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.
“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
Another lightly edited casual conversation about geopolitics. We do a whirlwind summary of the stuff that has happened since last week and land back on the subject of Ukraine for most of the program. Send us a message (sorry we can't respond on here). Support the show
The boys and Varn Vlog are back again, talking about "Decadence Theory" and how it differs from "crisis theory" and "breakdown theory." We discuss Samir Amin's third-worldist (and not very Marxist) take on decadence theory. Revolution or Decadence- Samir Amin https://monthlyreview.org/2018/05/01/revolution-or-decadence/ Send us a message (sorry we can't respond on here). Support the show...
Welcome to a new series that we are trying out for Patrons. This is a lightly edited casual conversation between Jason and Chris about Geopolitics. We aren't really preparing for these by doing a lot of research and we certainly aren't doing much editing. We are going to try to do these semi-regularly and hopefully we can figure out how to do video versions as well. Send us a message (sorry we can't respond on here). Support the show...
This week we discussed the thought of one of 20th-century Marxism's socialist opponents, Tomáš Masaryk. Masaryk was reviled by Czech communists until they appropriated him and he was an opponent of capitalism until the champions of capitalism did the same. He was a social democrat with an ethical and Christian-humanist vision of socialism that inspired the Prague Spring but was later coopted by the opponents of the working class and human liberation. A State without Suicide https://www.commonwea...
So, you think you had some judgments? TOO BAD THEY ARE ALL REFUTED! This week Jason and Andrew watched and discussed Guy Debord's follow up to his Society of the Spectacle film, which is essentially a clapback at his haters. As any good Regrettable discussion goes, the film was the anchor, but the topics ranged far and wide. Enjoy! Refutation of All the Judgements, Pro or Con, Thus Far Rendered on the Film “The Society of the Spectacle" (1975) https://www.ubu.com/film/debord_refutation.html Send...
This week we read and discussed an article by Richard Seymour that explores Marxism's relationship with materialism and idealism. Seymour argues that the Hegelian inheritance within Marxism forces it in the direction of an idealism which is essential for a successful revolutionary politics. Duel and duality, or, degrowth and dialectics https://www.patreon.com/posts/81735357?pr=true&fbclid=IwAR2ftGQudDJQhykIW4rv_3F34xqP8RGHZdyZyb4JsGQgxzQ7qxvRNI9BP7k Send us a message (sorry we can't respond ...
The gang tackles Chapter 5 of Bauer's analysis of the concept of the nation. Read Along With Us: https://libcom.org/article/question-nationalities-and-social-democracy-otto-bauer Send us a message (sorry we can't respond on here). Support the show...
This week we delve into what is sort of a pre-history of the American Socialist movement. Though the populist movement undeniably kept its Jeffersonian character, it was the first (arguably only) significant challenge to the dominance of the two major capitalist parties in the US. Much of the energy and the spirit of American populism flowed into and colored the burgeoning American workers' movement. From Populism to Socialism and Back https://jacobin.com/2019/08/populism-socialism-daniel-de-leo...
The boys and Varn Vlog are back again, talking about "Decadence Theory" and how it differs from "crisis theory" and "breakdown theory." We discuss Samir Amin's Third-Worldist (and not very Marxist) take on decadence theory. Revolution or Decadence- Samir Amin https://monthlyreview.org/2018/05/01/revolution-or-decadence/ Send us a message (sorry we can't respond on here). Support the show...
The gang tackles Chapter 4 of Bauer's analysis of the concept of the nation... Send us a message (sorry we can't respond on here). Support the show
This week we entered the archives and poured through the codices and scrolls containing the wisdom of past episodes to give you this curated trash can of Ideology. We highlighted some themes from the past six years of podcasting that we thought were worth underscoring and how our ideas may have changed... Our Underlying Philosophy of Dialectical Pessimism S1/Ep5: Pessimism of the Intellect, Pessimism of the Will S1/Ep26: The Proper Amount of Bumming People Out S4/Ep7: Death of The Left S5/Ep21: ...
This is an old episode of our friend Andrew's podcast that was recorded a few years ago. The podcast is now defunct, but we thought y'all deserved to hear it. In this episode Jason and Andrew watched and discussed Guy Debord's 1974 film version of The Society of the Spectacle. Enjoy and Happy New Year. Send us a message (sorry we can't respond on here). Support the show...
We are joined again by our official France correspondent, Matthew. Matthew is a veteran of American Trot sectarian organizing and the labor movement who lives in France and is more intimately involved in the happenings than we are. We discuss the failure of the popular front, the ham-fisted triumph of Macron, and the death throes of the French political system. Send us a message (sorry we can't respond on here). Support the show...
Soldiering on and finishing Chapter 3 of Bauer's excellent Marxist analysis of the nation. Read along with us: https://libcom.org/article/question-nationalities-and-social-democracy-otto-bauer Send us a message (sorry we can't respond on here). Support the show...
This week, we read and discussed Eley and Blackbourn's indispensable discussion of the Sonderweg, or special path, of German history. It is often said that Germany's path to the Holocaust begins with the failure of the bourgeois revolution to take hold. This book posits a top-down Bonapartist "revolution" led by Otto von Bismarck which thoroughly bourgeoisified German society from the top to the bottom. Blackbourn, David, and Geoff Eley, The Peculiarities of German History: Bourgeois Society and...
Kicking off Year VII, Chris and Ben are joined by Daniel Saunders to discuss Herbert McCabe's Class Struggle and Christian Love. The intention was also to cover pieces by Dennis Turner and Terry Eagleton but time got away from them, so Daniel will have to return again... Herbert McCabe: The Class Struggle and Christian Love https://www.christiansocialism.com/2020/05/14/herbert-mccabe-class-struggle-capitalism-marxism-christianity/ More of Daniel: Ideology, Fetishism, Apophaticism: Marxist Critic...
The long-awaited part two of our year six in review episode. We kick it off with a little geopolitical discussion but get around to discussing our personal lives and the podcast. Send us a message (sorry we can't respond on here). Support the show
We are back at it again talking decadence theory with Varn. This week, we dig into Samir Amin's piece from Monthly Review. We discussed the following materials: Morley, Neville. "Decadence as a Theory of History." New Literary History, Vol. 35, No. 4, Forms and/of Decadence (Autumn, 2004), pp.573-585 Decadence: The Theory of Decline or the Decline of Theory? https://libcom.org/library/decadence-aufheben-2 Revolution or Decadence? https://monthlyreview.org/2018/05/01/revolution-or-decadence/ Chec...
As we wrap up another year of podcasting, we offer our expert opinions on everything that sucks about the world. Stay tuned for part II. Send us a message (sorry we can't respond on here). Support the show
The long march through the text continues as the gang tackles chapter three. Read along here: https://libcom.org/article/question-nationalities-and-social-democracy-otto-bauer Send us a message (sorry we can't respond on here). Support the show
This is part two of a discussion based on a paper Chris wrote about the concept of "German Socialism" from which groups like the NSDAP, the National Bolsheviks, Conservative Revolutionaries, and Black Front draw the basis for their ideologies. Mosse, George Lachmann. The Crisis of German Ideology . 1964. Reprint, New York: Schocken, 1981. King, John. “Writing and Rewriting the First World War: Ernst Jünger and the Crisis of the Conservative Imagination, 1914-25.” St. John’s College, 1999. Kedar,...
The boys dive in to Dugin's thoughts on civilization, colonialism, and imperialism. Don't worry, there are literally no digressions and the guys stay on point the whole time. Check out the full episode here: https://www.patreon.com/c/theregrettablecentury Check out Varn Vlog here: https://www.patreon.com/varnvlog/posts Check out Antifada here: https://www.patreon.com/theantifada Send us a message (sorry we can't respond on here). Support the show...
First of all, if you are listening to a version with bad audio, don't worry, I reuploaded a version with good audio and you can probably just refresh your podcasting app to get the newer version. This is a discussion based on a paper Chris wrote about the concept of "German Socialism" from which groups like the NSDAP, the National Bolsheviks, Conservative Revolutionaries, and Black Front draw the basis for their ideologies. Mosse, George Lachmann. The Crisis of German Ideology . 1964. Reprint, N...
In what turns out to be an offshoot of our Czechoslovak socialism series, we dive in to the ill fated and short lived Hungarian Soviet Republic. This also turns out to be incredibly relevant to anyone who is following along with our series on Otto Bauer and the national question. Send us a message (sorry we can't respond on here). Support the show...
This week it's just the Regrettable brothers and we are talking about "leftism" and whether the category of "left" still holds any meaning. Send us a message (sorry we can't respond on here). Support the show
Wherein we cover the entirety of Chapter 2, dealing with the concept of the nation state. A link to the PDF: https://libcom.org/article/question-nationalities-and-social-democracy-otto-bauer Send us a message (sorry we can't respond on here). Support the show...
Continuing what has become a series on Czechoslovak Socialism, we dive into the attempt to reform the Czechoslovak system. The official ML narrative and the liberal narrative about the Prague Spring are the same, they say that it was an attempt to re-establish bourgeois democracy. However, it seems clear that the intentions of its participants were the opposite. They appear to have been a genuine attempt to revitalize and push forward the communist project. The Action Programme of the Communist ...
We are back at it again talking decadence theory with Varn. This week, we dig into Samir Amin's piece from Monthly Review. We discussed the following materials: Morley, Neville. "Decadence as a Theory of History." New Literary History, Vol. 35, No. 4, Forms and/of Decadence (Autumn, 2004), pp.573-585 Decadence: The Theory of Decline or the Decline of Theory https://libcom.org/library/decadence-aufheben-2 Revolution or Decadence? https://monthlyreview.org/2018/05/01/revolution-or-decadence/ Check...
Come listen to the boys discuss Hegel's enduring importance to the contemporary world. Hegel Is Still an Important Thinker for the Left https://jacobin.com/2023/11/hegel-political-philosophy-world-revolutions-book-review Hegel in the Era of “Wokeness” https://jacobin.com/2023/12/hegel-wokeness-world-spirit-political-theory-history-philosophy-richard-bourke Reading Hegel on Bastille Day https://jacobin.com/2016/07/hegel-bastille-day-burke-french-revolution The dialectic in the service of revoluti...
We soldier on through this excellent but little known work on the national question. This week we FINALLY finish Chapter 1. Send us a message (sorry we can't respond on here). Support the show
