On this episode of Red Menace Alyson revisits 'On Practice' by Mao. Text can be found for free here:  https://www.marxists.org/reference/archive/mao/selected-works/volume-1/mswv1_16.htm Additional material suggested by Alyson  https://www.google.com/amp/s/kites-journal.org/2021/04/18/a-call-for-communist-social-investigation-a-year-after-the-summer-of-rebellion/amp/   Support Red Menace and get access to bonus monthly content on Patreon here: https://www.patreon.com/TheRedMenace  

Revisiting On Practice

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Alyson and Breht discuss the student-led protests for Palestine sweeping across American universities, the reaction to them by the ruling class elite and their attack dogs (the cops), lessons learned from previous movements over the past decade or so, parallels to 1968 and the anti-Vietnam War protests, the current negotiations between the Palestinian resistance and Israel, and what it all means for the broader crisis (geopolitical and internal) racking the U.S.  

Students Revolt: The Campus Uprisings for Palestine

In this episode, Alyson and Breht wrestle with the possible rise of artificial general intelligence and its implications. Together they discuss the Silicon Valley Techno-Cult and their dark religious search for immortality, their hubristic attempts to "build god" and escape death, their neoliberal subjectivities and how that manifests in their work, how AI might manifest under the capitalist mode of production, the horrors and contradictions of "capitalism without workers", deflationary critiques of AI, humans as transitional creatures, consciousness and its complexities, intelligence without consciousness (philosophical zombies), Nietzchean nihilism, real religion and what it offers, embracing the inevitability of your own death, and much more!

Ghosts in the Machines: Artificial Intelligence, Consciousness, & Capitalism

Alyson and Breht explain and explore this famous text from Karl Marx, in the process they discuss French history, class conflict, the peasantry and lumpenproletariat, Bonapartism and Fascism, history, the role of the State under capitalism, and how all of this helps us to make sense of our contemporary moment of crisis in the US and around the world.   ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------   Support Rev Left and get immediate access to over 300 bonus episodes, with new ones coming every month!

"The 18th Brumaire of Louis Bonaparte" by Karl Marx

Rest in Peace, Aaron. Free Palestine! "To burn oneself by fire is to prove that what one is saying is of the utmost importance. There is nothing more painful than burning oneself. To say something while experiencing this kind of pain is to say it with utmost courage, frankness, determination, and sincerity." - Thich Nhat Hanh in a letter to MLK Jr. regarding the self-immolation of Vietnamese Buddhist monks

Man on Fire: Aaron Bushnell's Sacrifice for Palestine

On this episode of Red Menace, Alyson and Breht had some things come up such that they couldn't record their planned episode on Marx's 18th Brumaire (coming soon!), so instead they have a deep, organic and wide-ranging conversation on mysticism; together they explore humanities religious and spiritual traditions and the mystical strain within them, discuss atheism, Buddhism, Judaism, Christianity, Sufism, mystical experiences, the role of suffering, holy union and oneness, the dissolution of subject/object duality, the role of psychedelics historically and experientially, dialectics, and whether or not any of this has any relevance for political struggle.   Support Rev Left HERE Check out all Red Menace Eps HERE Follow us on IG HERE   All Music by Mount Eerie

Revisiting On Practice

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