Books I read in 2023

Hi all. It’s been a while. I’ve been very busy recently so hadn’t gotten the time to update this blog.

In any case, this is going over the series of books I managed to complete last year. I’ve read 25 in all, and they probably average around 200 pages or so. I won’t actually review all of them in detail, but I will comment on the ones that have been more grabbing to me.

The Labour Party’s Political Thought: Third Edition – Geoffrey Foote
Socialism Betrayed – Roger Keeran, Michael Kenny
New Labour Policy, Industrial Relations and the Trade Unions – Steve Coulter
The Lost World of British Communism – Raphael Samuel
Defeat From The Jaws of Victory: Inside Kinnock’s Labour Party – Richard Hefferman & Mike Marcusee
A People’s History of Iraq – Ilario Salucci
Four Futures – Peter Frase
The End of Parliamentary Socialism – Leo Panitch & Colin Leys
State and Revolution – Vladimir Lenin
Neoliberalism – Damien Cahill & Martijn Konings
Discourse on Colonialism – Aime Cesaire
The Right of Nations to Self-Determination – Vladimir Lenin
Blackshirts & Reds – Michael Parenti
The Human Rights Manifesto – Julie Wark
Smashing the Iron Rice Pot: Workers and Unions in China’s Market Socialism – Leung Wing-yue
Dialectical Method of Marx and Engels – Geo Jomaria
Washington Bullets – Vijay Prashad
Saddam Hussein: An American Obsession – Andrew Cockburn, Patrick Cockburn
China, the USA and Capitalism’s Last Crusade – William Briggs
BrexLit: The Problem of Englishness in Pre- and Post-Brexit Referendum Literature – Dulcie Everitt
Introducing Hegel: A Graphic Guide – Lloyd Spencer
Lost Futures: The Disappearing Architecture of Post-War Britain – Owen Hopkins
Conversations With Allende – Regis Debray

Naturally, Cesaire is most relevant to us who are conscious of current affairs as the frontierism and colonial violence of Europe continues to plague Western Asia. Israel serves as the final frontier of Western colonialism: the final outpost of Western civilisation against ‘savage oriental hordes’ in ‘the Arabs’. The violence we see today is a testament to the violent logic of settler colonialism in the modern age, as well as exposes the cynical calculus of the ‘democratic’ West.

New Left Media 2023

This is a brief list of leftist media that I came across in 2023, alongside with specific videos that I thought were interesting:

ChemicalMind (link): An American Marxist-Leninist YouTuber going over socialism as praticed in the United States, book reviews, and addressing misconceptions about socialism & communism.

F.D. Signifier (link): Basically a black dad and one of the “older millenials” who happens to have two degrees, one of them being a master’s in sociology. Discusses cultural concerns in the United States, especially as it pertains to African-American popular culture. Featured on MorePerfectUnion, The Deprogram, Hasan Piker, and more recently Positive Leftist News channels, as well as Black Power Media and even Anthony Fantano.
Ornament and Crime (link): American anarchist going over the cultural issues and the historical trajectory of the Jewish identity. Broadly focuses on indigeneity, folk culture, archaeology and various other topics.
The Deprogram (link): What happens when you get an American, an Iraqi and a Serb together? You get the ~~world’s first reverse “humanitarian intervention”~~ ~~plot of Grand Theft Auto IV~~ second most unlikeliest podcast after Superman and Lex Luthor. Probably helps that all of the co-hosts are communists.
The Homeless Romantic (link): Podcast hosted by Chris Jeffries. Range of interviews from John Bellamy Foster to John Waters.
Bes D. Marx (link): Albanian communist (and One Piece fan) living in Germany. Produces very well researched videos on European (socialist) history.
Fredda (link): Danish history graduate*. Used to do streaming videos of his gaming interests (and still does), until he got motivated to push back against right-wing claims of leftist conspiracies.
uncivilized (link): Edutainment media enterprise founded by Salem Barahmeh. Primarily focuses on topics related to Palestine, but at times broadens the focus to colonized peoples.

Not sure if I have a specific set of videos that I liked, But here’s some that I enjoyed watching:

In the autumn of 2023, a video of one Oliver Anthony performing a folk song he wrote titled, “Rich Men North of Richmond” – which he castigated the greed of capitalists…while also chastising the poor for taking ‘handouts’ in welfare checks. This had struck many viewers to believe that Anthony is a right-winger/libertarian but he refused appearances on Fox News or indeed, any of the right-wing media ecosphere in spite of them featuring his music on their programs, and put out a video denouncing them for trying to exploit him and his music for their own ends. This video by Radical Reviewer puts into context the social background of Anthony and the unique set of social relations, including labour relations that someone like him would exist in – and why he might carry anti-poor prejudices, before actually reviewing the song itself, and comparing it to radical songs/resistance music. Please check it out.

So this is an interview conducted by 1Dime with @theory_underground on Nick Land, the so-called “dark enlightenment”, and what his deal is. Even after that explanation, I very much don’t think that Land is ‘the most interesting man in the world’. Just another dweeb who got caught up with the miasma from the End of History, and needed to get put into a locker. Or hung on a coat-hanger. These guys also really like Zizek for some reason. One thing that I’ll give it credit for, is inspiring me to read up on Schopenhauer. Give it a watch if you’re at least a bit interested in “Theory”.

I really like hearing FD speak on anything. But watch this documentary review of BS High really distills the essence of what he’s about. Give it a watch.

Anyways, until next time.

2023 Retrospective

To be honest, it was a mostly shit year for me personally. Most of the projects that I wanted to get done for this year were not nearly complete by the end of it. Most of the lack of engagement with the blog is primarily due to this. All in all, there were technically eleven post I made this year, including the eventual hundredth post on September. Anyway, can’t beat myself up for not doing enough. Here’s an overview of the events that occured this year:

Lula inaugurated as he begins his third presidential term in Brazil on New Year’s Day; an anti-Lula protest organised by supporters of the previous president, Jair Bolsonaro, and other right-wing elements takes place the following week – culminating into a riot/coup attempt by invading the Brazilian Congress; scores of protestors were arrested, and jailed for their participation; The events of “8/1”, draw comparison to “January 6th” – complete with the presence of a white shaman
Laughable hysteria around a Chinese “spy” balloon* hovering over North American airspace eventually making it to the United States. The balloon is eventually shot down by the United States Air Force; Biden has to do a ridiculous speech about it
Former POTUS Donald Trump is indicted on four counts (two state, two federal) between March 2023 to August 2023; Trump has cases to answer for regarding illegal payments, falsifying business records, attempts to overturn the 2020 presidential election, and overturning Joe Biden’s victory in Georgia
Chinese property crisis leaves the Evergrande Group – the second largest property developer in China – in debt to various banks, retail suppliers, and foreign investors – the crisis affects foreign investment in China
War breaks out in Sudan between rival military factions; creates massive humanitarian crisis
King Charles III coronation takes place on 6th May 2023
Elon Musk formally steps down as CEO of Twitter; Musk manages to oversee rebranding of Twitter to X; Social media website continues slow decline
Cornel West announces candidacy for President of the United States – switches parties at least three times
Series of coups across the Sahel region of Africa see Niger and Gabon join Burkina Faso and Mali in the rise of military governance; Standoff between Sahel military governments and ECOWAS over possible intervention ends with the latter backing down once Western countries (particularly France) conclude that it would be too much effort
Ex-convict, billionaire restaurant owner, and Wagner Group PMC head Yevgeny Prigozhin leads a mutiny against the Russian military, and leads a column from Southwest Russia to Moscow, apparently to resist the scheduled incorporation of Wagner Group into the Ministry of Defence – which would diminish Prigozhin’s influence. With the intervention of Belaroussian President Alexander Lukashenko, a deal was cut with Prigozhin, leading to the withdrawal of the Wagner Group; Vladimir Putin would later denounce Prigozhin’s actions as “betrayal”, which is apparently a death sentence in Russia
Women’s World Cup 2023 concludes with Spain as the champions; Spanish coach sexually harrassing one of the Spanish football players (Jenni Hormoso) as she receives her award on live television triggers a public row, and leads to the coach’s resignation; Football wasn’t “coming home” with the England’s women’s football team, but they came third, and goalkeeper Mary Earps wins the Golden Glove trophy; Hinata Miyazawa of Japan is the Golden Boot winner with five goals
Novara Media co-founder Aaron Bastani assaulted in public
Presidential candidate in Ecuador is assassinated
Nadine Dorries resigns as MP
London declared an Ultra Low Emission Zone by Mayor Sadiq Khan, triggering irritation of motorists, with a petit-bourgeois movement shortly coming out of it – critics of Just Stop Oil’s ‘whining’ act even whinier over the desire to drive their cars without receiving a charge for it
A plane with Wagner Group PMC founders Yevgeny Prigozhin and Dmitry Utkin along with six other members of the mercenary leadership crashed as it flew from Moscow to Saint Petersburg, killing all of the passengers; Wagner Group spokesperson claims that the plane was actually shot down on orders of the Kremlin
In response to the Abraham Accords – drafted for the Arab states to normalise relations with Israel, Hamas launch an assault on Israel on October 7 – in which over 1,000 were killed. Israel in response launches a bombardment campaign in Gaza, ostensibly to root out Hamas, but in actuality to finalise the elimination of Gaza as a Palestinian territory/initiate the completion of the settler-colonial project; Israel-Hamas war has the United States and the United Kingdom offering support to Israel in its campaign of ethnic cleansing and genocide
Suella Braverman resigns as Home Secretary; James Cleverly succeeds her
Argentina elects Javier Milei – a libertarian cosplayer who advocates austerity measures to reduce inflation, the closing of the health, education, women’s and culture ministries, and “blowing up” the central bank
President of Venezuela Nicolas Maduro reignites Venezuelan claim of the Esequibo region held in what is now Guyana; Region turns out to be a repository of oil and gas. A referendum was held in Venezuela on 2 December 2023 to make the Esequibo a state; Speculation on regional conflict turns out to be somewhat exaggerated, though context of Guyana’s invitation of American forces and even the closeness of the referendum to election season in Venezuela is scarely mentioned
COP28 takes place in the United Arab Emirates; very little is agreed or is committed on
The states of Colorado and Maine have blocked Donald Trump from the electoral register due to his actions in the US Capitol riot of 2021. The decision to block Trump could potentially undermine his chances of seizing the nomination for the Republican Party’s presidential candidate; Remains an open question to see if these ruling will be upheld in the Supreme Court

Culturally speaking, Hip-hop celebrated its 50th anniversary – there was a lot of over-the-top (and pro-capitalist) narratives around the genre changing the world, though thankfully, there was someone around to burst the bubble that cultural production alone is the key to liberation. Doctor Who also had its 60th anniversary in three parts. I don’t have a working TV, so I can’t watch that live. Have a better appreciation for Conway Hall though. Already mentioned the Women’s World Cup this year, which was enjoyable. I left Twitt-sorry X, so I don’t have an idea of all the fun going on there with the bots and shit. Russell Brand is accused of multiple instances of sexual assault – including grooming of underage girls, bullying and other forms of emotional abuse – naturally, the seriousness of the allegations becomes culture war fodder. Pretty much stopped watching Novara Media for all intents and purposes around the time the interview with John Gray was uploaded – ironically I still ended up buying John Gray’s latest book.

Five favourite books that I finished:

My favourite one has to be: Everything Was Forever, Until It Was No More by Andrei Yarchuk

Followed by:

Socialism Betrayed by Roger Keeran and Thomas Kenny
Discourse on Colonialism by Aime Cesaire
The Lost World of British Communism by Raphael Samuel
Brexlit by Dulcie Everitt

This really was a toughie. I read 25 books this year. And did it while holding down an intensive job. The secret? Public transport is your friend. So hard disagree with the anti-ULEZ people on my end. Even like the coaches (though there was a day I really didn’t). Read when you wake up, read before you sleep.

Favourite post of 2023:

Easily neoliberalism. This is second. Didn’t update the blog very much, to be honest.

Favourite film of 2023:

Barbie. You heard me.**

Favourite television program of 2023:

Wu-Tang: An American Saga. Glad I watched the whole series this year. It was fitting for their 30th anniversary. And the 50th of hip-hop.

Favourite animated series of 2023:

Don’t fucking know. Barely watched anything, but Monkey D. Luffy going Gear Five was pretty cool.

People we lost:

Tina Turner
Paul O’Grady
Tom Nairn
Sinead O’Connor
Bobby Charlton
Terry Funk
Terry Venables
Shane MacGowan
Samer Abu Daqqah
The 45 King
David Jude Jolicoeur aka Trugoy the Dove
Mystic Meg
Magoo
Lance Riddick
Andre Braugher
Ahmad Jamal
“Superstar” Billy Graham
Glenda Jackson
Phyllis Coates
Lisa Loring
Matthew Perry
Meco
Michael Roberts
Jordan Neeley
Isabel Crook
Daniel Ellsberg
Isaam Abdallah
Refaat Alareer
Alexander Buzgalin
Gboyega Odubanjo
Doris Sikosana
Benjamin Zephaniah
John Pilger

People we were happy to see go:

Henry Kissinger
Yevgeny Prigozhin
Dmitri Utkin
Silvio Berlusconi
Martin Amis
Juanita Castro
Rolf Harris
Diane Feinstein
Ann Clwyd

People we were ‘meh’ about seeing go:

Mohammed al-Fayed
Rosalyn Carter
Vasily Zakharov
Jerry Springer
Joe the Plumber
Nigel Lawson
Alaistair Darling
Jacques Delors

Anyway, happy new year and hope to see you then. Unless I get a real job. Then maybe I won’t.

Notes:

*- China claims that it is actually a weather research balloon that went off course. I don’t think anyone really gives a shit apart from how it’s another instance of The Simpsons predicting the future.

**- Watched as part of ‘Barbenheimer’, which I intend to write about at some point. Barbie was better than Oppenheimer in my opinion.

Vibe Check #9

Hello again. We’re in pretty tumultous times, and we may, in fact – be witnessing one of, or a combination of things: genocide on our very phones, or another regional conflagration. The final third of 2023 had Israel attempt to get its regional neighbours to accept the ‘old normal’, which they de facto already had after five decades of conflict, with a new set of accords which ensured that on paper as well as in reality, the Arab nations recognise the legitimacy of Israel. During that time, other than the daily killings of Palestinians, Israel had kept roughly 5,000 people from the occupied territories without trial with no guarantee of their release. It was in this context that the militant organisation Hamas launched their assault on Israel – which is said to have killed over 1,000 people, and took dozens of hostages*. There’s been a war of information regarding the nature of the assault, and the extent to which Hamas deliberately fargeted civilians (that is to say, Hamas did strike at areas populated by civilians, but prioritised striking military bases and the personnel within them). Almost immediately afterwards, a consensus was reached among the Israeli leadership that Gaza needed to pay for Hamas’ defiance – and using its powerful arsenal: lies, control of the energy, water and the borders of Gaza, and the barrage of missiles which combined, provided greater destruction than the Hiroshima and Nagasaki atomic bombings. Gaza is nearly completely rubble. 11,000 people have been killed as a result of Israel’s bombing campaign – nearly half are children. 1.4 million Palestinians are displaced. To conduct their operations, Israel is even willing to kill the very hostages they demanded Hamas to release.

Given their demand for the citizens of Southern Gaza to leave their homes in 24 hours on the 13th October 2013 for Egypt as they prepared for a ground invasion, it should be clear enough to anyone that Israel at the very least, is engaging in ethnic cleasing. And they’re not just content with Gaza – reports of settler assaults, and even airstrikes on the West Bank have come about in the past week. Make no mistake – Israel is engaging in genocide as we speak. So I felt that it’s important to make this declaration: If you are not for the Palestinian resistance, you are for their elimination. It’s as simple as that. There is no other moment than right now where the slogan “to exist is to resist” expressed the reality of life as a Palestinian. If you come out with this, “Israel has a right to defend itself”, or “Will you condemn Hamas” shite – get the fuck off my blog. I’m not here for that horsehit.

If you consider yourself on the left, a progressive, for human rights or any of that and you read this blog – now’s the time to put that into action. Almost certainly, you’re a reader whose government is supporting Israel in their genocidal campaign. Use your voice to say no. Join any nearby marches to end the massacre in Palestine in your city. Stand up and be counted.

Nearby events (specifically to Croydon, UK):

Croydon4Palestine demo, 18th November 2023 in North End, Croydon.
National March for Palestine, 25th November 2023 in Central London.

As for this blog, I can’t make any promises but this is a brief list of things I plan to write about in the near future:

2023 Israel-Palestine “war”
Hamas
- Why I refuse to condemn Hamas (and you should as well)
- Is Hamas the same as ISIS?
Obama, Palestine and Israel
“Israel has a right to defend itself”
Two-state solution
“From the river to the sea…”

In other news, to be perfectly honest, I’ve been extremely busy – if not with marches, then certainly with assignments from my studies. I’ve been reading a lot of books that I can’t wait to write about them. Anyway, see you soon.

“From the river to the sea…”

Notes:

Initially, it was widely reported that Hamas had killed 1,400 Israelis and kidnapped over 200 of their citizens, however the Israeli Ministry of Defense have since revised the number to 1,200 Israelis killed – the number of citizens taken hostage remains about the same. It is worth nothing that what is charitably called “the fog of war” makes it difficult to glean accurate information over any event and especially the initial event of the conflict. Especially considering the possibility that the IDF have taken a “kill everything that moves” approach, which undoubtably risks the lives of civilians – Israeli or Palestinian, and even that of their own soldiers.

Hundredth post special – What is there left to say?

This is the hundreth post of Because It Doesn’t Affect You. I myself have largely forgotten the mission statement of what this blog was supposed to do, and I can’t even say what it now represents. I should think that by now everyone who bothers to read this should get an idea of what my areas of interest are, and if there are somehow some long-term readers, you’ll probably have noticed that some subjects have pretty much dropped off, and not entirely intentionally. It took five years to where a lot of other WordPress users reach in one, mostly because of my penchant for long-form essays, and the fact that I don’t get paid to write. Nah, I actually have to do fairly intensive physical and emotional labour – a situation that to one extent of another was true even near the beginning.

With all that said, here are a set of responses to questions that you might be having:

What is your name?: Not relevant. The people who know know, and those who don’t don’t.

Okay, where do you work?: Also not relevant.

Where do you live?: I’ve already mentioned that I live in Croydon, in the United Kingdom. I feel less of an affinity to it the more I get older, mostly because of how shut out I feel from it.

As a general commentary, in late modernity, I don’t think that the communitarian ideal expressed in “Third Way” politics is achievable to any significant scale (I’m talking as encompassing the entire town or city), and can probably only manifest in small municipalities. I think that New Labour figured that out, and decided to go ahead with the pro-business stuff. I say this because for all this talk about pride in your area, London Borough of Culture and all that “Croydon Stands Tall” shit recently, Croydon is more of a place you move to, move through, and move from. Community is there – as it is everywhere, but I don’t really feel apart of it. I think that even Croydon Council understand a bit of what I’m saying. Their property development escapades would suggest that they do, and there trying to look for a solution to it. I feel a bit sorry for zoomers though. Their sense of alienation is going to be profoundly felt – even accounting for a post-pandemic world.

Ar you going to continue with this?: Probably, yeah. Largely out of obligation. There’s a bit unfinished, and I literally have another post to publish right after this one. I just didn’t want that one to be the hundredth one.

Will the blog change direction?: I’m basically even debating to continue with it altogether but I do wish that I wasn’t as restrictive with it as I was.

Any other regrets?: Mostly around not writing more, especially when so much time was spent towards something that turned out to be a farce.

Anything that you’d like to work on?: I definitely think I would post more music stuff now. Even if it’s just a video. Beyond that there’s a few topics that come to mind what I’d like to do.

Novara Media – British left-wing media publication notable for its contributors claiming to be communists, although they seemed to have settled on a social-democratic position. Guilty pleasure (at best) watching them (On second thought, I’m not in a hurry to write about them)
- Fully Automated Luxury Communism – Book by Aaron Bastani, one of Novara Media’s co-founders. Didn’t like reading it.
Simone Weil – French philosopher who became rather influential years after her death to the New Left. Notable for her anarchism, and conversion from an irreligious outlook to sometime of a modern Christian mystic, and strong sense of empathy and justice.
Writing on China – the civil war, the revolution, and its modern development.
BreadTube – a significant part of the online Left, and a large community on YouTube. Not in a hurry to write on the phenomenon, mostly because it would be so time-intensive.
MF DOOM – Rapper known for wearing a Doctor Doom mask (really, a prop mask from the 2000 film Gladiator) known for his multi-syllabic rhymes, vast pop-culture references, and frequent use of Five-Percenter terminology. Very enigmatic figure, died in 2020 – with the cause of death still unrevealed.
Technofeudalism – Concept by Greek economist Yanis Varoufakis, in which he insists that capitalism has changed significantly enough from the neoliberal mode that it deserves recognition as such. Seasoned socialists believe he is really just plugging a book. Both assertions will be explored.

Anything that you wanted to write but now don’t?: There’s a post on Keir Starmer that’s still in my drafts that I have little interest in finishing, partly because events have overtaken me, but also because I don’t care that much about the internal squabbles in Labour now. Finishing it would seem really redundant. I think that I promised to do a better explainer on critical race theory, but I’m not inclined to do it now. The article itself had a weird response because some conservative drone primed about CRT from right-wing sources started messing up my comments section with his stupidity. There’s also a draft on HG Wells meeting with Stalin from four years back – I’ve since changed by positions substantially since then, and even if I hadn’t, the meeting itself wasn’t all that deep – Wells was just touring the USSR and was asked to briefly meet him. And unlike what openDemocracy might think, Stalin showed himself to be a more principled socialist than Wells in the discussion. The former at least recognised the importance of the Chartists to democracy as well as a working-class movement – something that the liberal Wells could not appreciate, and glibly dismissed. I’m happy to say this to anyone, and in person.

Post that I’m most proud of: So far, it’s the neoliberalism one. I really feel like I worked hard on it, and it’s the only long-form one that I don’t have impostor syndrome on. It’s probably gonna get a sequel of sorts.

Anyway, if anyone’s got cake please it my way.

Vibe Check #8

I’m going to be frank: I don’t really know where to go with this blog. Usually, the thing with ‘vibe checks’ is that I go over what over what was happened in the extended period I was absent. But honestly, fuck all that. It’s way too much hassle – and it’s not something that I’m interested in doing anymore. As far as updates are going, I can give a few:

So, the ‘Decent left’ thing? It’s not going to happen until next year, at best. I’ve barely written anything for it and I’m still doing research for it. I’ve literally just finished Saddam: An American Obsession by Andrew & Patrick Cockburn, which gives an idea of the attempts to remove him since the Gulf War, and chronicalling the instability in Iraqi society caused by him and his kin, and the fragility of Saddam’s own regime inversely proportional to the determined efforts made to topple him – both by the US and within Iraq. I’m currently going over The People’s History of Iraq: The Iraqi Communist Party, The Worker’s Party, and the Left 1923-2004 released by Haymarket Books, so it’s bound to be Trotskyist. Which is probably just as well, since if nothing else it is an influential tradition of the Left in the Near East, and Trotskyism will (or would) feature prominently, positively and negatively, in the project. Even The Liberal Case for Murder was written by Richard Seymour, who’s kinda able to temper that stuff (until of course, on the occasions he starts talking about the USSR where all that sectarian ‘Obnoxskyism’ comes out). Meat on this thing won’t start happening till the first third of next year, assuming I stick with it at all.

Asider from work and school, I’ve not really updated this thing often – and even when I had free time, I focused a lot of energy on a project on the (sigh) Labour Party. I think that I might give a few more updates soon, but I’m probably gonna wrap this blog up at some point. It’s a bit weird since I do have ideas, but I don’t really have the inclination to do them. After maybe three more posts, I might definitely tune out, or shift how I engage with it.

Anyway, thanks for reading.

New Left Media 2022

This is a surprisingly brief list of leftist online content that I either discovered in 2022, or otherwise greatly enjoyed specific works in that year. This will also include specific videos especially for the latter.

Please check out:

Balkan Odyssey – (link): Serbian Marxist-Leninist with a focus on the history of the Balkans, and contemporary Serbian culture. Also challenges misconceptions around socialism as a thought and practice.

Lady Idzihar – (link): Historian on Soviet history and culture. Makes an effort to demystify and dispel narratives around Soviet society that had developed in the Western world.

Think That Through – (link): A team of Polish guys who make long form video essays covering environmental concerns, particularly contemporary frameworks around tackling climate change.

First As Tragedy – (link): American disability activist exploring disability politics through a poststructuralist framework.

Prolekult – (link): British team producing ABSOLUTELY QUALITY videos, short films, poems and educational guides on Marxism. Explores the cultural and (geo)political impasse we find ourselves in through class analysis.

LabourMedia – (link): British guy (probably in twenties) doing primers on Marxist theory, and issues involving the British politics. Please support. He seems to be finding his feet.

Black Power Media- (link): A collective going through current events and historical struggles from a Black Power perspective.

See some of this other good stuff from last year:

If some of you have about two and a half hours to spare not watching a Marvel movie, you can watch the demolition project of the strange hugbox of the crankier sections of the left produced by Sophie from Mars. Specific targets include George Galloway, Jimmy Dore, Max Blumenthal and the Center for Political Innovation*, along with rather opportunistic trends (by comparison) in the “debate-bro”/online streamer sphere:

Well, There’s Your Problem podcast covering the history of the settler-colony Rhodesia, its international isolation, and its strange advertisements marketed towards white supremacist types:

This guy really goes into postmodern theory a bit too much for my liking***, but nearly every video I’ve seen of his has been good, and this is no exception. He explained Deleuze in a way that wasn’t only beautiful, but very relevant to our cultural dillemmas, and did it in under 20 minutes. The man is a gifted communicator.

Finally, theres Lunaoi! – a Vietnamese communist interviewing one of the organisers involved in the Poor People’s Campaign and the youth section of the Communist Party USA. Don’t know why I liked it. I guess I just liked how earnest the whole tone was from both.

I’ll try to look for more online lefty stuff as the year goes by. Until next time.

2022 Retrospective

If nothing else, it’s been an interesting year. I thought that I’d get up to more pieces this year and even finish some old ones. I was even hoping for 100 posts by this year’s end, but it seems that couldn’t happen. Although some I’ve done, and 20+ posts this year is not that bad. There was a roughly four-month hiatus, and ever since this blog was up, I’ve never at least did a post a month, but there’s always next year, as the saying goes. Here’s a breakdown of some of the shit that’s gone on:

Colston Four released
Russian invasion of Ukraine
Sri Lanka uprising that sent the president running
Anti-Refugee Bill passes
Macron reelected in midst of far-right rise in France
UK nationwide council elections inexplicably shows Tories to be big losers, but Labour gains not all that good either. Lib Dems and Greens seem to have benefitted the most
Beginning of the rail strikes, which would expand to various public services
Boris Johnson resigns as Prime Minister of the UK
Salman Rushdie stabbed as he gave a lecture in a university in New York (the state)
Massive flooding in Pakistan, killing over a thousand people. Pakistan declares a “climate catastrophe”
Liz Truss becomes Prime Minister of the UK
Queen Elizabeth II dies two days after
Armenia-Azerbaijan conflict over the Nagorno-Karabakh region sees sparks fly before a ceasefire is agreed
2022 Italian general election leads to far-right party Brothers in Italy in a right-wing coalition gaining the most seats, resulting in its leader Giorgia Meloni becoming Prime Minister
Liz Truss resigns as Prime Minister of the UK after serving for only 49 days; Rishi Sunak succeeds her
Elon Musk buys Twitter for $44bn and sets himself up as CEO. He steps down from his position within two months
Lula defeats Jair Bolsonaro in the Brazilian general election
World population confirmed at 8 billion
COP27 takes place in Egypt – very little is agreed on.
Massive protests in Haiti erupt from anger over mass unemployment, skyrocketing energy prices, and food shortages. The Haiti government requests the assistance of the United States to suppress the anti-government protests using the real problem of armed gangs taking advantage of the unrest
Pedro Castillo is deposed as President of Peru following his attempt to dissolve a hostile Congress
Former Argentinian president Christina Kirchner is jailed on charges of fraud and corruption

Some entertainment stuff being the ‘slap heard around the world’ from Will Smith to Chris Rock in the Oscars, Kanye West spiraling out of control into the waiting arms of neo-Nazis spouting dangerous anti-Semitic and anti-Black talking points. And of course, an aggressively social media saturated court trial between Johnny Depp and Amber Heard, which ended in a settlement. Torey Lanez is going to jail though, for shooting at Megan Thee Stallion’s feet.

In terms of cultural phenomena, it looks like we’re seeing the beginning of the end of Jordan Peterson as a prominent cultural figure. Just as we’re seeing the rise of Andrew Tate despite the best efforts of YouTube, Instagram and Twitter. He still turned out to be the the most searched peron in Google this year. But it appears that his luck has run out. Greta Thunberg brushing the fuck out of him on Twitter had apparently led to Romanian authorities successfully tracking him based on one of his responses to Thunberg, and raiding his home. Tate is arrested on charges on rape and sex trafficking. Tate has cultivated an image of an ultra-luxurious life that could be attained through a lifestyle course emphasizing hypermascinity and a reinforcement of traditional gender norms. He has implied that he likes Romania because it isn’t very strict on trafficking. Well, it turns out Romania sure don’t like him for the same reason. A lesson to prospective ‘heirs to the throne’, ‘kings’, ‘solomonites’ and what have you: Even the lords of the earth suffer from hubris, and the gods made sure that their downfall was swift and brutal. Do not go to an Eastern European country to set up a sex trafficking ring, and especially don’t do it while bragging about how much petrol your burning in our fancy car. Fuck Ceausescu, but actually – Fuck you.

Sportswise, it appears that in Qatar, football wasn’t coming home. Good thing the women already brought it home – or kept it from leaving in England. ‘Golden boy’ Anthony Joshua after failing to knock down Oleksandr Usyk, had a meltdown and threw the championship belts and stormed off. There was other stuff in rugby and cricket, but I wouldn’t know because I don’t really follow those sports.

Can’t actually remember all of the books I’ve completed this year. It’s probably around ten to be honest, and it was a mix of short reads (predominantly) and fairly decent sized ones. But for all of the Theory, and political and historical texts I’ve read, there was nothing that moved this year, and didn’t see myself in more than the book Life In The Debt Trap: Stories of Children and Families Struggling Under Debt by Sorcha Mahony and Larissa Pople.

The next four books are the following:

The First New Left: British Intellectuals After Stalin by Michael Kenny
The Candidate by Alex Nunns
The Labour New Left: From Benn to Corbyn by Leo Panitch
Soviet Socialism by L.G. Churchward

I’ll be writing a bit more about all of the books that I’ve read in 2022, including the ones that I didn’t get to finish that year (Update: No I wont).

Oddest interview of the year:

This wasn’t really an interview, but a ‘debate’ between Twitch streamer/Former staffer of The Young Turks Hasan Piker and Youtube commentator/hip-hop media personality DJ Akademiks. It might as well have been an interview though. It was incredibly stark how different their outlooks are. On many occassions, Akademiks seemed to be under the impression that Piker should think like him based on his own success. The initial point of discussion was Akademiks’ grievance that Piker had him pegged as an exploiter of black suffering based on his reaction to the ‘O Block’ video produced by Andrew Callaghan – specifically Callaghan’s interview with Akademiks on the impact that his “War In Chiraq” series had on the youths involved in the area’s violence. Akademiks is indeed an exploiter and a parasite since this video series amplified, exaggerated and even mocked (including through racial epithets) some of the figures involved in the South Side Chicago feuds for a largely disconnected audience – and made money out of it, while those same figures died on the streets.

Unsurprisingly, he refused to take responsibility for flaming the feuds taking place around South Side Chicago – saying that he didn’t put the guns in their hands, while Piker explained to him what ‘systemic problems’ mean in the context of somewhere like O Block. There’s a back and forth, and in between Hasan calls Akademiks out on his support for ‘top cop’ Vice-President Kamala Harris.

Around forty or so minutes, the penny drops and Akademiks identifies him as ‘one of those socialists’ which Hasan confirms. It is here that I am dismayed at what the consequences of the commercialisation of hip-hop meant for class consciousness among the black community in America. The rest of the debate is spent with Akademiks trying to find ‘gotchas’ through PRATTs* at socialists – this is particularly irksome because Hasan is really a Bernie Sanders-style social democrat, meaning that he doesn’t so much want to abolish capitalism, than to reform it with more redistributive programs to rescue poor Americans – and specifically Americans – from the sharpest edges of it.

DJ Akademiks’ problem, which is the problem of many Americans – is that the way his personal identity is tied to capitalism, is through the narrative that he worked hard to get what he has. DJ Akademiks’ success, was mostly due to gaming the ‘attention economy’ at a particular time, and selling gossip. A kind of salacious gossip around a subculture in South Side Chicago where black youths were beefing and killing each other. He did not create the climate there – but he did profit out of it. He reinvented a wheel that is easy to reinvent, for a emergent media apparatus. DJ Akademiks’ ignorance of socialist politics, and lack of understanding of his role as a taste-maker is not his fault. It is the fault of intensive propaganda campaign that says we must address societal problems in an individualised and moralising manner, a near-century of anti-collectivist propaganda by the state from the fear of socialism, and the collapse of the radical Black movements – from the ashes that hip-hop emerged from. What hip-hop carried from these movements is the snippets of cultural nationalism, but not the class politics of the most radical of them. As a populist musical genre, it had no immunisation from capitalist influence, and so it was quickly captured. DJ Akademiks is its logical conclusion.**

Saddest interview of the year:

A surreal and unsettling interview with a young Ukrainian journalist forced to flee her home due to the Russian invasion. I watched this live (or rather, it was broadcast during a Novara Media livestream) and as she described her situation as a refugee, the tone suddenly shifted to a tirade against Russians as a whole, not just the Russian government. It is worth noting that she was from Eastern Ukraine, and this put into context her refusal ‘to be a ‘bargaining chip]’ for Russia, since part of the initial rationale for the invasion was ostensibly to defend the Russian-speaking demographic of Ukraine along with the Donbass separatists (she also speaks Russian). She recounted an admittedly hurtful text from a now former Russian friend reading, “If it’s you, I hope you survive” which illustrates well how nationalism can poison relationships, she herself asserts that the Ukrainians don’t need Russian culture or language and implies that she’d rather see these influences gone. The host, Michael Walker, attempts (and it can be debated as to how much effort he could have made while still keeping the interview on course) to bring to attention that Russia is effectively an autocratic regime – so there’s little control in what average citizens of Russia over their government, or that they are not responsible for Putin’s decision to invade Ukraine, she only sees what the Russian military has done to her home, and demands that the Russian people be held accountable.

There’s an elephant in the room in respect to what the implications of this war is bringing in terms of nationalistic and chauvinistic sentiment, and what it could mean when people of certain nationalities are marginal. An increasingly frequent phrase I’ve come across online is “no Russian is innocent”. Not all of them who are saying this are Ukrainian, but some are from nationalities which have had historically bad history with Russia (and even those that aren’t of these nationalities). This is fairly predictable when two nations are at war – indeed, the British are far from immune from similar sentiments eg. “the only good Kraut is a dead Kraut” and such. The supposed permission to condemn people based on nationality is seldom interrogated especially if the nation the target is from is an enemy to the one you live in. If anything, this hostility is implicitly (and in cases explicity) encouraged in our media. The cultural bans of Russia that took place earlier this year are part of consequences of this, but also, what I’ve seen online are this kind of chauvinistic vigilantism where convenience stores with Russian flags are shared on social media – with the implicit (and again, even explicit) aim of targeted harassment. The other obvious consequence is racist attacks on people who are believed on be Russian. This does not make Russian nationalism – the kind of Russian nationalism that Putin has built his power base on, and used to launch the war – disappear. If anything – the grievances of a Russian diaspora met with hostility in foreign lands is something he’s likely to exploit. I don’t think that even if the current regime of a certain country is one I find distateful, that should give me permission to go after average people from that country, especially if they’re trying to make a living in another country. Whatever one’s thoughts on Novara Media, it is telling that this interview provided a shamefully rare instance where this kind of nationalistic rhetoric from an interviewee was challenged. Which actually says a lot about the health of mass media here.

Best interview of 2022:

I have to say that I very much liked this one:

I mean Vijay Prashad comes out with some bangers and all, but he’s no Mutabaruka. Especially a Mutabaruka pissed off that Jamaica was mourning her colonizer. I only learned about Mutabaruka this year, but I very much like the way he puts his points across. This is a very, very close second though.

Favourite post of 2022:

Mine has to be ‘pomo left‘. Didn’t even intend to make it that long, and certainly wasn’t happy during writing it. But I’ve come to see it as a labour of love. What’s your favourite post from this year, readers?

Favourite film of 2022:

Easily Everything, Everywhere All At Once. One of my all-time favourites and it just came out this year.

Favourite series of 2022:

The Boys season 3 (it actually hurt to write that, but I barely saw anything else. Not even Arbor or Obi-Wan)

Favourite animated series of 2022:

Bleach: The Thousand Year Blood War

People we lost:

Sidney Poitier
Bernard Cribbins
‘Ghostface Kafka’
Jean-Luc Godard
Nichelle Nichols
Hilary Mantel
Ray Liotta
Olivia Newton-John
Antonio Inoki
Bruno Latour
Robbie Coltrane
Sacheen Littlefeather
Coolio
Angela Lansbury
Mike Davis
Kevin Johnson
Jose Maria Sison
Maxi Jazz
Pele
Vivienne Westwood

People we were happy to see go:

Shinzo Abe
Darya Dugina
Ayman al-Zawhiri
Vladimir Zhirinovsky
Leonid Kravchuk
Madeline Albright
Jerry Lee Lewis
Pope Benedict XVI

People that we’re at least ‘meh’ about going:

James Lovelock
Mikhail Gorbachev
Ayaz Mutallibov
Queen Elizabeth II
Jiang Zemin***

There’s a lot of posts that I wish that I got to write this year, a few that I’m especially not seeing the point of finishing. Some I never even got around to starting, and am unsure if I even will. But a several month hiatus was had. I’ve come to terms with the fact that a certain topic will arise quite often. I’m hoping to write a bit more on pieces inspired by the studies that caused me to take a break. It didn’t saw the visitors of 2021, and I’m fine with that. Anyway, this was 2022. Have a happy new year.

Notes:

*- PRATT means “points refuted a thousand times”.

**-I haven’t seen the ‘Drink Champs’ interview in completion hosted by N.O.R.E. where Kanye West goes on his first publicized anti-Semitic rant. If I did, it would probably easily be there.

***- Who am I kidding? This is the guy who announced the “four civilisations” heralding China’s move to renewable energy. And he was memetic as hell. Rest well, toad man.

Revolt of the elites

On the 20th October 2022, Liz Truss resigned as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom. Given a rebrief from scrutiny due to overseeing the arrangements for the state funeral of Queen Elizabeth II, calamity ensued as soon as her then Chancellor of the Exchequer introduced introduced a mini-tax budget that was to impose a £2,500 increase in annual payments for gas and electricity, a reduction to 19% to the basic income rate tax brought forward to April 2023, and a 45% tax cut for those earning over £150,000/annum removed; stamp land tax cuts as a wink and nod to large property investors. The budget also announced that those on the UC take a more active approach to finding work that pays, or face sanctions, and a reverse on the 1.25% rise on National Insurance contributions (NICs).It was a budget that had proven to be deeply unpopular, with a lack of clarity on how the tax cuts are going to be payed for – the slump in the bond market had thrown the Bank of England into a panic, so by the time the 2022 Conservative Party Conference took place, it was already being walked back. Kwasi Kwarteng found himself out of a job merely a month into the job, and was replaced by Jeremy Hunt, who jettisoned the mini-budget completely. Internal warfare within the Conservative Party consumed the Truss government and the political legitimacy she had to lead. Suella Braverman resigned from her post as Home Secretary on the 19th October 2022, leaving Grant Shapps to replace her – he had formerly being the Transport Secretary and nemesis of the striking transport unions.

Somehow, the prospect of being electorally steamrolled by the Labour Party was something that the Parliamentarian Tories were resigned to – but sensing Truss’ unrepentant tone, insisting that her mini-budget represented a communication problem rather than the policy that was the problem. It cemented in the minds of many of these MPs that Truss represented a threat to the national, rather than political interest. Over the past week, meetings with the 1922 Committee discussed the feasibility of a Truss premiership into a GE, and the possibility of her removal. Apparently, to them it represented enough of a crisis to forgo all their rulings around giving the leader a year – something which they were already reviewing during the Johnson premiership. On October 19, 2022, Truss in Prime Minister’s Questions struck a defiant tone to Keir Starmer – who sensed weakness, the former insisting she ‘wasn’t a quitter’, despite knowing full well she was living on borrowed time. The following day, she resigned – at 45 days, Liz Truss was the short-serving Prime Minister in British history.

The rush for a successor had come to a contest from a pool of MPs to place on the final ballot, where the only involvement from the wider membership was to confirm the winner. The PCP had already indicated that they had already had preference for Rishi Sunak and Penny Mordaunt. There was a suggestion, that became increasingly serious was of Boris Johnson returning again – with a social media compaign, involving Jacob Rees-Mogg had already underwent – tweets such as #BorisOrBust and #BackBoris. Johnson, despite his allies insisting that he had the required support of 100 MPs (almost ceertainly a lie), and intimations of his desire to run – suddenly pulled out.

Johnson seemed to sense that it was a losing battle for him when only 62 MPs publicly announced their support – in contrast to Sunak easily securing 152. Johnson loves being loved, and more so having a stacked hand to victory. Penny Mordaunt failed to secure the 100 nominations and pulled out, resulting in Rishi Sunak winning the leadership race, becoming leader of the Conservative Party and the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom on 25th October 2022.

Sunak is regarded as a ‘safe pair of hands’ who will not resist the call to implement spending cuts to public services and issue a second round of austerity. He built up a lot of goodwill (some of which was lost via Partygate) with the British public with his ‘Covid Keynesianism’ in furloughs and ‘Eat Out To Help Out’ schemes. Those of us who are poor and on Univeral Credit aren’t as inclined to sing his praises: Make no mistake, Sunak is a “New Rightist”, with all the dismal political instincts that it implies. He is also the richest Prime Minister in British history, with a net worth of £738 million – twice the personal wealth of King Charles III. It’s enough to make Blair green with envy.

Sunak is considered by the British commentariat to represent a ‘pre-Brexit return to normality’, even Ian Dunt seems to believe that Sunak’s mistakes will remain within the boundaries of rationality. He must’ve been hungover all day when Sunak announced during his first candidate race that ‘anti-Britishness’ will be met with an expansion of the definition of radicalisation to be met within the remit of the Prevent programme. Also, while he’s sacked 11 Boris & Truss hangers-on and loyalists – he’s brought back Suella “Cultural Marxism” Braverman to serve again as Home Secretary. Kemi Badenoch is Minister for Women and Equalities – Badenoch is quite happy to call transwomen “men”, so this indicates that a Sunak government will be fighting the “war on woke” more fervently than the Johnson one. Cleverly and Hunt retain their positions as Foreign Secretary and Chancellor respectively. Gove comes back into the Cabinet as the Minister for Levelling Up. Mordaunt returns to her position as Leader of the Commons, to her chagrin.

What the hell was that all about?

The simple answer is that this is a crisis of the Conservative Party. I’ve alluded to it earlier, but beyond electioneering apparently, a single project is not something that the Tories can stick to because there are so many competing ones, even after Brexit. The short-lived tenure of Truss and Kwarteng was said to represent capture by the neoliberal Institute of Foreign Affairs, but the embarrassment that ensued actually implementing their program without regard for even attempting to build a settlement suggests contrary to the erroneous points I laid out here, Truss was really unfit for managing the British state, even if she is a fairly decent Tory networker. Interviewed in Politics Theory Other, Richard Seymour seems to be of the opinion that British parliamentary democracy is particularly weak thanks to the influence of powerful (and unrepresentative) interest groups, and the outsourcing of its functions in the form of quangos; and that a fusion of Big Data, new technologies, finance capital and the new media in the culture industry and political parties, blendered into a volatile system, which only so-called ‘disruptors’ can navigate around and set the terms for.

I don’t know what to make of Seymour’s overall argument – the first part about parliamentary democracy I don’t particularly care for, since despite or because the hegemonic presence of parliamentarianism, the actual inner functions of Westminster are notoriously opaque and byzantine. It’s this cover that creates the various non-government networks that MPs are involved in, which is even older than the advent of European neoliberalism that supposedly weakened the link between MPs and the public interest. What I am saying is the degree to which the interests of the public sphere was fully, or even mostly represented through the mechanism of parliamentary democracy is often exaggerated. Revolving door phenomena has been a feature, and not a bug of our politics for a very long time, and indeed, it is baked into parliament rather than infecting it. To me, this is only a few steps above this ‘dark money’ (from Russia) narrative, corrupting the sarcosanct British political system, pushed by the likes of George Monbiot.

The second bit is at least interesting enough because it represents, well, media representation as a form of politics in of itself – and with the demand to represent British capital, and various marketing companies consulting or actively engaged in political parties introduces a terrain which made the image-obsessed era of New Labour took like the 1960s. The kind of politician that can survive in such a rapidly fluctuating environment would be, or had a team capable of manipulating both the media and the boundaries of norms within parliamentary space. A ‘disruptor’, for lack of a word. If this is the only kind of politician who can really thrive, then by Truss’ example, Sunak or even Starmer – if he does lead a Labour victory, have not shown they can last for long in this new setting. The interests of the elites reflected by a frontline politician might not even be enough to ensure survival.

With the ‘revolt of the elites’ addressed, next I’ll talk about this supposed ‘revolt against the elites’ via the call for a general election – essentially a Labour Party call. Why are there large sections of left echoing this call? And in light of everything, should it even be pursued?

Vibe Check #7

Hello again. It’s been a month, and I’ve decided to go for an early one on this one. I’ve been very busy – I’m always busy, with personal stuff, like assignments. I’ve even managed to get a new job in the time between the last post. And the term, “new job” seems to be the theme of this one. Before getting in to it, I’d like to talk a bit about the struggles I’ve been through in getting something to write. The post that was supposed to be upcoming was one on Mark Fisher’s other famous essay, “Exiting the Vampire Castle” and whether it’s still relevant today. Researching for it (well, not really it, but this) came with some fairly interesting stuff around his background explaining how and why he came to be associated primarily on Capitalist Realism when it isn’t ETVC – his music journalism (and time as a DJ in the jungle scene) and TV and film reviewer is largely looked over among his recent fans in the contemporary left, despite how Zizekian it comes off as. Nevertheless, such an essay, if it were to be completed, could either get posted some time next month, or even next year from the way things are looking.

How to Rule Over the Roost

It’s largely fell to the background now, although obviously visible in that the change has come about: On 5th September 2022, the winner of the Conservative Party leadership contest was Liz Truss decisively claiming victory with 81,326 votes over her opponent Rishi Sunak with 60,399. Membership turnout was 82.6%. Truss assumed the premiership on the 6th September, meeting with the Queen in her final engagement before her death, to form a government. The qualities of Liz Truss is her apparent hawkishness, a willingness to get down-and-dirty in the culture wars (which means what is about to come next is particularly bad – just because Johnson is gone doesn’t mean the ‘war on woke’ is not), a ‘crossing of the aisle’ from social liberalism (and a republican at that) to a neo-Thatcherite sort that gave a eulogy in Westminster Abbey during the late Queen’s state funeral, and a supposed reputation of ‘stupidity’ based on gaffes and a willingness to rile up ultra-Brexiteers with nonsensical nationalistic promises and priorities – all aimed to put her in key position for the Premiership. This ‘Liz Truss is stupid’ narrative ignores that it was largely because of her, that there so many leaks in the Johnson premiership, wearing down the political aegis Johnson wore, and leaving him to drown in scandal. She’s shrewd when she wants to be, and when you’re conniving, it doesn’t matter if you’re crap at speeches.

The Truss government has Kwasi Kwarteng as Chancellor of the Exchequer, and James Cleverley as Foreign Secretary. If anything, they have a greater presence of ethnic minority mebers of the cabinet than in the Johnson period. It is too early to discuss the character of the Truss priemiership because of the suspension of parliament due to significant matters of ‘national interest’.

Ukania reconsidered: Reqiuem of the monarch

On 8th September 2022, Queen Elizabeth II passed away at the age of 96, ending a reign of 70 years – the longest of the British monarchy, and second longest in Europe after Louis XIV. Her death initiated the 10 days of national mourning, culminating in the state funeral which took place in Westminster Abbey on the 19th September 2022. Elizabeth II is succeeded by Charles III, with Camilla as Queen Consort. The respective nations which made up the United Kingdom (England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland) gave their condolences. The state funeral was attended by extended royal family, Prime Minister Liz Truss and all surviving former Prime Ministers; The Cabinet members; the First Ministers of Soctland, Wales, and Northern Ireland; eight leaders of other UK political parties, fourteen leaders of the nations of the Commonwealth, as well as President of the United States Joe Biden, and over 400 other attendees including other royalty, and world leaders.

The cost of the event has not been publicly revealed but is expected to exceed that of the Queen Mother’s funeral of £5.4 million in 2002.

The period of mourning is notable for the cortege, dubbed “the Queue” from the British public that visited the late Queen as she lay in-state at Westminster Abbey – extending as much as 5 miles (8 km) long, and at most having a waiting period of 25 hours.

The funeral had almost completely cemented the Queen had wanted at the end of her life – wall-to-wall coverage of her death from the five main channels and news outlets, memorials laid out by state and general public, world leaders attending the event, and a firm and near-unshakeable attachment to the British monarchy, even passively, extending beyond her natural lifetime – with all ‘conversations’ around the notion of republican Britain almost completely muted, with the Met Police diligently ensuring that it stay that way during the ten days that we were supposed to be sad. Even the anti-monarchy campaign group Republic decided to restrain its call for a ‘discussion’ about the relevance of a monarchy amidst the national mourning.

I’ve covered a lot of this phenomenon and the implications for the possibility of a post-monarchy Britain here, so I’ll try not to retread ground I’ve covered. But to put it simply: British republicanism is a much weaker force than many of its adherents claim, and this is largely due to the efforts of the Queen herself in embedding the Royal Family further into the national consciousness. For the British left, such as it is, a sobering explanation may come down to a set of arguments published in the 1960s known as the ‘Nairn-Anderson thesis’ or the ‘Nairn-Anderson interpretation’, developed by two influential figures of the British New Left, Tom Nairn and Perry Anderson. In a series of arguments published in the New Left Review, they argued that in comparison to the countries in continental Europe, the development of the British state has been incredibly unusual: the result of the nationalist movements in Western Europe was the emergence of liberal democracy, once the bourgeoisie had overthrown the aristocracy. In Britain, this did not happen – what had instead occured is the British bourgeoisie had entered in collaboration with the aristocracy, which distorted and limited the modernisation process that spread across most of Europe. What it acheived is a sort of half-measure, in a ‘constitutional monarchy’, and constitutionalism was itself maintained by arcane and obscure rules and practices, and the endurance of feudalist elements in British society, which defined and still defines class relations. The consequence for this half-measure was a distorted trajectory towards capitalism – where the influence of the industrial capital was confronted by rentierism – the new industrialists were unable to truly eclipse the land-owning aristocrats. And the latter began to adapt to the new shifting social conditions and become capitalists themselves. Part of the fault of the failure to modernise completely is also assigned to the defeats endured by the British working-class movement and reformist movements of the late 19th century. Once the militancy and radicalism had mollified by the capitalist class, the working-class represented by trade unionism in its leaders gained a concillatory attitude – in the absence of a radical social democratic movement, it was bound to the influence of the Liberal Party, and as it grew to critical mass to represent its own interests, it had combined with the moderate elements of the nascent socialist movement known as Fabianism. The result was Labourism – an indigenous British ‘socialist’ movement lacking and even largely hostile to any theoretical rigour or binding ideological ethos grounding beyond the moralism of the Methodist faith that defined it. These features of Labourism made it unable and unwilling to break from bourgeois ideology or its institutions, and therefore its preoccupation with parliamentarism offered no challenge to the formation of the British state and its archaic social formation.

And so, the foremost representative of the working-class movement in Britain was captured completely by the state often speaking the language of nation over class, and its servility in the face of Britain’s elites. The apparent historic weaknesses of the national bourgeoisie and later in working-class to achieve hegemony meant that Britain is now not so much a nation-state, but a ‘state-nation’. It maintains an archaic, feudal system in its state formation, and according to the Nairn-Anderson thesis, this was the basis for Britain’s decline. We now know that the supposedly unique British decline among the capitalist powers in the 1960s only precipated the crisis of world capitalism and the post-war boom came to a close, and the emergence of neoliberalism – which had up until recently defined the global economic system. Even so, the persistence of a state built around the monarchy in an age which saw the rise and fall, or at least decline, of modernist ideologies such as liberalism, communism, and fascism – this endurance, does come off almost like a living time capsule. And yet, supporters of the monarchy insist that this endurance of this institution is what makes Britain special. Both the monarchist arguments and the theses themselves seem to argue for a British exceptionalism, whether this narrative is optimistic or declinist.

The thesis seems to be animated by a frustation not so much of the failure of British socialism, but of British liberalism for not internalising the nationalist currents that swept Europe. And the limitations of the thesis can also be found in that it takes for granted the monarchy as an institution with its own interests, and itself underwent a process of modernisation. The late Queen Elizabeth II and her consort Prince Philip had the coronation in 1953 to be broadcast on the nascent medium of television, which 20.4 million Britons watched the 13-hour event. From then, the internal affairs of the Royal Family would be granted media access, albeit mediated by a team of ‘royal correspondents’. It is these elements that keep the monarchy its continued influence in British society. In a sense, to challenge the authority of the Royal Family today, would require challenging the British media, which the Royal Family uses to secure its integral position in British society. It is a postmodern antiquity, a heavily romanticized ancient institution which as Olivia Huang put it, “[relies] on the power of the television media to become an important way to spread, build and consolidate British social order, norms, values, and national spirit”.

A movement for a republican Britain, drawing on a socially progressive ethos and egalitarian values would have to be conscious of the usage of the social narrative, would have to have a keen understanding of the power of mass media in consolidating a new social order for progressive ends.

(Update: 25/09/2022): The viewing figures for the funeral of Queen Elizabeth II is estimated to have been watched by 277 million people worldwide and hovers around 27-29 million views domestically making it the second most viewed event in the UK in the 21st century (after Boris Johnson’s first COVID-19 lockdown announcement), and third most watched royal event in television history, after the wedding of Charles and Diana which brought in 750 million viewers worldwide (domestically it rivals it as the event was watched by 28.4 million Britons) and the wedding of Princess Anne and Mark Phillips which had 500 million (domestically was watched by 27.4 million viewers). The event is now said to be the end of television, which would be fitting given her coronation made her the TV queen.