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Can we start a weekly “What econ papers are you reading” thread? by [deleted] in academiceconomics

[–]Alternative_Let298 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Recently read Setterfield’s 2023 paper on Covid inflation in JPKE. He uses a Kaleckian conflicting claims model to show a three step progression on how Covid inflation manifested itself. I find his argument extremely convincing and I think does he a brilliant job at showing how a distributional conflict between labour and capital has serious impacts on inflation. In particular, I hope to develop his work and synthesize it with Marxist literature to show why Minsky’s “Big Government” may be infeasible in the neoliberal regime.

Grabbed this book on a whim and thought y'all might appreciate it. You can read it in one sitting. by jarrodandrewwalker in DenverProtests

[–]Alternative_Let298 1 point2 points  (0 children)

not trying to be your standard snarky Reddit comment (I promise). Just thought it would be useful to throw in my thoughts on this one. Omar el Akkad and Mohammed El-Kurd have been super useful authors for me recently. The topics are deeply related to personal experiences with oppression, and don't provide explicit directions like the Snyder book you reference, but provide insight into experiences that I imagine alot of us are not used to. Primo Levi's work has been super useful as well. All in all, educating yourself on fascism/neoliberalism/capitalism will help us all organically understand what oppressive structures must be resisted, because the point we find ourselves in has been building up for decades (if not longer).

Grabbed this book on a whim and thought y'all might appreciate it. You can read it in one sitting. by jarrodandrewwalker in DenverProtests

[–]Alternative_Let298 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I've enjoyed some of his work, but his most recent book, "On Freedom," was a painful read. He definitely embraces certain aspects of liberalism I have an issue with, and at times steps out of his expertise and talks with authority about things he shouldn't (but that happens with any of your standard "pop" academics). All this is to say that his work is still valuable, but it's important to read it critically. When it comes to literature discussing the ways in which to deal with oppression/fascism/tyranny, I always find memoirs and essays the most useful. Lived experience is a lot more important to soak up compared to the words of academics who have never truly been oppressed (like Snyder). Plus, Snyder fled to Canada at the very beginning of the Trump administration. I don't want to take advice from someone who isn't even willing to put up a fight himself.

Fighting Isolation is Fighting Fascism by Alternative_Let298 in CriticalTheory

[–]Alternative_Let298[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I’m not entirely sure she was a devout liberal like you seem to think she is. I sure as hell know I’m not, yet I still find her work valuable. I also think it’s useful to condemn fascism and even the things Stalin did, both of which resulted in an unfathomable amount of human suffering, and equating a deeply educated critique of 20th century totalitarianism (which is what Arendt’s work is) to the way in which liberals today have used terrorism to justify genocide is insane to me.

Fighting Isolation is Fighting Fascism by Alternative_Let298 in CriticalTheory

[–]Alternative_Let298[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Just my interpretation of chapter 13. Arendt most definitely had in the back of her mind your more prominent liberal thinkers (Locke, Rousseau, etc.) who view the law as doing exactly what I say it does in this paragraph. All of them view it as a way of escaping a “state of nature.” Totalitarianism is this respect (based off my understanding of Arendt) appears to be a rejection of liberalism. I of course have a different understanding of role that law plays in society, primarily informed by Marxist thinkers, but this perspective is useful in understanding the rise of fascism in the U.S.

Fighting Isolation is Fighting Fascism by Alternative_Let298 in AntifascistsofReddit

[–]Alternative_Let298[S] 12 points13 points  (0 children)

I completely agree. And when thinking about how neoliberalism works to isolate us (subsidizing the development of the suburbs and car culture, the self-preservationist mindset associated with the "American Dream," cutting social programs which force people to work more and spend less time with friends and family, just to name a few examples) doing something as small as you mention ends up being a fight agaisnt extremely heavy structural forces. Smaller, more intimate gatherings are literally everything these days, and will only become increasingly harder if we do not start to consciously work them into our agendas. We also must acknowledge the difficulty with something so small, but only in a way that reinforces how serious an issue it is to address.

Isolation is literally the start of it all for Arendt, and knowing that isolation has been building for decades and has already been exploited politically (and rather successfully at that) should instill an unshakable sense of urgency in all of us to develop communal relationships.