Critique on Jonas Ceika’s “Nietzsche and Marx”
Because I know a lot about Marx and little about Nietzsche, I read How to Philosophize with a Hammer and Sickle: Nietzsche and Marx for the 21st-Century Left by Jonas Ceika
I have tried to read Nietzsche but texts that are sketchy even after reading them multiple times, resembling poetry, don’t qualify as serious work, so I gave up. I picked up some Nietzsche, reading The Man Without Qualities and When Nietzsche Wept, but that didn’t alter my opinion. Reading Ceika’s book brought to light some interesting points, but on the whole, I keep to Marx (and Gramsci, Althusser, …) Lees verder →
Second Foundation
Second Foundation is the title of the third part of the Foundation trilogy (1942-53) by Isaac Asimov. The Second Foundation is a kind of Council of Wise, assigned to direct the development of a new Galactic Empire in the best possible way. Lees verder →
Materialism
Materialism isn’t the statement that the world consists of matter. This is obvious. It is the statement that any statement (including this one), thought, language, conscience, consciousness, moral, subject, personality is material. It is a not a thing in itself, but has to get the necessary attribute of meaning (sense); it has to exist in a material process over time in some substrate that can interpret it with other statements.
When the material substrate in which this takes place stops functioning, that particular statement, thought, … ceases to exist. Any statement, even 1+1=2, loses its meaning when there is no consciousness left that knows its meaning; when all the substrates that hold an adequate consciousness have stopped existing. Simply said: all humans who can make additions have died. It is possible that at some point in time, a new form of consciousness can come into existence that discovers addition, and maybe this consciousness will discover that in ancient times there was a civilization that could make additions.
Modern materialism was first described by Spinoza.
About revolution: communism is impossible
About the impossibility of carrying out the revolution proposed in Social Capitalism
Marx was a socialist. To distinguish his party from all kinds of other socialist movements, he called himself a communist, as is clearly stated in the introduction to the Communist Manifesto. The manifest is a socialist manifest, not a communist one. His insights and political ideas did not change. Lenin too was a socialist, and remained so. He too renamed the party communist to distinguish it from the socialist parties that participated in the First World War. This was in 1918, after the October revolution. Unlike Marx, communism as an idea appealed to him, or at least seemed to be a useful means of propaganda. This resulted in communist parties worldwide using ever more communist jargon. Lees verder →
Social Capitalism
Global capitalism is the main cause of many problems and conflicts all over the globe. Even the WEF – capitalisms coordinating committee – proclaims a multi-crisis.
- What can be done about these problems and conflicts?
- What are the possible consequences for capitalism?
- Is there an alternative to capitalism?
In the end Piketty serves the powers that be
A reader of Piketty is obsessed by inequality suggested that, although he conceded that my observations based on the Introduction were not without merit, at least I should read part IV to appreciate the ideas of Piketty for a better society. Unfortunately this doesn’t alter my critique one bit. I ended my critique with Lees verder →
Asimov’s lockdown
Sense and nonsense about Marx and communism
Denouncing Marx as a revolutionary hothead and idiot has reached storm level. While the violent overthrow of slavery in the Civil War and fights for freedom against the powers that be in general are mostly praised, the fight for proper treatment of workers is denounced. In present days especially by those who want to fight the powers that be for… the middleclass working or jobless people, formerly known as the proletariat: the “populists”. Lees verder →
Piketty is obsessed by inequality
In “Capital and Ideology” (2020), Piketty continues to see inequality as the evil to be fought. While sometimes it’s about extreme or increasing inequality, what degree of inequality is acceptable isn’t clear. The picture emerges that the only acceptable world for Piketty is an equal world, in which everyone participates and lives roughly in the same material circumstances. Lees verder →
Varoufakis’ DiEM25 can never realize its goals
Yanis Varoufakis
Yanis Varoufakis was admirable when he tried to get a proper deal for Greece from the EU back in 2015. When this unsurprisingly failed he had to resign as minister. That same year he grounded DiEM25 “a pan-European, progressive movement that aims to democratize the EU before it disintegrates“. Their newest strategy since April 2019 is stated in The Green New Deal for Europe. It is not clear what triggered the wish to jump on the climate-bandwagon. But it is surprising that “capital” is not mentioned at all in this newest policy, and also pretty much absent in other policies and writings. However, if anyone has really felt the power of capital it must be Yanis. On top of that he did call himself an “erratic Marxist“. I take it that Diem25 wants a real democratic European Federation, not merely to “democratize the EU”. Lees verder →