Political Philosophy

I discuss content from Chapters 12 and 13 of Eugene McCarraher’s The Enchantments of Mammon, especially his treatment of the American populist and socialist movements. McCarraher shows that underneath their anti-capitalist rhetoric lies a deep agreement with US corporate capitalism. The corporate system was seen by both as a model of cooperation, organization and efficiency which they simply wanted to harness more productively for people as a whole. The populists did not dispute capitalism so much as they attempted to reform it. The socialists (somewhat apropos to my conversation with Chris Cutrone recently) thought the corporate system and scientific management would work better with the profit motive out of the way. Both, then, in their own way, according to McCarraher, were still enchanted with Mammon. Here’s a link to McCarraher’s book: https://www.amazon.com/Enchantments-Mammon-Capitalism-Religion-Modernity/dp/0674984617/ref=sr_1_1?dchild=1&keywords=enchantments+of+mammon&qid=1601065133&sr=8-1 For more from me: http://www.lauriemjohnson.com

Sorry about multiple uploads–internet troubles! In this second half of my interview with Chris Cutrone, we discuss his view that Enlightenment liberalism holds the potential to liberate mankind but only if capitalism gets out of its way. We discuss ways in which this might happen (futures), and the potential risks and benefits involved. Along the way we discuss Democrats, Republicans, environmental challenges, and the reason to persevere in extremely challenging times. Cutrone is Associate Professor of Art History, Theory and Criticism, and Visual and Critical Studies at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago and he also teaches at the Institute for Clinical Social Work in Chicago. He is the original lead organizer of the Platypus Affiliated Society, and the editor of the volume Marxism in the Age of Trump, co-author of Adorno’s Leninism, and the forthcoming Marxism and Politics: Essays on Critical Theory and the Party (out later this year), along with numerous articles on critical theory and current events. Here’s the Platypus Affiliated Society website: https://platypus1917.org Here’s the first in the series on the American Revolution: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KWwQg0MObQs&t=4654s Here’s the Shit Platypus Says podcast link: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/sps/id1305502112 For more from me: http://www.lauriemjohnson.com

Sorry this is late–several uploads failed. This is the first part of my recent interview of Chris Cutrone. In this part, he explains his slogan “the left is dead; long live the left,” and we get into his take on the meaning of the American Revolution. We discuss the place of the U.S. in revolutionary history, the impact we are having currently, and how that could be different. .

Drawing from Part 3 of Eugene McCarraher’s The Enchantments of Mammon, I take a good look at the way evangelical Christians in the late 19th century put God and Mammon on the same level. The corporation was raised to the dignity of a human person in U.S. law, begging the question of whether anyone who believes that can really adequately respect human life as “made in the image and likeness of God.” Here’s the link to McCarraher’s book: https://www.amazon.com/Enchantments-Mammon-Capitalism-Religion-Modernity/dp/0674984617/ref=sr_1_1?dchild=1&keywords=enchantments+of+mammon&qid=1601065133&sr=8-1 Here’s Michael Sandel’s new book: https://www.amazon.com/Tyranny-Merit-Whats-Become-Common/dp/B084SLR1Q5/ref=sr_1_1?dchild=1&keywords=Michael+Sandel&qid=1601065173&sr=8-1 Here’s the Steve Paiken interview of Michael Sandel on his new book: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FFaLj3YWkGo For more from me: http://www.lauriemjohnson.com

In this video I address, through some Ideas from Ch. 6 of my book Ideological Possession and the Rise of the New Right, some deeper systemic reasons for the rise of the illiberal right and other phenomena that are disturbing societies around the globe. The problem is bigger than just blaming one source of trouble, whether it be the Internet, new organizations, racial groups or university progressives. Here’s a link to Ch. 6, which discusses these ideas in more depth: Signs of Mass Psychosis (Ideological Possession and the Rise of the New Right) You can find the book here and elsewhere: https://www.routledge.com/Ideological-Possession-and-the-Rise-of-the-New-Right-The-Political-Thought/Johnson/p/book/9781138082120?gclid=CjwKCAjwkoz7BRBPEiwAeKw3qwfbbiO5hC3qDLD4w02K_ImiPsecAc5rX-xseIJ_bP2fEQeYN3pnBRoC_osQAvD_BwE For more from me: http://www.lauriemjohnson.com

In these three chapters of McCarraher’s book, The Enchantments of Mammon, we get a front row seat to the peculiar developments of American Christianity from colonization through the 19th Century, and the reactions to it from Transcendentalists, Romantics and most importantly America’s enslaved African Americans. This video hits some of the highlights and hopefully gets us to ponder whether America’s historical take on Christianity is really very accurate, and just how much of a problem is its constant admixture of theological and commercial values. Spoiler: it’s a problem. McCarraher’s book: https://www.amazon.com/Enchantments-Mammon-Capitalism-Religion-Modernity/dp/0674984617 For more from me: https://lauriemjohnson.com/ https://politicalphilosophy.video.blog/ Here’s the URL to the Political Philosophy Facebook group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/608141959786172/about/

Eugene McCarraher’s book, The Enchantments of Mammon, explains how the Romantic movement spawned an alternative critique of capitalism, one that can be compatible with conservative as well as certain Enlightenment tendencies even while envisioning a type of communism. John Ruskin is perhaps the greatest inspiration among the Romantic authors for McCarraher. While his love of British empire and embrace of hierarchy may not be desirable, other elements of Ruskin’s thought, and romantic thought generally, are worth considering. McCarraher’s article in Plough: https://www.plough.com/en/topics/justice/comrade-ruskin For more from me: https://lauriemjohnson.com/ https://politicalphilosophy.video.blog/ Here’s the URL to the Political Philosophy Facebook group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/608141959786172/about/

We begin to get into Eugene McCarraher’s book The Enchantments of Mammon with the first chapter, in which he surveys the development of two kinds of Christianity, the kind that’s comfortable alongside wealth and the kind that isn’t. Throughout Christian history, before and after the Protestant Reformation, both types are to be found struggling to define Christian faith and practice. With the Protestant Reformation we see an attempt to sacramentalize work and productivity, replacing older more obviously enchanted Catholic eucharistic sacramentality. For more from me: https://lauriemjohnson.com/ https://politicalphilosophy.video.blog/

Here I introduce Eugene McCarraher, author of The Enchantments of Mammon, and discuss the contents of the Prologue, which sets up the argument of the book. The DeMorgan Museum: https://www.demorgan.org.uk/discover/the-de-morgans/evelyn-de-morgan/ My book, which you can find for sale on multiple platforms in paperback, as an e book, and also by the chapter, is on Barnes and Noble here: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/ideological-possession-and-the-rise-of-the-new-right-laurie-johnson/1130304013 For more from me: https://lauriemjohnson.com/ https://politicalphilosophy.video.blog/

In this final podcast in the series on Christopher Lasch’s The Culture of Narcissism, I deal with parts of Chapter 10, especially Lasch’s indictment of therapeutic bureaucratic authority and his explanation for the failure of US progressives to champion working people. For more from me: https://lauriemjohnson.com/ https://politicalphilosophy.video.blog/ Here’s the URL to the Political Philosophy Facebook group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/608141959786172/about/