outward-turn-1977-83/  Part Two https://johnriddell.wordpress.com/2012/07/08/causes-of-a-socialist-collapse-the-u-s-swp-1976-83/  The Sect System https://libcom.org/library/sect-system Song: Bill Bailey (The Ultimate Sectarian) Joe Glazer and Bill Friedman Send us a message (sorry we can't respond on here). Support the show Visit the Regrettable Century Merch Shop

As a concept, as a slogan, as an expression of intent The Right to The City contains within it an opportunity for this generation to conceive of new methods of class struggle, of new models of class organization, and of the return of class power. It’s but one of many opportunities we have right now to advance a constructive, utopian, and revolutionary vision of the future. It’s about demystifying social relations where they are presently abstracted. It’s about no longer viewing  political activity as either pressuring politicians or becoming them. It’s about identifying what are presently hidden means of exerting our power as class to confront the class enemy, not just at work, but everywhere. Henri Lefebvre and the Right to the City http://faculty.washington.edu/mpurcell/jua_rtc.pdf  Neoliberalism is a Political Project -- Harvey https://www.jacobinmag.com/2016/07/david-harvey-neoliberalism-capitalism-labor-crisis-resistance/  The Right to the City -- Harvey https://newleftreview.org/II/53/david-harvey-the-right-to-the-city  PDF of Henri Lefebevre's Urban Revolution https://thecharnelhouse.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/Henri-Lefebvre-The-Urban-Revolution.pdf Writings on Cities -- Lefebvre https://thecharnelhouse.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/Henri-Lefebvre-Writings-on-Cities.pdf Critique of Urban Geography -- Debord https://www.cddc.vt.edu/sionline/presitu/geography.html  Why Psychogeography? https://www.sayitwithpavingstones.org/news/2018/8/14/derive-0-why-psychogeography    Send us a message (sorry we can't respond on here). Support the show Visit the Regrettable Century Merch Shop

This week Chris and Jason sit down with Donald Parkinson-- the managing editor of Cosmonaut Magazine-- to discuss post apocalyptic eco-war communism, rekindling the Utopian imagination, the need for a post-tradition socialist movement, The DSA, The Marxist Center, Mike McNair, and some of the reasons Donald thinks we shouldn't be so pessimistic. Cosmonaut Magazine https://cosmonaut.blog/ Outro Music: Eduard Artemyev- Lullaby Send us a message (sorry we can't respond on here). Support the show Visit the Regrettable Century Merch Shop