Political Philosophy

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/

Christopher Lasch’s 8th chapter in The Culture of Narcissism deals with changes in relationships, sex, marriage and family at the time he was living. Many of the points he makes are still worth considering.
For more from me:
https://lauriemjohnson.com/
https://politicalphilosophy.video.blog/

A preview of what’s coming up in three weeks’ time–a new series on Eugene McCarraher’s The Enchantments of Mammon, a new book published by Harvard University Press.
Here’s the URL to the Political Philosophy Facebook group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/60814…
For more from me:
https://lauriemjohnson.com/
https://politicalphilosophy.video.blog/

Christopher Lasch wrote a chapter in The Culture of Narcissism on the state of American sports. He thought that spectator sports like football and baseball served a special social/cultural function that was being undermined by two things: the tendency to turn sporting events into spectacles attracting fans with little interest in the actual sport, and the use of sporting events to promote nationalist political ideology more than appreciation for the game. He faced critics of sport who were arguing that spectator sports needed to be downplayed in favor of sporting events that involved more people at more levels of ability. Lasch’s reasons for defending a purer appreciation of professional sports is interesting–such events are an activity that should fall squarely in the realm of play, in a world in which too much of our time is managed and channeled into “safe and productive” activities, even when we are not at work. Lasch’s defense of the zone of play is an interesting takeaway from his chapter on sports in The Culture of Narcissism.
Here are the articles mentioned in this video:
https://www.nybooks.com/articles/1977/04/28/the-corruption-of-sports/
https://www.nybooks.com/articles/1977/09/29/corrupt-sports-an-exchange/

Our current situation demonstrates the extremes of what Christopher Lasch leaned into in his book The Culture of Narcissism. How did we get here? Lasch’s answers take us deeper than the typical observations of the day, which mainly dwell at the surface. In this video, which primarily deals with ideas from chapter 4 of Lasch’s book, we find an explanation for the loose hold many people have on the truth, the deep skepticism about facts, which leads to the childish acting out that we are seeing more and more of, as well as the more serious expression of discontent of protest and riot. Lasch’s views here are not all of even his answer, let along THE answer, as to how we got here, but they deal with one dimension of it that is often overlooked–our often meaningless and unthinking work and our highly “mediated” selves.
DFW essay E Unibus Pluram: Television and U.S. Fiction: https://jsomers.net/DFW_TV.pdf
Here’s the URL to the Political Philosophy Facebook group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/60814…
For more from me:
https://lauriemjohnson.com/
https://politicalphilosophy.video.blog/

This video covers chapters 2 and 3 of Christopher Lasch’s The Culture of Narcissism. We explore why the strong narcissist is likely to work their way up the bureaucratic ladder in corporations and government service, and why, since bureaucracy is clearly not efficient, we insist on bureaucratic “rationality.” I also discuss Lasch’s ideas regarding detachment from a sense of time and from immediate experience, which robs people of life, and I introduce Lasch’s views on the origins of all this in the twisted turns of Protestant Christian development in the United States.
Here’s the URL to the Political Philosophy Facebook group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/60814…
For more from me:
https://lauriemjohnson.com/
https://politicalphilosophy.video.blog/

This podcast reacts to the first chapter of Christopher Lasch’s 1979 book The Culture of Narcissism: American Life in an Age of Diminishing Expectations–what does Lasch mean by narcissism, and what does it do to our relationships? In my view, our collective narcissism has created a culture of death, or a societal death cult. Lasch’s ideas are useful for understanding how our economy encourages and feeds off our narcissism and how our turning inwards keeps us from life: being proper spouses, parents, friends, neighbors and citizens. His take on technocracy and its twin vehicles of big government and corporate power is instructive and calls into question our typical distinction between government and business. Both engage in the project of managing us and encouraging our continued narcissism and consequent divisions.
Here’s the URL to the Political Philosophy Facebook group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/60814…
For more from me:
https://lauriemjohnson.com/
https://politicalphilosophy.video.blog/