#Victorian Socialists

[natsolute]

2022 Victorian State Election

As the majority of the election comes to a close for the lower house-- only 9 seats found to be in doubt, which will be decided by the pre-poll and postal votes as they begin to be counted over the coming days, Daniel Andrews has secured a historic third term as Victorian Premier and leader of the Victorian Labor Party. This means that, unless interrupted by a resignation or retirement from Andrews, Victoria will have had an Andrews Labor government from 2014-2026.

This state election was widely seen as a complicated and uncertain one; as typical of Australian elections, widespread media narratives, particularly those posed by News Corp associated orgs, all presented a tight race, which was reinforced by several Liberal Party officials, including opposition leader Matthew Guy, who all spoke positively on the campaign and claimed that they held a clear chance at winning majority government. As the votes came in, however, this was shown to be not only inaccurate, but bordering on delusional-- to put it in the words of the Victoria Votes ABC panel: "The Liberal Party needs to hire a new pollster".

Despite polls and front-cover claims from the majority of Australian news organizations, and the perspective provided by the Victorian Liberals, there was, in fact, a further loss of popularity for the Liberals. As currently standing, it is likely that Labor will retain the number of seats they had prior to the election, at around double the Liberal National Coalition's seats.

Key Quotes of Tonight:

Richard Willingham: "it's a raw moment for Matthew Guy, but he would know his political career is essentially over."

Ellen Sandell: "This shows that the old two-party system is dying, [...] we're seeing Labor get elected on Greens preferences."

Ellen Sandell: "If you look at something like Northcote, if you look at the Green vote, plus the Socialist vote, we're actually over the Labor party, [...] and what this means is that now, the Labor party can't get elected in the inner-city without the Liberal vote."

Kos Samaras: "[Liberals] are possibly a political movement that no longer talks to a significant number of Victorians, full stop. Political parties come and go; it's a historical fact, and I think that the Liberal Party is pitching to a constituency that doesn't live in Victoria all that much."

Major Key Points

The LNP vastly overestimated the presence of anti-Daniel Andrews sentiment in communities after COVID-19 lock-downs.

Matthew Guy will likely not remain Opposition leader for long; two consecutive losses as leader of the opposition will likely be enough to eject him from the position.

The results of the federal election provided an incredibly accurate prediction of how the Victorian State Election would result.

The LNP suffered greatly due to a combination of preferencing far-right candidates and preselecting ultra-conservative candidates for their own campaigns, which made them less appealing to voters.

While Victoria is broadly moving to the left (a ALP government with progressive values, an increasing Greens vote, etc.), voters are leaving the major parties either in the direction of groups such as the Victorian Greens or Victorian Socialists, or in the direction of "alt-right parties", as described by Victoria Votes panelists.

The ALP has largely benefited from their presentation of progressive politics, largely through the adoption of Greens policies; this has been regarded, as said by Ellen Sandell, as a victory for the Greens party.

My Analysis

The results of the Victorian 2022 State Election have compounded a set of pre-existing trends that I had begun to recognize in the federal election; some of these trends had been reported more widely, while others have been more personal evaluations of politics.

Firstly: Australians are rejecting the major parties; in the federal election, only a third of the country voted for an ALP government, yet that government was formed in the majority-- furthermore, these votes are going to three key categories:

Alt-right parties (One Nation, United Australia, DLP, etc.)

Teal independents

Progressive minor parties (Greens, Socialists, Animal Justice, etc.)

This trend, which was first present in the 2022 Federal election, mostly continued into the state election-- the state is now forming a stable majority ALP government currently at around 37.1% of the vote-- the opposition holds a total of 34.6%. The rest is split between an 11.2% Greens and 17.1% Other vote.

Within the Other vote, the first category of minority party voters are clearly present, with far-right parties such as Family First, Freedom Party Victoria, and Labour DLP getting a combined 5.7%.

The second category of minority party voters can be seen through the 6% Independent vote; interestingly, the number of independents in the lower house will have dropped by the end of this election, as two key rural independents were ousted by successful Nationals campaigns. Contrarily, however, traditionally Liberal electorates faced major competition from independents in the east, particularly in the case of Hawthorne, a state electorate within the federal electorate of Kooyong, where independent Melissa Lowe followed the example of Monique Ryan in the Federal Election and is poised to defeat John Pesutto, who was vying to retake the seat after having it taken by ALP member John Kennedy in 2018.

The third category of minority voters can be seen through the 11.2% Greens vote, 1.4% Victorian Socialist vote, and 2.3% Animal Justice vote, totalling to a 14.9% vote.

By looking at the state of Australian politics-- preferences by the LNP towards alt-right candidates, hyper-conservative News Corp biases, and rampaging issues of misogyny, racism, inequality, corruption, and mistrust in each consecutive government, whether it be at the state or federal level, it is easily identifiable how this escape from the major parties has occurred, and particularly through explorations of COVID-19 and the impact of it on working class families, as well as the manipulation of the pandemic by far-right groups to promote fascist ideologies, it is understandable how there has been an increase in the alt-right vote.

While the expansion of the fascist vote in Australia is concerning, there is a hopeful counter-movement rising in the establishment and rapid expansion of leftist organisations such as the Victorian Socialists; while the Victorian Socialists were unable to take any lower house seats, and it is too early to call whether they were successful in their move to disrupt far right politician Bernie Finn's place in the Western Metro legislative council ticket, it is important to acknowledge the success of what could soon be one of the most successful Australian socialist movements in decades.

Founded in 2018, and first running in the Victorian state election that same year, the Victorian Socialists are an expansion of various socialist groups in Australia, particularly the Socialist Alternative; while they lacked major presence during the 2018 election, they packed genuine influence in the 2022 Victorian election. As expressed by Ellen Sandell's previously mentioned quote, the Victorian Socialists were actually responsible for the election of a fourth Greens member through preferences, and if their fight to overtake Bernie Finn in the upper house is successful, they would be poised to put one of the first socialists in Australian government in 70 years.

In a similar vein of recognising the influence of progressivism in Victoria, it is important to acknowledge the key role that progressive movements such as the Victorian Greens have played in influencing the political attitudes of the Andrew's government, and how said part can be key in making the best out of a ALP majority government. Climate commitments and the commitment to re-establish the SEC, for instance, both directly link back to the policy proposals of the Victorian Greens. Additionally, here is hope from Greens members that, despite not succeeding in creating a hung parliament with the Greens holding balance of power, their influence could be key in further strengthening environmental policies, and I am personally hopeful that the influence of the Victorian Greens could result in the expansion and improvement of the current proposed SEC, which is highly flawed and needs major changes before it is able to succeed.

As stated by members of the ABC Victoria Votes panel, it is highly likely that the catastrophic losses experienced at both the 2018 and 2022 state elections by the LNP are symptoms not of a failure to recognise issues within their party's campaign, but rather a symptom of a party that is no longer relevant or necessary within the state.

For progressives, the ALP majority government is not the ideal outcome, but it is one that can be utilised to the advancement of leftist politics, and the success of the Andrews government, even if by an arguably thin margin, is proof that Victoria could remain safe from the far-right toxicity attempting to enter Australian politics through the actions of the LNP.

This post may be followed up on in the near future; for now though, I will leave my commentary as is, because I need sleep. I have just done 9 hours of volunteering for election day, followed by a 5 1/2 hour watch of the election results, and now, the 1 1/2 hours that it has taken to fully write this analysis. Thank you for reading, and I hope my analysis was one of value. :)

[axvoter]

Blatantly Partisan Party Review XVIII (Victoria 2022): Victorian Socialists

Prior reviews: VIC 2018, federal 2019, federal 2022

What I said before: “This is modern, environmentally-concerned socialism framed in broad terms to bring together as many socialist tendencies as possible.” (federal 2019)

What I think this time: This was meant to be a big-tent party bringing together various socialist factions into a unified and more competitive party. Unfortunately, it has somewhat fallen apart, with the Socialist Alliance walking out. This year, Victorian Socialists are running upper house candidates in every region, with particular emphasis on the races for Northern Metropolitan and Western Metropolitan, and lower house candidates in most electorates of Melbourne's north and west.

Look, I don’t think I need to go into too much detail about policies because Victorian Socialists are exactly what they say they are. No misleading party name here, just a straight-up socialist platform. It’s one that is attuned to current issues rather than litigating past fights or deploying rhetoric that has not been persuasive outside a very narrow circle for at least fifty years. I think it’s well presented and that any Socialist member of parliament would make a useful contribution in establishing a fairer, more equitable society with better services.

Also, happily, Victorian Socialists are one of the very few parties with an explicit policy to abolish the anti-democratic Group Ticket Voting system. Prior to the close of nominations, before Animal Justice revealed their sting on Glenn Druery and kicked off the public uproar about GTV, only two parties stated directly that they would abolish GTV if given the chance: the Greens and the Victorian Socialists. Ironically, if VS does get into parliament this election, it will likely be because they’ve scored a winning group ticket for either the Northern Metropolitan lottery or the Western Metropolitan lottery.

My recommendation: Give the Victorian Socialists a good preference. Remember to vote below the line on the large ballot for the Legislative Council so that your preference goes where you want it to go; all ballots with 5 or more preferences marked below the line are valid votes.

Website: https://victoriansocialists.org.au/

[other-peoples-coats]

On the off chance there's any fellow victorians following me, reminder the state election's coming up, and you should go check your enrollment's up to date.

Early voting from the 14th, democracy sausage map here as ever (not a whole lot of points yet, for obvious reasons), and the election itself is on the 26th of november (I mean, obviously).

Also postal voting's open for enrollment as of today (2nd nov), though the website seems to be a bit janky atm so maybe try later in the week - ballot packs start being posted on the 14th; enrollment for postal votes closes the 23rd at 6pm.

[criphd]

eleanor marx, photographed 1867 & 1877

[swallowtail-ageha]

Im all for fanfiction writers writing what they want and as badly as they want but there are certain moments where shit is so badly written i drop the thing out of embarassment you can't have a japanese businessman in his 50's in what is 300 years in the future say shit like "woke" "liberals" and "cancel culture" the shit is so anachronistic it makes me crumble into dust

[notwiselybuttoowell]

Thinking about how the Aesthetic Movement was so throughly mocked in popular Victorian culture, the fact that nowadays we don't really associate it with the progressive elements that were within in it (dress reform), and the fact that progressive trends are often mocked in society as they gain strength..........

[mooncyclereader]

I love it when i pick up socialist ideology in a book and i look up the author and he is in fact a big socialist of his time. Rock on Robert L. Stivenson!!

[onei-ro-piss]

Edwin A. Abbott gave Flatland an unreliable narrator that describes his sexist, classist, racist society with pride in terms of “I am a Square. I have 4 sides. the more angles and sides you have, the better you are as a person. Also you can't change this even though the people in power will encourage you to try,” and he wrote this for Victorian societies in 1884 to the tune of “THIS IS WHAT YOU SOUND LIKE. THIS IS HOW STUPID YOU SOUND.

"You claim to know intimately the nature of every being around you, yet you know nothing. You call yourself a square despite the fact you’ve never seen one! YOU'VE NEVER ACTUALLY SEEN A SQUARE.”

In the book, A Square goes down a rabbit hole of thought until eventually drawing the conclusion that women should be educated. It is after this that A Sphere chooses to teach him about the 3rd dimension, and says it's because A Square “seemed a man of sense.” A Sphere mentions the importance of love and art, something A Square thinks is ridiculous because "love" is for women, and "art" is for socialists I mean chromatists. A Square never really does get it though. He fails to explain the 3rd dimension to his fellow Flatlanders, partly due to comedically terrible political timing, largely due to the fact A Square has always been prone to understanding only what is directly in front of him. He lives out the rest of his days in prison.

And then 123 years after the book was published, Ladd Ehlinger (an incredibly reactionary misogynist and racist) makes an adaptation of the book where he voices the main character. He releases a movie that pathetically mimes the social commentary of the original, and now lives out his days as a sad, angry man crying on YouTube about leftists. He's lived out the plot of Flatland, playing an even worse version of A Square's role. The only thing that's missing is getting sent to jail and that’s bc unlike A Square, Ladd Ehlinger doesn't experience oppression of any kind. 

However, exactly like A Square, he didn't get it. He didn't fucking get it.

[parentsbesluts]

after a full month theyre finally done . these designs took a lot out of me to make but i really like how they all turned out. more design info for each under the cut

patton: black cis man, he/him, 6'0 (the tallest except for remus*). 4b hair. he has patches of skin that developed into frog skin following the events of svsr. its functionally similar to vitiligo, as it was caused by the high amounts of stress patton went through, but not the same. his shirt was a gift from janus that was suggested by remus. he has chronic back pain (not a part of the design but this is important to know). he wears the bff bracelet that roman made for him when they were young. he has stretch marks around his shoulders and chest.

roman: italian + latina bigender woman, she/he/star, 5'10. he dyes her own hair often but favors stars natural color with streaks of blond. her sword is longer than that when star actually uses it. i fucked up the proportions when drawing it and didn't have the strength to fix it. she had an entire royal cape but he opts not to wear it in most situations. similarly he owns a lot more jewelry than just the stuff stars wearing in the picture but its often not practical. her bff bracelet is in a drawer in his room right now.

logan: indigenous (specifically mayan) agender person, they/xe, 5'6 (the shortest except for remus*). xyr hair has gone gray from stress despite attempts to fix it, so they have accepted their fate and moved on. xe has a nose ring because virgil is a terrible influence on them. the heart on their cheek marks the first spot that virgil ever kissed xem. xe's been carrying around that orange book a lot recently for some reason. xe has stretch marks around their chest, shoulders, armpit, and hips.

virgil: irish (she makes their skin gray just because) genderfluid person, she/he/they, 5'8 ½. he took up smoking (though they prefer weed over cigs) to try and reduce her and thomas's anxiety. it's seemingly working but now their room smells like weed. her rat tails are 100% real. after accepting anxiety she cut off their jacket sleeves and jean shins to show off more of his body. we love body positivity. the scar on his face is remus's fault. they have many anxiety reducing habits such as can tab collecting and biting her nails. enrichment. the heart on his neck marks the first spot that logan ever kissed her. he changes hair color in accordance with shirt. she has stretch marks around their hip and armpits.

janus: french + spanish trans male, he/hiss/venom, 5'8. the cane is not optional. despite having the fashion sense of an upper class victorian man hi is actively socialist. ve claims he's "reclaiming the style". the tree patterns on hisses overcoat and gloves have absolutely no symbolism related to them whatsoever. the eye he wears around venoms neck is made from serpentine. the ring pattern on hisses gloves is solely because its hard to put rings on over gloves, even though it doesnt matter at all and ve could simply summon rings on hisses fingers if he wanted to. the snake pattern around venoms coat is not sentient.

remus: italian + latino unlabled person, he/it/that thing, height is incredibly unstable but averages to around 5'10 most days. it can see out of the eyes on his earrings and right sleeve. the spikes on that things clothing are indeed real teeth. it misses his friends. it wears some sort of weird lingerie under his uniform. that thing ended up getting the uncontrollable hair genes and it dyes its hair in shrimp colors. he wants to dye its hair with virgil again. the chain can be stored inside of the mace handle, allowing the mace to be used as a morningstar. the preportions on it are also bad sorry. that things shoes are sentient and want to kill you. it wishes janus wasn't so busy. he doesn't want to be alone.

[publicdomainreview]

Socialist, theosophist + women's rights activist Annie Besant was born #onthisday 1847. Read @ResObscura on her book Thought-Forms (1901), an intriguing work grounded in the theory that ideas, emotions, and even events, can manifest as visible auras https://publicdomainreview.org/essay/victorian-occultism-and-the-art-of-synesthesia #OTD

[chipsandmorrie]

Happy birthday to Edward Carpenter, the pioneer that paved the way for so many of us.

Carpenter (1844–1929) was an influential English socialist, poet, philosopher, and early activist for LGBTQ+ rights. Born on August 29 in Brighton, England, he grew up in a conservative middle-class family and became an advocate for the rights of workers, women's emancipation, and environmental issues. Carpenter was also one of the first public figures to speak openly about his homosexuality, which was groundbreaking in Victorian England.

Edward Carpenter met his future life partner George Merrill in 1891 in Sheffield, England. Merrill (age 24), a working-class man originally from the slums of Sheffield, caught Carpenter's (age 47) attention and the two formed a lasting bond despite the significant differences in their social backgrounds: Carpenter was a well-educated middle-class intellectual, while Merrill had little formal education and came from a working-class background. 

Carpenter and Merrill lived together transparently as a (sexually open) couple at Carpenter's home in Millthorpe, Derbyshire, defying the strict social norms of the Victorian and Edwardian eras. Their relationship, which lasted nearly 40 years until Merrill's death in 1928, was pioneering in its openness, especially at a time when homosexuality was illegal and stigmatised.

Carpenter's progressive views on socialism, sexual freedom, and the critique of societal norms deeply resonated with EM Forster. In 1913, Forster (aged 34) visited Carpenter (aged 69) at his home in Millthorpe and saw Carpenter living openly with Merrill. This visit had a profound impact on Forster, influencing the plot of Forster’s novel, Maurice. Forster's depiction of the relationship between the characters Maurice Hall and Alec Scudder reflects Carpenter's ideas about the legitimacy of same-sex love and the possibility of living authentically despite societal constraints. Carpenter's philosophy of personal and societal liberation, along with his courageous life choices, provided Forster with a model of integrity and courage, which permeated his writing and personal life. The connection between the two men underscores the broader cultural shift towards greater acceptance and understanding of LGBTQ+ identities in the early 20th century.

I admit to having a huge man crush on Edward Carpenter. Him being a tall dark handsome stranger doesn’t hurt either. 

Here are the pictures that I’ve collected of “Chips”.

[axvoter]

Blatantly Partisan Party Review XIX (Victoria 2022): Socialist Alliance

Prior reviews: federal 2016, NSW 2019, federal 2019, federal 2022

What I said before: “Do I really need to tell you much about this party’s platform? They’re proper eco-socialists whose policies cohere around a belief in workers’ solidarity, hostility to capitalism, and radical action on climate change.” (federal 2019)

What I think this time: Socialist Alliance left the Victorian Socialists electoral alliance two years ago and are standing candidates separately, but they have not yet regained party registration with the VEC. This means that their candidates appear as independents on the ballot.

There are four Socialist Alliance-endorsed independents, all of them in lower house seats: Arie Huybregts (Broadmeadows), Angela Carr (Geelong), Sarah Hathway (Lara), and Sue Bolton (Pascoe Vale). Bolton is already an elected representative at the level of local government: she has won multiple terms as a councillor in the City of Merri-bek (formerly Moreland). In two seats, Socialist Alliance-endorsed independents are going up against Victorian Socialist candidates: one of Huybregts’ opponents in Broadmeadows is VS’s Omar Hassan, while in Pascoe Vale, Bolton’s rivals include VS’s Madaleine Hah.

Socialist Alliance’s state platform covers the same ground to their recent federal platforms, so I’ve not much to add to my 2019 and 2022 entries about the bigger picture. What sticks out to me is that they have made an effort to include policies specifically relevant to where their four candidates are standing. For the Geelong and Lara candidates, there is a commitment to a new public hospital in Geelong’s northern suburbs. For the Pascoe Vale and Broadmeadows candidates, there is a policy to duplicate the Upfield line that passes through these electorates—the lack of double track between Gowrie and the terminus is why it has such appalling frequencies.

Another big state-specific positive is that Socialist Alliance want investment in accessible public transport to match the level crossing removal programme in quantity and speed of delivery. A large proportion of Melbourne's public transport network does not meet basic accessibility standards, particularly trams and buses. The network is required to comply with the Disability Discrimination Act, but the timeframe for compliance has been extended to 2032, and who knows if that won’t be pushed back even further. Other parties could really take a hint from Socialist Alliance and make this a priority too.

My recommendation: Give Socialist Alliance-endorsed independents a good preference.

Website: https://socialist-alliance.org/elections/state/2022/election-campaign/community-need-not-corporate-greed-2022-victoria-state

[fromrusholmewithlove]

This city is beyond parody, I swear to God

A multimillion-pound luxury penthouse flat named after the revolutionary socialist thinker Friedrich Engels is the latest example of Manchester repurposing its radical history for profit, local people have said. The apartment is in the east tower in Deansgate Square, where the developer Renaker says its vision for the “New Jackson” skyscraper district “is to create a sustainable and attractive neighbourhood where people feel proud to call home”.

...

The German philosopher spent more than two decades in Manchester in the mid-19th century, from where he researched his seminal work The Condition of the Working Class in England. The book is a study on the Victorian industrial working class, which highlighted the issue of overcrowded housing, as well as high mortality rates and poor working conditions. Today, there is incredibly high demand for affordable housing in Manchester, with more than 15,000 applications on the waiting list for social housing. According to the property website Rightmove, the average price for a property in Manchester is £300,521, with the average selling price for flats at £200,652. The 290 sq metre (3,126 sq ft) flat is listed on the developer’s website as a showhome, but in promotional material it was advertised with a price tag of £2.5m.

Development in Manchester turns everything organic and good about the city into an empty, corporate brand until it doesn't mean anything any more. The city council have spent 3 decades selling Manchester's soul to attract developers and wealthy professionals from the south while Mancunians get priced out of our own city.

Isaac Rose, from the Greater Manchester Tenants Union:

“We see the effects of [the affordable housing crisis] every day,” he added. “A mix of lack of social stock, rent rises in the private rental sector by quite substantial margins, and those two things combining to mean that the only option for people is to be put in temporary accommodation. “Especially in the areas immediately south of where those towers are – Hulme, Moss Side – [there have been] massive rent rises, and if people are kicked out of their private rented home it’s very unlikely they’ll be able to find anywhere in the area … you’ve got this kind of expulsion of people from their neighbourhoods.”

[fotobasher]

A mycroft-holmes centric game: in early dev hell + sketch and a blurb!

(repost bc i needed to compress image quality + its my account ill do what i want smh)

Mycroft-centric game!!!! Specifically the Holmes' family dynamic in a deeply bigoted Britain. In game form, so I may use my concept art diploma somewhere + it's probably like the best medium at this time. So here, a blurb queer-slash-socialist take on Mycroft Holmes and his social circles:

It is finally the 20th century. One of the Founding Fathers of the anti-social Diogenes Club as well as a humble public servant for "Great" Britain, a fifty-and-more Mycroft Holmes's is on his last working day. With his goals in life arguably bare-bones and rudimentary, his only remaining ambition is to retire to his Pall Mall flat and live the rest of his days as a bachelor painting the goings-on of London. However, that dream is ripped from him when he receives a letter that finds himself in an empty 221B Baker Street flat. The contents, in effect, are an urging plea to take over the family business from younger brother Sherlock, who, alongside biographer Dr John Watson, is suddenly missing.

And, as if he wasn't already being a nuisance, Sherlock Holmes asked of his older brother one other condition to satisfy: to solve crimes revolving "the kind of crowd a Victorian London nor an Imperial Britain was ready for."

In other words, people like them.

anyway, a lot of plotting and designing still in the works! It'll be a while until anything really solidifies, but for now I think it's a good a time as any to tease it ^^

[1966jpg]

Critical Theory Recommended Reading List:

Principles of Communism (Friedrich Engels)

Wage-Labour and Capital Value, Price and Profit (Karl Marx)

Das Kapital (Karl Marx)

The Communist Manifesto (Karl Marx)

On Practice & On Contradiction (Mao Zedong)

The Motorcycle Diaries (Che Guevara)

Latin America Diaries (Che Guevara)

Reminiscences of the Cuban Revolutionary War (Che Guevara)

Guerilla Warfare (Che Guevara)

Che (Jon Lee Anderson)

Socialism: Utopian and Scientific (Friedrich Engels)

The Origin of the Family, Private Property and the State (Friedrich Engels)

Orientalism (Edward W. Said)

The Unwomanly Face of War (Svetlana Alexievich)

The Wretched of The Earth (Frantz Fanon)

A Dying Colonialism (Frantz Fanon)

Black Skin White Masks (Frantz Fanon)

Inglorious Empire (Shashi Tharoor)

Remembering Che (Aleida March)

Against Empire (Michael Parenti)

Blackshirts & Reds (Michael Parenti)

Revolutionary Suicide (Huey P. Newton)

Confessions of an Economic Hitman (John Perkins)

The Mismeasure of Man (Stephen Jay Gould)

The State and the Revolution (V.I. Lenin)

Imperialism: The Highest Stage of Capitalism (V.I. Lenin)

Imperialism in The 21st Century (V.I. Lenin)

Liberalism A Counter History (Domenico Losurdo)

23 Things They Don't Tell You About Capitalism (Ha-Joon Chang)

October (China Miéville)

Kill Anything That Moves (Nick Turse)

Blitzed: Drugs in Nazi Germany (Norman Ohler)

Late Victorian Holocausts (Mike Davis)

Ten Myths About Israel (Ilan Pappe)

How Europe Underdeveloped Africa (Walter Rooney)

Reform or Revolution (Rosa Luxemburg)

Settlers: The Mythology of the White Proletariat (J. Sakai)

Killing Hope (William Blum)

Unequal Exchange and the Prospects of Socialism (Arghiri Emmanuel)

Unequal Exchange: A Study of Imperialism and Trade (Arghiri Emmanuel)

The Wealth of Some Nations (Zak Cope)

Divided World Divided Class (Zak Cope)

The Law of Worldwide Value (Samir Amin)

Unequal Development (Samir Amin)

An Economic History of the U.S.S.R (Alec Nove)

Human Rights in the Soviet Union (Albert Szymanski)

Is the Red Flag Flying? (Albert Szymanski)

Soviet Democracy (Pat Sloan)

The Industrialisation of Soviet Russia: The Socialist Offensive (R.W. Davies)

Soviet Communism: A New Civilisation (Sidney and Beatrice Webb)

Socialism in the Soviet Union (Jonathan Aurthur)

The Soviet Form of Popular Government (The U.S.S.R Academy of Sciences)

Workers Participation in the Soviet Union (Mick Costello)

The Great Conspiracy (Michael Sayers and Albert E. Kahn)

The Soviets and Ourselves: Two Commonwealths (K.E. Holme)

The Old Social Classes and the Revolutionary Movements of Iraq (Hanna Baratu)

South Yemen A Marxist Republic in Arabia (Robert W. Stookey)

The Arab Left (Tareq Y. Ismael)

Post-Marxism and The Middle East (Feleh A. Jabar)

The Unmaking of Arab Socialism (Ali Kodri)

The Hundred Years' War on Palestine (Rashid Khalidi)

The Ethnic Cleansing of Palestine (Ilan Pape)

A Strategy for the Liberation of Palestine (The Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine)

Roadside Picnic (Arkady and Boris Strugatsky)

Blood in My Eye (George Jackson)

Why You Should Be a Trade Unionist (Len McCluskey)

The Pitfalls of Liberalism (Kwame Ture)

[gepgep2]

One reason that actual proletarians were very suspicious of socialists in many cases is because their immediate enemy isn't actually the capitalist, who he rarely meets, but the annoying administrator upstairs. To a large extent, traditional socialism means giving that guy more power rather than less.

So I think we need to look at what's really going on in a hospital, in a school... In most cities in America now hospitals and schools are the two largest employers- universities and hospitals. Essentially work has been reorganized around working on bodies and minds of of other people, rather than producing objects. And the class relation in those institutions are not- you can't use traditional Marxist analysis. You need to actually reimagine what it would mean: Are we talking about the production of people? If so, what are the class dynamics involved in that? Is "production" the term at all? Probably not.

That's why I say that we need to reconstitute the language we're using to describe this, because we're essentially using 19th century terminology to discuss 21st century problems. Both sides are doing that. The right wing's using like neoclassical economics which is basically Victorian, it's trying to solve problems that no longer exist. But the left is using the 19th century Marxist critique of that which also doesn't apply!

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=MN9S0HD8VH8