DNA: A Parasite that Builds Its Own Host?
Dawkins, the mechanistic world, and the "war on the beautiful"
Search Result(s) for: “Nietzsche”
Abandon the Future
If there’s a lesson from Back to the Future Day, it’s that the future can’t save us.
The Corbyn Leap
Mass movements outside the Labour Party brought Jeremy Corbyn to power within it. What will it now take to transform British society?
The Young Benjamin
Walter Benjamin's Marxism owed much to his early engagement with anarchism and surrealism.
The Deflationary Mind
Mark Lilla’s prosecution of radical thinkers in the name of intellectual seriousness can only lead to a flat and lifeless politics.
The Elite Roots of Richard Spencer’s Racism
Alt-right racist Richard Spencer personifies a common, if overlooked, phenomenon: the well-educated and well-off bigot.
Lipstick Fascism
On Lana Lokteff, the women of the alt-right, and the feminization of fascism.
Ten Thoughts on the Turkish Referendum
Even after his victory yesterday in Turkey's referendum, President Erdoğan is much weaker than he appears.
Domenico Losurdo (1941–2018)
Domenico Losurdo was an acute critic of liberal hypocrisy and double standards in history writing.
When Max Eastman Was Young
For the young Max Eastman, socialism meant open inquiry, cultural experimentation — and above all, freedom.
The Fool and the Madman
Last night, Jordan Peterson spouted nonsense about Marxism. And Slavoj Žižek reminded us of how deep into liberal pessimism he's fallen.
“Responsible Conservatives” Won’t Save Us From Fascism
History shows that when working-class strength threatens the status quo, even moderate conservatives won’t balk at making common cause with fascists.
Oscar Wilde Wasn’t Just a Satirist. He Was a Socialist.
Much more than just the wit and satirist of his posthumous reputation, Oscar Wilde was a radical thinker who posed a fundamental challenge to the conservative mores of late Victorian England. His thinking on liberation led him to imagine a socialist future in which creativity can flourish across all of society.
Fuccbois Need Love, Too
Fuccboi is a novel about the lengths we go to avoid thinking about our own suffering — and the harm we do to others along the way.
The Bezos Theory of Value Is Deeply Disturbing
In his final letter to shareholders as Amazon CEO, Jeff Bezos offers a novel — and profoundly disturbing — conception of value creation: a handful of visionaries are the sole source of all “real value.” This aristocracy mercifully blesses customers, clients, and even Amazon workers with social goods.
There’s No Moral Justification for Capitalist-Owned Enterprises
Capitalist "liberty" is just another word for private tyranny. Workers, not capitalists, should control economic enterprises.
Jacques Derrida’s Defense of Marx and the Birth of Hauntology
French philosopher Jacques Derrida is best known as one of the champions of postmodernism. But in the early 1990s, at the height of capitalist triumphalism, Derrida took up the cudgels in defense of Karl Marx — and inadvertently spawned a whole musical genre.
Edward Said Showed Intellectuals How to Bring Politics to Their Work
The Palestinian writer Edward Said wasn’t merely an intellectual who took brave political stands. Said’s whole approach to his work should be a model for politically engaged scholarship that doesn’t get bogged down in the thickets of academic culture.
No, Karl Marx Was Not Eurocentric
Critics of Marx have accused him of imposing a European model of historical development on the rest of the world. But the real Marx rejected Eurocentric thinking and developed a sophisticated view of world history in all its diversity and complexity.
Jean-Luc Godard Showed Me New Possibilities of What Life Could Look Like
I grew up in a suffocatingly conservative environment. Jean-Luc Godard’s films helped show me that my own conception of who I am and what kind of life I could lead could look radically different.