Auxiliary Statements

On this weeks show Jack and Dan read two essays written by C. L. R. James. James analyses the rise and historic significance of Nazi fascism from a Marxist perspective. He makes the case for seeing Nazism, not as a unique political and economic system in contrast to a broader European political economy, but instead reads it as an outgrowth and extension of broader capitalist society. German fascism is presented as a reaction to the crisis of capitalism, a response of the capitalist class to the threat posed by the workers movement. Hitler is presented as being enabled by the German bourgeoisie, and the appeasement of the western not a product of cowardice but a response of tacit acquiescence to the new regime in Berlin. The lads use James’ analysis to inform their ongoing considerations on revolutionary defeatism and the stratigraphic questions that result from the realities of capitalist wars. Was there a revolutionary moment that coincided with WW2 or was the necessity to defeat fascism the sole imperative that precluded the possibility of a proletarian class independent response. Reading: Capitalist Society and the War (1940) and The Lesson of Germany (1945) by C,L,R,James. https://www.marxists.org/archive/james-clr/works/1940/07/capitalism-war.htm https://www.marxists.org/archive/james-clr/works/1945/05/lesson-germany.htm

This week we decide once and for all just what the left is and who we should be excluding!! Just kidding, but we do talk the problem of left unity. You've got to draw a line somewhere. Also up for discussion is the question of how to relate to our nation's various imperial wars and the international nature of the working class. Woo hoo! Reading: Revolutionary Strategy: Marxism and the challenge of left unity by Mike Macnair (2008) archive.cpgb.org.uk/assets/files/re…trategy%202.pdf

Whilst waiting for their guests to arrive Jack and Dan sit down for a chat about their podcasting journey so far. One year in, have they learnt anything. The lads talk Corbyn and Sanders and tease out the extent of their ongoing relationship with the radical Social Democratic politics of the kindly grandads of the parliamentary anglophone left. Jack and Dan talk about the somewhat disparate topics discussed on the podcast so far and work on putting the pieces of the puzzle together. They talk: theories of history and the transition to capitalism; fundamental principles for a social and economic transition to communism; and, of cause, appropriate political strategies for the task at hand. The lads also endeavour to identify the podcasts canon, what is the Auxiliary Statements party line? Upon what points of theoretical minutia is this two man sect founded? The hope being to challenge that canon in future episodes.

Well folks with strikes in the air in the United States your shimmering podcast hosts dive into Rosa Luxemburg's classic study of 1905 Russia and the mass strike as a strategy for revolution. McNair calls Luxemburg part of the left tradition, but Dan and Jack separate the wheat from the chaff and figure out just what it is about Luxemburg that makes her part of the 'left' tendency, Reading: The Mass Strike by Rosa Luxemburg (1906)

This week we decided it was about time to have a gander at some history. Turns out, history is pretty brutal. Reading: Chapter 1 "Lust for Gold, Lust for Silver" from The Open Veins of Latin America (1971) by Eduardo Galeano.

The long awaited "baseball episode" is finally here, folks, as today we're joined by Bobby Wagner of the socialist baseball podcast Tipping Pitches. Today we talk the looming deadline for the Collective Bargaining Agreement between the players in the MLB and the owners of the teams, the exploitation of minor leaguers and why the Giants are bad. Huge thanks again to Bobby! Go check out his show! And buy a shirt!! Links below!!!! CONSUME: https://tippingpitches.myshopify.com/ ENJOY: https://open.spotify.com/show/4GYOatQjKlvePSZ1GkjA1T?si=RIzEXT3wReSexaKQOyNgYg&dl_branch=1

Following on from last weeks discussion of Hal Draper's strategy of the Marxist centre, Jack and Dan consult another canonical text of contemporary Marxism this week; Mike Macnair’s Revolutionary Strategy. With an emphasis on the Second International, and the German SPD more specificity, Macnair outlines the differences in strategy that defined the key debates within turn of the century Marxism. What does it mean to be a centrist in the context of the Marxist movement? What defines the politics of the left and right wings of Marxist? Reading. Revolutionary strategy: Marxism and the challenge of left unity by Mike Macnair (2008) https://archive.cpgb.org.uk/assets/files/resources/Revolutionary%20Strategy%202.pdf

This week the lads once again humble themselves at the alter of the ever apposite font of revolutionary wisdom; Hal draper. This time Jack and Dan explore the ins and outs of the sect, that inescapable nadir of left political organisation. What is a sect, why do they come about, are they inescapable, and what is their historical impact and legacy? The sect, it turns out, is not the way to build and support an active workers movement; history has proven this to be the case. So now what? Draper offers us the model of the political and Marxist ‘centre’. They boys discuss how this would differ from the sect model and how it could inform socialist practice today. Reading: Anatomy of the Micro-Sect by Hal Draper (1973) https://www.marxists.org/archive/draper/1973/xx/microsect.htm

Boy revolutions can be a nasty business, eh? Especially that French one. It was kind of a pain in the neck, but once it was over it was a weight off of a lot of people's shoulders, am I right? This week rotund podcast hosts Dan and Jack take a look at Marx's writings on the French Revolution in an effort to understand what political revolutions can and cannot accomplish. Is there ever a right time for revolution? Or will they always end in bloody tragedy? Reading: "The French Revolution and the terror: the achievements and limits of political revolution" from The Social and Political Thought of Karl Marx by Shlomo Avineri (1968)

All good things must come to an end...no we don't mean our old friend JFK (or RFK for that matter) we mean the time has come to put The Devil's Chessboard to rest. This is our final episode on David Talbot's classic tome and it's left us with some questions: what was the class composition of the fellas that killed JFK? what place does this type of crankery have in socialism? where have all our beautiful independent researchers gone? This episode is sponsored by Dresser Industries in cooperation with Zapata Petroleum. Reading: Part III, The Devil’s Chessboard (2015), David Talbot