DeepSummary
This episode is an interview with Adaner Usmani, discussing his essay co-authored with Connor Kilpatrick in Jacobin magazine titled 'The New Communists'. They argue that the left should move on from obsessing over the questions and lessons of the 1917 Russian Revolution, as the current conditions are vastly different. They suggest focusing on issues that resonate with ordinary people today, like Medicare for All and green jobs.
Usmani argues that the slogan 'land, peace, bread' that was crucial for the Bolsheviks has little relevance today, as societies have changed drastically. He believes the left has become too inward-looking, focused on purism rather than engaging the masses. The hosts discuss the importance of outward-facing politics that can achieve concrete gains through class struggle.
They critique the tendency on the far-left to attribute failures of past movements solely to leaders 'capitulating', arguing for a more structural understanding. Usmani suggests the left should pursue 'non-reformist reforms' - fighting for achievable demands that improve people's lives while building towards more transformative change.
Key Episodes Takeaways
- The left should move past its fixation on drawing 'lessons' from the 1917 Russian Revolution, as material conditions today are drastically different.
- Rather than inward-facing ideological purity, the left needs to adopt an outward orientation engaging the broader working class where they are currently at.
- Achievable, concrete reforms like Medicare for All and green jobs that address working people's needs should be prioritized over maximalist demands disconnected from present realities.
- The failures of past movements cannot solely be attributed to leaders 'capitulating' but require more structural analysis of underlying contradictions.
- A strategy of 'non-reformist reforms' is needed - fighting for legitimate reforms that improve lives now while building toward more transformative change.
- The far-left's embrace of certain maximalist demands is often more about performance and in-group signaling rather than serious politics.
- Class struggle mobilization from below, not just appealing to elites, is necessary to win any meaningful gains under capitalism.
- While learning from history, the left must update its perspectives and strategies based on current material and social conditions.
Top Episodes Quotes
- “It's time to move on. That's more or less the argument of the piece.“ by Adaner Usmani
- “If you accept, you know, if your listeners accept the argument that it's inconceivable in the short term, then we have to ask, why is it that people continue to cling to it? And I think in order to understand that, we've return to the things that you were already saying earlier and that you said that your previous guests have said, which is that it's about virtue signaling. It's about showing that you are of a curtain. You're a certain kind of leftist with certain kinds of commitments. And I just don't think that's politics.“ by Adaner Usmani
- “And that's really what left wing politics is about. So I see those detractors as having much in, much more in common with reformism than we have.“ by Adaner Usmani
- “Your task is to plant 1ft in the world as you see it and 1ft in the world as you want it to be. And the role of an activist, again, is to sort of latch onto those things that people have intuitions about or have expressed support for, have opinions about, you know, and take those things and find their transformative potential and use those as the plank to change society, use those as the plaque.“ by Adaner Usmani
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Episode Information
Dead Pundits Society
Dead Pundits Society
4/30/19