From the monthly archives: February 2011
A few links from today’s wanderings:
“Marx and Engels as David and Jonathan?” by Roland Boer
Roland is posting from the FUTURE (1 March 2011), a.k.a Australia. If you haven’t checked out Stalin’s Mustache yet, you probably should. Roland Boer is a phenomenally engaging writer on Marxism, religion, and theology. In this post he shows a warmer side of Lenin, speaking of Engels and Marx’s loving relationship.
“Anal Sex in Accordance with God’s Will” by Sex in Christ
Hilarious. Case in point: “[Question:] “Isn’t anal sex dirty?” The Bible says, “To the pure, all things are pure.” (Titus 1:15) The Lord created your body, and no part of it is imperfect or unclean. God also created our bodies for pleasure, and anal sex is just one of the many ways, including standard sexual intercourse, that we can enjoy this pleasure and share it with a partner.”
“Women’s Stories, Movies, and the Oscars” by Anita Sarkeesian at Feminist Frequency
“Nobody earns the right to hoard. Plan the economy!” by Aaron PK at A Better World is Probable
Indeed! Let’s plan the economy!: “Bill Gates could send over 1,766,600 students to college for four years and still have over a billion dollars for himself. A billion dollars, which no average person could reasonably spend in their lifetime. It would take an average US income earner saving every penny they made over 21,700 years to save up a billion dollars. That means it would take that person over 1,173,900 years to save up as much as Bill Gates is worth. That’s just a little less than three times as long as the history of human existence!“
“Modern capitalism’s boring architecture” by Aaron PK at A Better World is Probable
Aaron PK with another brilliant post, this time on the type of architecture and aesthetics that capitalism promotes, and the type it lets rot:
“In the Steps of Rosa Luxemburg: Selected Writings of Paul Levi” by Paul Levi, edited and introduced by David Fernbach, from the Historical Materialism Book Series
Expected June 2011!
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Have something that might interest others? Shoot me an e-mail at butterflywalking (at) gmail dot com with tips and suggestions!
O Frondens Virga
(O Leafy Branch)
by Hildegard von Bingen
O Frondens Virga
O Frondens virga
in tua nobilitate stans
sicut aurora procedit:
nunc gaude et letare
et nos debiles dignare
a mala consuetudine liberare
atque manum tuam porrige
ad erigendrum nos.
English:
O leafy branch,
standing in your nobility
as the dawn breaks forth:
now rejoice and be glad
and deign to set us frail ones
free from evil habits
and stretch forth your hand
and lift us up.
“The less you eat, drink, and buy books, the less you go to the theatre, the dance hall, the public house; the less you think, love, theorise, sing, paint, fence, etc., the more you save – the greater becomes your treasure which neither moth nor rust will devour – your capital. The less you are, the less you express your own life, the more you have, i.e., the greater is your alienated life, the greater is the store of your estranged being.” – Karl Marx, “Human Requirements and Division of Labour Under the Rule of Private Property“, The Economic and Philosophical Manuscripts of 1844, quoted in Criticism of Heaven: On Marxism and Theology by Roland Boer
“19. Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal:
20. But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal:
21. For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.” – Jesus, The Gospel of Matthew 6:19-21
Liberalism is a system of thought which convinces good people to support structures that produce the effects they so rightly oppose. It convinces them that you can negotiate with the ruling class – you can’t. They are evil and have different material interests than you do. You have to force them into submission today, and socially annihilate them tomorrow. That’s the only way to win our freedom. Explore socialist politics today!
If you spend inordinate amounts of time in tanning beds, or believe making money is the highest pursuit in life, or you list Lady GaGa as your “religion”, or if you think using words like “slut” or “bitch” or “whore” for people who like sex is acceptable behaviour, or if you’re still hung up on whether someone is “straight-acting” enough or whether they match your star sign or some shit like that, then we probably won’t get along. Just saying…
Love,
Liam
“The sea rises, the light fails, lovers cling to each other, and children cling to us. The moment we cease to hold each other, the moment we break faith with one another, the sea engulfs us and the light goes out.” – James Baldwin
From a “Tea Party” blog:
A pretty accurate representation of the size of “Tea Party” demonstrations… with about one more person of color than normal:
Compare this to the worker and student rebellion currently going on in Wisconsin:
We Weren’t “Born This Way”:
A Critique of “Born This Way” by Lady GaGa
by Liam O’Ceallaigh
Last Sunday (13 February 2011) at the 2011 Grammy Awards, Lady GaGa (Stefani Germanotta) began promoting her new album and single Born This Way. Early Thursday morning I wrote a short article “You Weren’t “Born This Way”” critiquing the song and its message, as well as how Lady GaGa arrived at the Grammys (i.e. carried in an egg by horned slaves/servants).
My criticisms were straightforward: (1) rather than being “born this way”, our differences are largely the result of socialisation and choice, and (2) how it is unacceptable for someone who claims to support social justice to arrive at the awards carried by horned slaves/servants.
The article has been passed around a bunch and I’ve received a lot of interesting feedback which has prompted me to pen this followup piece. Hopefully this answers or clarifies some of the questions, concerns, and criticisms people have raised. If after reading this piece you have other comments that weren’t answered or addressed, then please, by all means, e-mail me (butterflywalking (at) gmail (dot) com) or write a comment below.
“It is not the consciousness of men that determines their being, but, on the contrary, their social being that determines their consciousness.” – Karl Marx, Preface of A Contribution to the Critique of Political Economy
Lady GaGa’s new album “Born This Way” is already sending fans into a fanatical craze. Musical talent aside, there is a gigantic problem with someone who claims to be on the side of social justice claiming that we are all just “born this way”. This isn’t a small issue; culture matters and should not be beyond our criticism. If you check out the Born This Way hashtag on Twitter (#BornThisWay) there are literally posts by excited fans every couple of seconds.
Hate capitalist alienation and consumerism not those who manage to find love despite it!
For some Valentine’s Day reading check out Alexandra Kollantai’s great pieces The Love of Worker Bees (available through Amazon.com), Red Love (online), and A Great Love (online). Alexandra Kollantai was a member of the Bolshevik Party during the Russian Revolution and wrote extensively on socialism, democracy, and women’s rights and power. Another great reading is Marxist psychoanalyst and social theorist Erich Fromm’s The Art of Loving (online for educational purposes).
If you want a slightly longer (though absolutely excellent and beautifully written!) book, I can’t possibly recommend Myths of Male Dominance: Collected Articles on Women Cross-Culturally by Marxist anthropologist Eleanor Burke Leacock strongly enough. Not widely available since its publishing in 1981, it was recently republished by U.S. socialist publisher Haymarket Books.
“In simple words, I hate the pack of gods.”
“Prometheus’ Confession” in Aeschylus’ tragic drama Prometheus Bound.
It is worth repeating that for all their praise of “orderly transitions” the bourgeoisie came to power through some of the most tumultuous revolutions in history.
Socialist Politics:
Recommended Readings
