character masks and whatnot
Marx nerd post, sorry gang! This was on my mind as I took a walk today, typing it out here to turn quarter thoughts into half thoughts. Marx writes in...
briefly again: made a record
hi all, in case you’re interested, my friend Malik and I cowrote a record. I think you could call it noise rap. Malik wrote the lyrics and performed the...
briefly: two more talks friday July 12 and wednesday july 17
Hey gang, I hope you’re all well. For anyone subscribing to this thing, I’m sorry to be in your inbox again so soon, but I wanted to give you a quick head’s...
My Correct Views On A Couple Things: A Response to Tony Smith on Marxism and Reformist Struggle
As regular readers of my little blog are probly sick of hearing me say, I had a chapter in this book...
talks and discussion on the capitalist state (my social murder chapter)
hey all, I hope you’re maintaining. In case you’re interested, the fine people at Red May hosted a panel today with me and Jasmine Chorley-Schulz talking...
My review of Beverley Best's new book on Capital volume 3
This is my review of Beverley Best’s new book, The Automatic Fetish. (https://www.versobooks.com/products/3032-the-automatic-fetish) The book is a close...
murder o'clock?
I wrote a while back about how there’s an issue of scale when it comes social murder. (https://buttondown.email/nateholdren/archive/theres-social-murder-but-...
Doris Lessing and new left notes; embattled curiosity
Hi everyone, I hope you’re all maintaining. I typically write things for my little blog when I have a specific thought I’ve only partially glimpsed and am...
partial knowledge and unpleasant shocks
I’m making my way through Beverley Best’s new book The Automatic Fetish with a mind to probably writing a review of it later. I have some quibbles that I’m...
Border Country and whatnot
As I’ve mentioned in previous posts I’ve been reading this Raymond Williams novel, Border Country. I finished it today and thought I’d jot down some...
quick update - money shit
hey gang, thanks for your interest in my little blog thing, I appreciate it greatly. As of today there are 98 people subscribing, which surprises me (far be...
shocking cancellation of the future
Railway worker Morgan Rosser poured himself into his position as secretary of his union branch and even more so into the railway workers’ sympathy strike...
no such thing as masses
hey everyone, I hope you’re all maintaining despite the bullshit. I’m feeling kinda ground down, personally, but am still keeping my head up. My semester at...
panel on a book Monday May 20, plus lots of other random stuff
hey all, I mentioned that my friend Rob Hunter and I cowrote a review of a Marxist theory book we like a lot (that’s here https://spectrejournal.com/on-...
Experience, theory, possibility, outrage
A comrade wrote me a thoughtful and kind note (hi Chris, and thanks again!), and I feel very fortunate to have someone reach out to think with me and invite...
Fragment on higher and lower communism
Someone wrote to me (no really!) asking about lower and higher phases of communism (‘higher and lower’ here meaning both the degree to which the exit from...
thinking about moral injury
I saw a tweet the other day that felt like a flash lighting up a lot of experiences I’d only seen the outlines of in the dark. It said “I was complaining to...
There’s social murder, but then there’s SOCIAL MURDER (a note on scale)
I’ve thought for a while now that social murder is an apt concept for understanding the covid pandemic. (I’m far from the only one to think that; the...
Tomorrow's future... today! ("The way-hey-ting is the hardest part." Or, "this crying, this screaming, [our] voice is being born")
I was talking with an old friend today who I hadn’t seen in ages, might be seriously eleven years. They happened to passing through town for work so we got...
book review for your consideration
Hello friends - I'm being uncharacteristically brief today, just passing along a link to something I think you should read: https://spectrejournal.com/on-...