A while back we did an episode titled Capitasociafascilibdemarxism. It was an expression of the confusion surrounding the casual way insults are hurled in the political sphere. You’re a Marxist and fascist! That’s socialism! Capitalist pig! I’m a libertarian. Anarcho syndicalist. Communist. Minarchist. It’s the original form of identity politics, meant to convey a sweeping ideology to explain our worldviews or criticize others for theirs. We’re going to continue building on this for the foreseeable future because I recently found myself in a precarious position. When asked to define socialism, I realized I didn’t have all that great of an answer. 

I’ve studied it to a degree. Read a bunch. Engaged in conversations and thought experiments, but when pressed to really nail it down I struggled. And for good reason. Socialism is a concept. A theory. It’s not in and of itself a practice. It’s a framework open to interpretation and constantly influenced by environmental circumstances. 

So here I am with a podcast and now a video channel. Offering viewpoints and perspectives about socioeconomics and politics and yet incapable of delivering precise definitions that provide clarity on arguably the most important aspects of these disciplines. I suppose many of us suffer from imposter syndrome to an extent, but there’s something about not being schooled in the fundamentals of political science that, honestly, kind of haunts me. I know it’s true that the older we get, the less we understand. And the process of curating these shows an antidote to ignorance that I take very seriously. It’s why we painstakingly source our information and try hard to be nuanced and not reactive. There’s an inescapable emotional element to the work we do. Things that offend our sensibilities tend to elevate passion over reason and I think that’s okay. It’s empathic. But it’s also important to be critical and self aware, to constantly look for holes in our knowledge so we can make better connections. So that’s what this is about. 

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In today’s cure for insomnia episode, we explore the origins of the ISMs the pundit class abuses each and every day. We’re focusing on the big ones. Fascism, Socialism, Communism, Marxism and Capitalism. The show covers the theorists who created these theories, touch on the circumstances that inspired their thinking and how far from these concepts we have moved as a society. Plus, we’ll talk through how most of these theories (except fascism) are more alike than we’ve been led to believe. (99 and Manny note: “Not the most scintillating episode, but Max was so excited we didn’t have the heart to tell him.”) 

Visit the episode's accompanying site page.

Resources

Truthdig: Sheldon Wolin and Inverted Totalitarianism

Book Love

Joseph A. Schumpeter: Capitalism, Socialism, and Democracy

Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels: The Communist Manifesto

Karl Marx: The Eighteenth Brumaire of Louis Bonaparte

Karl Marx: Das Kapital

Adam Smith: The Wealth of Nations

Pod Love

Pitchfork Economics

American Scandal: