Morning Comrades!
We are going to be paying a little more attention to Rosa Luxemburg this week with the date of her murder in 1919 coming up this week, as well as getting into Platform Socialism, Tech, De-growth as a potential new economic idea, new tunes and new product.
I am going to run a little poll over in our telegram group and instagram later today, but for now I would appreciate your input. I am most definitely running the title graphic above for a mutual aid project, but in addition to that one, I also want to throw these two graphics into the mix. Please let me know which one you would prefer, here, per email or on social.
Another week and another banging playlist for you all. I am really happy ignoring my self imposed rule of not putting any metal in these and there are a few tracks from that genre on here that really do put a smile on my face. On top of that this one floats between beautiful deep cuts from the soul, r’n’b world, some dub/ rock steady, some old school drum n’bass, old hip hop, some new punk and heaps more. I like this one. It’s a solid show of light in these dark ass days.
Rosa Luxemburg was a Polish Marxist economist, anti-war activist, philosopher and revolutionary socialist. She was a member of the Communist Party of Germany (KPD), born and raised in an assimilated Jewish family in Poland, she became a German citizen in 1897.
After the SPD ( The German Social Democratic Party currently in power in Germany today ) supported German involvement in World War I in 1915, Luxemburg and Karl Liebknecht co-founded the anti-war Spartacus League (Spartakusbund) which eventually became the KPD. During the November Revolution, she co-founded the newspaper Die Rote Fahne (The Red Flag), the central organ of the Spartacist movement. Luxemburg considered the Spartacist uprising of January 1919 a blunder, but supported the attempted overthrow of the government and rejected any attempt at a negotiated solution. Friedrich Ebert's majority SPD government crushed the revolt and the Spartakusbund by sending in the Freikorps, government-sponsored paramilitary groups consisting mostly of World War I veterans. Freikorps troops captured and summarily executed Luxemburg and Liebknecht during the rebellion.
Due to her pointed criticism of both the Leninist and the more moderate social democratic schools of socialism, Luxemburg has had a somewhat ambivalent reception among scholars and theorists of the political left. Nonetheless, Luxemburg and Liebknecht were extensively idolized as communist martyrs by the East German communist government. Despite her own Polish nationality and strong ties to Polish culture, opposition from the PPS due to her stance against the creation of a bourgeois Polish state and later criticism from Stalinists have made her a controversial historical figure in Poland's present-day political discourse.
With the anniversary of her murder coming up I did want to spend some time on her work, the work that the Rosa-Luxemburg Foundation does in Germany to this day, and reflect on the importance of it here. That will happen later in the week. For now, let’s briefly touch on the importance of knowing about, understanding and taking the work of historical figures, here and in general. I am not going to insult anyone here by dropping the ever green of “those who don’t know history…” line, fair point and all but let’s take that a few steps further and why this matters.
Representatively, and within her historical context, Luxemburg moved mountains of social realities in a relatively short period of time. The sheer number of people she, through her vision, work, speeches and persona are remarkable and through them, changed the material realities of 100 of thousands of people for the better. Due to this, I find absolutely vital to understand who she was, what she did and what her thoughts were and if they have relevance today- spoiler alert: the do. In a big way. History is one of those subjects that needs to be brought to life to make sense and let’s see if we can do that here.
I have linked the RL Foundation’s website, that is largely in English, above and below that is filled with resources for the revolutionary struggle for a better world. I highly recommend you bookmarking it and getting involved. #
There is a new episode of Future Histories out, one of the very few programs that I truly enjoy in this format ( It’s a podcast ) and this time FH talks to James Muldoon whom I respect greatly. His work with Autonomy and Autonomy_Digital is hugely interesting as it deal wit advances in digital technology that have transformed the global economy at unprecedented speed. Autonomy_Digital seeks to understand the contours of this digital world and develop its potential towards more sustainable and empowering horizons.
With all new horizons brought to our attention through technological advancements, ownership, as in who owns it for what purpose, determines the role it does and can play in our life.
I read almost everything Jason Hickel puts out and that includes the above interview and article. I find his work in de-growth and post-capitalism extremely valid, down to earth and rooted in science rather than science fiction, also know as PhD’s in Utopian Philosophy ( ahem ).
Campaigners for degrowth have thrown into question the dogma that holds that a growing economy is always a sign of progress. In Less is More, anthropologist Jason Hickel argues that only degrowth can steer the world away from its worsening ecological crisis. We sat down with him to discuss his new book and ask what degrowth would mean for relations between the Global North and South.
For those of you that missed this Friday, here you go. The first episode of the BL Audio Essay that are replacing the uncommented and out of context sharing of hot shots. Thank you all that took time to listen and more importantly sent over feedback, I am going to get back to you all today and work on incorporating your ideas.
Until then, I remain yours, without compromise,
V.