Thread by @vpalsmith33

Reading through @paologerbaudo The Great Recoil. This Ch. on control hits on so much that's on my mind. vincentpalumbosmith.substack.com/p/the-elusiven…
I wonder if the Shenzhen official @CSISFreeman quotes (24:44-) from @DimitarGueorg1 forthcoming book was thinking of Plato. csis.org/node/61579

/THREAD/ I have lots of thoughts after reading @paologerbaudo The Great Recoil, but unfortunately they are all scattered, so in lieu of a blog post, I thought I would share my reading notes with companion links like I did above.

2. I was unfamiliar with Soviet economist Nikolai Kondratieff`s ideological cycles. Calls to mind Peter Turchin`s cliodynamics. In a running theme throughout the book, the right, notably Steve Bannon, has their pet theories of cycles washingtonpost.com/entertainment/…

3. "Precisely by virtue of its indeterminacy [on Laclau’s empty signifiers]" (p.40): When Trump`s candidacy was still regularly dismissed, I felt obliged to write a post warning of danger from my uni dorm room. This essay constituted core of my argument. theatlantic.com/entertainment/…

4. "[Neoliberalism] ability to present itself as an emancipatory project” (p. 83-84): We shouldn't have been surprised, if we only bothered to read conservative writings, we`d know that "make privilege popular" strain goes back to Burke, argues @CoreyRobin vox.com/policy-and-pol…

5. "political impotence...Corrosive for democracy" (p. 90) In a wonderful lecture, @yanisvaroufakis poses the Q: Why are politicians so much less talented today? A: Political sphere is "completely powerless". Power drifted to finance (37:00-45:00)

6. "devil`s bargain never came to fruition" (p. 91): In other words, Varoufakis gives a firm "no" to another Q posed in title of @rkuttnerwrites book, Can Democracy Survive Global Capitalism? And legitimation increasingly theatrical prospect.org/economy/neolib…

https://twitter.com/D_Blanchflower/status/1453362812483510283?s=20

7. "Real risk [is not watermelon politics, trope used by conservative politicians to paint progressive adversaries concern for environment as Trojan Horse for Communism] is rather that of eco-fascism”(p.110) learned a lot from @nils_gilman #AvocadoPolitics thebreakthrough.org/journal/no-12-…

8. "Obedience toward sovereign...Contingent on credible offer of protection" (p. 115): Like @CoreyRobin, I`ve been thinking about this @ezraklein oped on strange lack of revolution given climate breakdown. Agree w/ Robin didn't receive enough attention

https://twitter.com/CoreyRobin/status/1449189692948221953?s=20

9. "[Discussing Plato's ship metaphor] ppl constituting the electorate often find themselves inebriated” (p. 132): In Against Democracy, political theorist Jason Brennan argued uninformed voting is like drunk driving. vox.com/2018/7/23/1758…

10. "Raise the question of whether ...ppl are really inebriated" (p. 134): @astradisastra wonderful documentary, What is Democracy?, forcefully shatters this myth, taking a tour around the world to democracy's ancient roots zeitgeistfilms.com/film/whatisdem…

11. "Reconcile expertise with democracy" (p. 134): Loved @bethnoveck formulation of ancient tension in Smarter Citizens, Smarter State, "democracy can't dominate lest it destroy expertise and expertise cannot dominate lest it destroy democracy"

12. "Flight of working class vote" (p. 145): via @TheEconomist

13. Saw shades of @policytensor class analysis in "5 social blocs of the Great recoil" (pg. 147) policytensor.substack.com/p/social-class…

14. "The nationalist right had significantly expanded a trend that already existed" (p. 150): In his chapter on the politics Nixon pioneered in Ages of American Capitalism, @_jonlevy makes claim he was "last Keynesian, first Trumpist". Evidence checks out too

15. "This view of rich as criminals" (p. 187): another good piece from @nils_gilman on "twin insurgency" of plutocrats and criminals the-american-interest.com/2014/06/15/the…

16. "Behind the software...Real ppl" (p. 188): The sociologist starts a recent paper, The Society of Algorithms, with an excellent quote "the algorithm has taken a particularly mythic role....Allowing it to wear a garb of divinity."

17. "Stimulus programmes...Protect big firms" (p. 200).... @matthewstoller perspective "no inherent money neutrality... Must be constructed by institutional arrangements" seems relevant mattstoller.substack.com/p/the-cantillo…

18. "EU has deepened national enmities" (p. 244): In And the Weak Suffer what they Must, @yanisvaroufakis describes this irony at the heart of the European project "a reverse alchemy"

19. "Most remarkable phenomena..Is the return of long-discredited planning” (p. 258): This is an appropriate place to end the neo-statist or perhaps genuinely progressive post-capiralist transformation? This @maxkrahe piece appeared in @FT. The FT! ft.com/content/542375…

/END/ If you’re interested in thinking/pushing/planning what comes next after neoliberalism to avoid muddling into dystopic future, buy his book! versobooks.com/books/3774-the…

This is a very interesting thought. May have to follow the cited section from Paul Mason's book, PostCapitalism @nils_gilman @BuddyYakov. From this article igs.berkeley.edu/sites/default/…