The Revolution Will Not Be Televised: The Place for Politics, History, and Philosophy

We have on Rohan and Peter again to talk about the events of January 6th, from Georgia to DC

Timestamps:

2:28 first reactions

15:57 episode overview

17:33 How did we get here? Since 2020 Election

28:52 Georgia special election, Trump polling

47:15 Analysis of the Capitol Insurrection

Link to Mike Davis article: https://newleftreview.org/sidecar/posts/riot-on-the-hill

QAnon / woke analogy: https://twitter.com/SeanRMoorhead/status/1352709327333691392

And will edit in my blog post when it's done

Outro source: https://youtu.be/270F8s5TEKY?t=467

Ricardo and Rob are joined by old friends Rohan and Peter to recap the 2020 election and what it means for the future of the US.

Timestamps:

14:37 - turnout

34:48 - mail-in ballot / USPS controversy

44:46 - polling

55:19 - voting blocs, demographics (Peter's mic stopped recording around 58 minutes and was choppy before/after, had to cut out his response but he said the economy was the primary factor in driving Trump to Biden voters)

1:29:00 - future of left politics part 1

1:45:08 - future of democratic party, progressive legislation, and more

2:11:26 - Georgia Senate Race predictions

2:14:05 - Goodbyes and plugs

Peter's Blog post:

https://petresdish.blogspot.com/2020/11/impact-of-progressive-policies-for-re.html

Corner Späti Twitch channel:

https://www.twitch.tv/cornerspaeti

Blog Posts Rob mentioned:

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2020/nov/14/joe-biden-trump-black-latino-republicans

https://jacobinmag.com/2018/11/midterm-elections-reconstruction-du-bois

Ricardo and Rob go through historical examples of Fascism in broadly chronological order and with an emphasis on looking beyond just Nazi Germany.

We end with a discussion on Fascism in the US starting at 1:22:35

For more on QAnon as the "Third Great Awakening" and other gems of analysis, many of which I've plagiarized on here consciously and unconsciously, check out the inimitable Matt Christman on his Cushvlogs: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLhxUDrMFUqyMQSozC1ES-Q4BkT8MJbY_1

Rob and Ricardo go through different theoretical definitions of Fascism.

Timestamps:

6:29 - Historical Background (up to Fascist period)

13:13 - Fascism as Colonialism returned to Metropole

21:27 - as reaction to Modernity

30:10 - as Capitalism in crisis

45:11 - as right-wing mass politics

1:02:37 - as Statolatry

1:11:20 - as Fear of Difference

1:20:53 - as aesthetic

1:27:01 - as death drive

Some links mentioned and further reading:

http://www.hartford-hwp.com/archives/27/074.html

http://libcom.org/library/anti-semitism-national-socialism-moishe-postone

https://www.reddit.com/r/AskHistorians/comments/4vgeki/marxist_historical_analyses_of_the_holocaust/

https://web.mit.edu/allanmc/www/benjamin.pdf

https://libcom.org/files/zz_aime_cesaire_robin_d.g._kelley_discourse_on_colbook4me.org_.pdf

https://www.nybooks.com/articles/1995/06/22/ur-fascism/

Ricardo and Rob talk about the alternative political approaches of populism and progressivism: what are they, what have they been throughout history, and are they really alternative forms of politics? This episode is a mix of theory, examples from history, and current political debates.

20:52 - History and Theory of Populism/Progressivism

Analysis of Mouffe and Fassin:

https://www.jacobinmag.com/2016/07/dnc-bernie-hillary-thatcher-miliband-miners-labour/

Asad Haider on Stuart Hall:

https://www.jacobinmag.com/2018/03/left-populism-mouffe-fassin-france-insoumise

Stuart Hall's 1987 essay "Blue Election, Election Blues"

https://www.versobooks.com/blogs/4854-blue-election-election-blues

1:06:40 - Examples of populism and progressivism in political debates

Topics (in order):

- Climate Change

- Immigration

- Income Inequality

- Racism

- Anti-imperialism/internationalism

- Healthcare

Malcolm X - "Message to the Grassroots"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a59Kwp35Z80

1:58:53 - Conclusion and an analogy to religion?

Is the United States really a two-party system or is it a one-party state disguised as democracy? Are political parties true vehicles of democracy? This episode explores the complex history of the U.S. Democratic Party and its recent convergence with its Republican counterpart, as embodied by Joe Biden's 2020 presidential candidacy.

Is the United States really a two-party system or is it a one-party state disguised as democracy? Are political parties true vehicles of democracy? This episode explores the complex history of the U.S. Republican Party, its imperialist and nativist baggage, and its recent turn toward voter suppression, conspiratorial thinking, and other fascistic political tendencies, as embodied by Donald Trump's presidency.

On episode 4, Rob and Ricardo interview each other on their academic projects, interests, and how they got to where they are. It ends, as always, with discussions on the media and politics today.

Historical overview and philosophical analysis of revolutionary change. Specific case studies include the United States, France, and Haiti.

Historical overview and philosophical analysis of revolutionary change. Specific case studies include the Mexican and Russian Revolutions.