Our impromptu discussion last week about Jame C. Scott and dual use anthropology made us revisit a classic essay in which Malcolm Harris critically analyzes the anarcho-liberal politics advocated for by Scott. Imagine if the normative basis for your “radical” politics amounted to: throw your hands up like you just don’t care, because nothing matters anyway. We then move on to a new essay offering a thoughtful critique of sci-fi author Neal Stephenson and his latest book that centers on an anarcho-capitalist billionaire geoengineering our salvation.

Some stuff we reference:

••• Anarchish: James C. Scott’s “Two Cheers for Anarchism” | Malcolm Harris https://lareviewofbooks.org/article/anarchish-james-c-scotts-two-cheers-for-anarchism/

••• Professor Who Learns From Peasants | https://www.nytimes.com/2012/12/05/books/james-c-scott-farmer-and-scholar-of-anarchism.html

••• The Billionaire’s Bard | Rob Madole https://thebaffler.com/latest/the-billionaires-bard-madole

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