The Regrettable Century

We had an episode planned where we were going to talk about the Bolsheviks and Early Soviet Law, but our main law dude (Steven from Supreme Leap Forward) got deathly ill and bailed on us. So, we are unlocked one of our Patreon episodes. Please forgive us, but trust that we have some good stuff coming up. Sometimes doing something (anything!)  is much worse than doing nothing;  we really need to figure out when that is. We read and thought and talked about an article that admonishes us to think and talk and read before acting. We have to stand against a politics of catharsis, a politics that does nothing but makes us feel like we are making a difference.But... then what do we do? I Would Prefer Not To: Žižek’s Bartleby Politicshttps://medium.com/@mdowns1611/i-would-prefer-not-to-%C5%BEi%C5%BEeks-bartleby-politics-12bd8d9de66aSend us a message (sorry we can't respond on here). Support the show

This week we continue our discussion of Splendour, Misery, and Possibilities: An X-Ray of Socialist Yugoslavia by Darko Suvin with our podcast network comrade, Adam from Red Library. Please Check out and subscribe to Red Library and From 78 and be on the lookout for more updates concerning the Lost Horizons Network. Red Library: A Political Education Podcast for Today's LeftFrom 78 PodcastSuvin, Darko. Splendour, misery, and possibilities : an X-ray of socialist Yugoslavia. Leiden Boston: Brill, 2016.A UTOPIA IN THE BALKANS -- CATHERINE SAMARYhttps://newleftreview.org/issues/II114/articles/catherine-samary-a-utopian-in-the-balkansSplendours, Miseries, and Potentialities of Socialist Yugoslavia- The Berlin Thesishttps://www.corsoitalia7.it/2017/03/splendours-miseries-and-potentialities-of-socialist-yugoslavia-the-berlin-theses1/The Life and Death of Yugoslav Socialism -- James Robertsonhttps://jacobinmag.com/2017/07/yugoslav-socialism-tito-self-management-serbia-balkansSupport the show (http://patreon.com/theregrettablecentury)Send us a message (sorry we can't respond on here). Support the show

We read and discussed Splendour, Misery, and Possibilities: An X-Ray of Socialist Yugoslavia by Darko Suvin with Adam from Red Library. This incredibly dense book was a wealth of theoretical and historical knowledge about one of our favorite subjects, Yugoslavia. The SFRY defies neat categorization and the more we learn about it the more questions we have about the process of transition to communism, workers' self management, radical democracy, markets, and state socialism. It is the perfect meditative subject for a podcast that continually implores Marxists to stop being so certain of everything. Red Library: A Political Education Podcast for Today's LeftFrom 78 PodcastSuvin, Darko. Splendour, misery, and possibilities : an X-ray of socialist Yugoslavia. Leiden Boston: Brill, 2016.A UTOPIA IN THE BALKANS -- CATHERINE SAMARYhttps://newleftreview.org/issues/II114/articles/catherine-samary-a-utopian-in-the-balkansSplendours, Miseries, and Potentialities of Socialist Yugoslavia- The Berlin Thesishttps://www.corsoitalia7.it/2017/03/splendours-miseries-and-potentialities-of-socialist-yugoslavia-the-berlin-theses1/The Life and Death of Yugoslav Socialism -- James Robertsonhttps://jacobinmag.com/2017/07/yugoslav-socialism-tito-self-management-serbia-balkansSend us a message (sorry we can't respond on here). Support the show

In this episode we revisit the topic of Fully Automated Luxury Communism with our friend Annaliese. While we are already on the record opposing the viability and desirability of a socialism without sacrifice, we decided to make a few more critiques we didn't think of making last time, but we also talk a bit about what kinds of futures we would like to see, the nature of work and leisure time, and how much it would suck to have robots do everything. Send us a message (sorry we can't respond on here). Support the show

Head over to Patreon and sign up for $2 a month to hear the second part of the discussion.https://www.patreon.com/theregrettablecenturySend us a message (sorry we can't respond on here). Support the show

The British left was epically owned last month in one of the crappiest election results in several generations. While the reaction to this defeat has been largely one of despair and feelings of rudderlessness, we make the case that this is just one in a long line of defeats we will inevitably suffer. Unless we gird ourselves for defeat with a dialectical pessimism, there's no way we will last long enough to make a real difference. Head over to Patreon and sign up for $2 a month to hear the second part of the discussion. https://www.patreon.com/theregrettablecenturyThis Is Why We Hate You: December Editorialhttps://salvage.zone/articles/this-is-why-we-hate-you-december-editorial/?fbclid=IwAR0Asf5cKmEYUPcpZE59vzZeKToaC-N7dSDyCdt4X_oiH78AXX24E0ntgYkNo False Consolations https://novaramedia.com/2019/12/13/no-false-consolations/?fbclid=IwAR3tuTEtTBK4husLxkYnPz3-vmHY-sCbH0MQGi-EijWxYnbWNq_9lAXPWwgThe Last Gasp of Labourism https://left-flank.org/2019/12/13/anti-politics-the-last-gasp-of-british-labourism/?fbclid=IwAR3bHVCrKBS4-F5Tn3ctP_EBW2PUMEpdczUrNJ_cwHCYg-n8Owa1ckpT3uQClass War Corbynism https://newsocialist.org.uk/class-war-corbynism/?fbclid=IwAR2h7UpFSSEXdywDypP2GSkI6y7aGnM8rCXWl3O-1lQwSx__6uz8aBGKxpwCorbyn’s Defeat and the Democratic Socialists of America https://newpol.org/corbyns-defeat-and-the-democratic-socialists-of-america/?fbclid=IwAR3QaQI_ORrdrLB37PyS4RNu1SELKDkI4ZkiWHkWBluUUdriWhRig0DNwuwWhat the U.S. Left Can Learn From the Labour Party’s Epic Losshttp://inthesetimes.com/article/22220/labour-party-jeremy-corbyn-boris-johnson-uk-brexit-bernie-sanders-left?fbclid=IwAR1w5wzfIZEMiLDXoiI8NPqXQTs3rVPaCFBcWiJd-IiSEvBbucEaoMMyR6kWhat the U.K. Election Does (and Doesn’t) Teach Democratshttps://novaramedia.com/2019/12/13/no-false-consolations/?fbclid=IwAR116Li6Pft50XlzAt4oy5No3DT6E43BJdFfb_C6eoF1nuAOtyssFFQUyOUMusic:Oi Polloi- (Expletive Deleted) Everybody Who Voted Tory Send us a message (sorry we can't respond on here). Support the show

Wherein we continue our discussion with Derick. Head on over tour our Patreon and sign up for $2 a month to check it out. https://www.patreon.com/theregrettablecenturySend us a message (sorry we can't respond on here). Support the show

The boys--all the good ones--sat down with C. Derick Varn of Pop the Left and the Symptomatic Redness (which can be found on the Zero Books podcast feed) to talk about Socialism in One Country and/or Socialist Internationalism. We tackled the topic that has plagued the workers' movement from the early days of the Socialist International and wrapped it up quite nicely. We have answered the national question and can now proceed forward to proletarian victory. Please check out Part II of our discussion on our Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/theregrettablecenturySocialism in One Country: A Reassessment -- Erik Van Ree'SOCIALISM IN ONE COUNTRY' -- Jean Paul Sartre (NLR)Cuba, Che Guevara, and the Problem of “Socialism in One Country” -- Ron Augustinhttps://monthlyreview.org/2019/01/01/cuba-che-guevara-and-the-problem-of-socialism-in-one-country/Yugoslav Self-Management: Capitalism Under the Red Banner -- Juraj Katalenachttp://insurgentnotes.com/2013/10/yugoslav-self-management-capitalism-under-the-red-banner/Socialism in One Country & The Cuban Revolution -- Celia Harthttp://links.org.au/node/26Trotsky and the Debate on Socialism in One Country -- Monty Johnstone (NLR)The Revolution Betrayed Appendix: “Socialism in One Country” -- Leon Trotsky, 1936https://www.marxists.org/archive/trotsky/1936/revbet/ch12.htmSocialism in One Country versus Permanent Revolution -- Stalin, 1925http://soviethistory.msu.edu/1924-2/industrialization-debate/industrialization-debate-texts/socialism-in-one-country-versus-permanent-revolution/On Permanent Revolution -- Bukharin, 1924https://www.marxists.org/archive/bukharin/works/1924/permanent-revolution/index.htmSend us a message (sorry we can't respond on here). Support the show

Apparently, fully automated luxury communism is more than just a meme. We read some articles about it and decided to have a discussion about its merits and shortfalls. Is a post labor society something that is possible or desirable? Is technology really shifting the base of society in a direction that makes fully automated luxury communism more likely? How do we define the concept of luxury and is it really something we'd like perpetuate? Do we as a civilization, species, or planet even have time for something like this to come to fruition before we face total annihilation?Fully automated luxury communism: a utopian critiquehttps://libcom.org/blog/fully-automated-luxury-communism-utopian-critique-14062015Fully Automated Luxury Communism — A Reviewhttps://medium.com/swlh/fully-automated-luxury-communism-a-review-a127d94dcb9aIs a Post-Work, Post-Scarcity Future Possible?https://www.bookforum.com/print/2602/fully-automated-luxury-communism-by-aaron-bastani-22004 FULLY AUTOMATED LUXURY COMMUNISM: A MANIFESTO BY AARON BASTANIhttps://societyandspace.org/2019/09/03/fully-automated-luxury-communism-a-manifesto-by-aaron-bastani/James Bridle on why technology is creating a new dark agehttps://www.theverge.com/2018/7/16/17564174/james-bridle-new-dark-age-book-computational-thinking-interviewAaron Bastani’s ‘luxury communism’ is a false futurehttps://canadiandimension.com/articles/view/fully-automated-luxury-communism-reviewReview: Fully Automated Luxury Communismhttp moo s://www.rs21.org.uk/2019/06/09/review-fully-automated-luxury-communism/Artificial Stupidityhttps://lareviewofbooks.org/article/artificial-stupidity/Inventing The Futurehttps://lareviewofbooks.org/article/on-algorithmic-communism/Send us a message (sorry we can't respond on here). Support the show

Sometimes doing something is much worse than doing nothing;  we need to figure out when that is. We read and thought and talked about an article that admonishes us to think and talk and read before acting. We have to stand against a politics of catharsis, a politics that does nothing but makes us feel like we are making a difference.Check out the full episode on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/theregrettablecenturySend us a message (sorry we can't respond on here). Support the show