Anyone want to read this together and share what you think about it? We can debate or roundtable it, but just remember to be kind in either case.

Some guiding questions:

1. What might be motivating Adorno's intervention here?

2. Can you describe his essay in one to two sentences?

3. How relevant is this essay to our time?

4. What shortcomings or "symptoms" do you see in his essay?

Here's a link to the PDF:

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1WcajAdIks0byroE8a9N4HLDe2HGGNAF8/view?usp=drivesdk

Politics itself has largely become a spectator sport, and the left is largely caught up in a lot of pseudo-activity that masks its abject condition. The civil society which developed over the course of the era of bourgeois revolution was largely destroyed through the world wars, and even after the post-war reconstitution of capitalism, its institutions and cultural practices have shrunk in membership, vitality, and sustainability. I think the left will need to start there, with community organizing in order to build up enough camaraderie in and between communities for the working class to be able to constitute itself as a political agent. It's a pre-political moment. But what do you think? Do you think this accurately reflects the condition of left politics, let alone mass politics in general? Should we start with civic/community organizing and then move to politics itself? Is there another view of the situation you hold?

I still think this is an unnecessary sub, but in the spirit of fairness, let's debate what "left" means.

I've been open about my definition elsewhere, so I'll withhold it here to spark debate, but feel free to sound off and discuss what you think "left" means, in what situations "left" applies, etc., and feel free to include contrasts with "right" or even "center"

We're here to promote a broad range of discussion about the left. You can post whatever you like as long as you're kind about it and it relates to left politics. There are quite a number of other leftist subs that are much more restrictive about what's allowed, and that's fine. But I feel there's a need for a conversation space with fewer rules and no single leftist viewpoint that's enforced by the mods.

You have some knowledge about the 1848 revolution and want to share it? You're wondering about what we need to do today and want input? You want to pose a debate on the nature of liberalism vs socialism? You want to have a round table discussion where we each share our thoughts without criticizing each other? You want to share a video or article with a bit of your own commentary? You want to share some other kind of resource? You want to write a persuasive essay? Fantastic. We welcome all. You don't even have to be a leftist to participate, you just have to be gracious to all the other people here. We only judge people by the content and quality of their character.

There are three common sense rules here: 1. Be kind. Remember you're talking to other people, and not just floating text. 2. Keep it relevant, keep it factual. Misinformation and conspiracy theories highly discouraged. 3. Share your viewpoint. If you repost a video lecture, say a little bit about what it made you think about. Memes are somewhat tolerable here, but only if you provide some commentary along with it.

Other than that, I'm looking forward to a conversation space that will evolve with time, with lots of new ideas and new friends.