Morning Comrades! Your usual selection of the fuckening is going to take a backseat today only because there is so much good input to share today. I’ll probably post some of it over on IG but here we go.
First off, this charity shirt for Palestine is still available today. Thank you to everyone that shared this far and wide on Wednesday! Here is your chance to get a good shirt and do some good. Hit the picture below to get taken to the online store.
Continuing on from last week, here are some more essential books for your summer. These are all part of the summer reading list I passed on to my students for their summer and do not require an extensive base knowledge of their respective subjects!
Hegemony and Socialist Strategy by Ernesto Laclau and Chantal Mouffe
In this hugely influential book, Laclau and Mouffe examine the workings of hegemony and contemporary social struggles, and their significance for democratic theory. With the emergence of new social and political identities, and the frequent attacks on Left theory for its essentialist underpinnings, Hegemony and Socialist Strategy remains as relevant as ever, positing a much-needed antidote against 'Third Way' attempts to overcome the antagonism between Left and Right.
Democracy Against Capitalism by Ellen Meiksins Wood
Historian and political thinker Ellen Meiksins Wood argues that theories of “postmodern” fragmentation, “difference,” and contingency can barely accommodate the idea of capitalism, let alone subject it to critique. In this book she sets out to renew the critical program of historical materialism by redefining its basic concepts and its theory of history in original and imaginative ways, using them to identify the specificity of capitalism as a system of social relations and political power.
The Shock of the Anthropocene by Christophe Bonneuil and Jean-Baptiste Fressoz
This book proposes the first critical history of the Anthropocene, shaking up many accepted ideas: about our supposedly recent “environmental awareness,” about previous challenges to industrialism, about the manufacture of ignorance and consumerism, about so-called energy transitions, as well as about the role of the military in environmental destruction.
As usual, below are a few suggestions for your weekend watching and infotainment outside of the propaganda mindrot available from the capitalist propaganda machine.
Some of you may have paid attention to my excitement for a recently arrived book called “Para Politics - Cultural Freedom and the Cold War” and this below clip explains it a little more. I am hugely fascinated by the impact of the CCF and the CIA on our collective narrative and the deeper I dig into post-modernism, in all it’s forms, the more fascinating this becomes. For anyone that does not know what the CCF was, read this and then watch the below.
It's obvious, logical, natural, even mathematical that our civilization is going to collapse, that we have overshot the sustainable carrying capacity of the earth and ecosystem that supports us. But people are fed false hope, false positives and magical faiths which extract your agency and distract you from your presence. Held captive by apathy, afraid of your own shadow. American Psychosis - Chris Hedges on the US empire of narcissism and psychopathy.
Mark Fisher is bloody brilliant and I cannot overstate how important his work is to help in understanding our current reality. Capitalist realism, one of the most malign concepts to ever emerge from philosophy and/or critical theory. Developed by former CCRU affiliate Mark Fisher in his 2009 book "Capitalist Realism: Is There No Alternative?", it is a concept which situates itself after the postmodernism /postmodernity proposed by Fredric Jameson.
A little lighter in subject matter but wonderful to watch and possibly helpful when it comes to bringing this subject to those around you, this film explains some of the fundamentals and helps counter a lot of the propaganda out there.
In totally unrelated vibes, but good ones nonetheless, this is an excellent introduction to Zambia’s 70s Psych Rock Scene. Zamrock thrived for only a few years in the mid-70s, but it's bands produced some incredibly catchy rock anthems. Taking influence from a diverse range of sounds like Jimi Hendrix, The Velvet Underground, afrobeat and Zambian folk, Zamrock is an incredibly rich and fun genre to sink your teeth into.
I am going to be finishing this week on some potential good news. I am yet to fully grasp the entirety of all this but from what I have read and understood so far, this is good news!
As far as I am concerned, the looming environmental crisis in shape of climate change that will make whatever crisis so far look like an amateur gender reveal party in the Californian suburbs this landmark ruling by a Dutch court ( Shell is based in the Netherlands ) can mark a serious change.
A Dutch court ruled Wednesday that the company must reduce its greenhouse gas emissions 45% by 2030, based on 2019 levels.
The case could set a precedent for similar lawsuits against huge oil companies that operate across the globe.
The 2030 goal affirmed by the court is more ambitious than Shell's target of becoming "a net-zero emissions energy business by 2050." Shell argues the 2050 goal is in line with the Paris climate accord. But The Hague District Court determined Shell's plans were not adequate.
And now for the fine print that is the real good news in all of this:
The ruling applies to Shell and its suppliers and covers not only the companies' emissions but also emissions from products burned by its customers.
Read that again, take all the time you need. Again, if I understand this correctly, this makes Shell legally responsible for the emissions from the products burned by ITS CUSTOMERS.
Puh.
Obviously, the MF’ers will appeal this but I don’t see much chance in that reversing this ruling. It’s a small step to be sure, but a solid one.
With that, thank you for tuning in, by all means share this if you like and buy a t-shirt. See you all on Monday.
Smooches.