The Regrettable Century

Continuing what has become a series on Czechoslovak Socialism, we dive into the attempt to reform the Czechoslovak system. The official ML narrative and the liberal narrative about the Prague Spring are the same, they say that it was an attempt to re-establish bourgeois democracy. However, it seems clear that the intentions of its participants were the opposite. They appear to have been a genuine attempt to revitalize and push forward the communist project. The Action Programme of the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia https://www.marxists.org/subject/czech/1968/action-programme.htm Stoneman, Anna J. “Socialism With a Human Face: The Leadership and Legacy of the Prague Spring.” The History Teacher49, no. 1 (2015): 103–25. Prague Spring Archive at MIA (worth browsing for historical first impressions) https://www.marxists.org/subject/czech/index.htm The Prague Spring of 1968: a glimpse of socialism? http://isj.org.uk/the-prague-spring/ Liehm, A. J. (1978). The Prague Spring and Eurocommunism. International Journal, 33(4), 804. doi:10.2307/40201691 Skilling, H. Gordon. "The Prague Spring Reassessed." Slavic Review 38, no. 4 (1979): 663-66. doi:10.2307/2496570. Reform and Counter-reform in Bureaucratic Power https://www.cddc.vt.edu/sionline/si/reform.html Music: Karel Kryl - Veličenstvo kat (English Translation) In a gloomy light of a gothic hall the scared profiteers are gazing into their missals and a horde of slayers is asking for blessing After all the first of the knights is his majesty executioner Aaah look the first of the knights is his Majesty Executioner Priest – the devil who served the mass is wearing a stole made from a hangmans slope Having a bottle of vitriol under the purple rochet The smell of sulfur coming from the mortars is crawling under the red hood of the first from all the knights his Majesty Executioner Aaah to the first of knights look it is his Majesty Executioner On the national flag there is an emblem with guillotine And the barbed wire smells by something decayed In our region is a flock of raven nesting the master hangman reigns these people The king is kneeing infront of Satan eagers to have the sceptre And the rabble is hanging the wise council at the plane tree And the heretic crowd is exhilarated and rejoices After all the first of knights is his Majesty Executioner Aaah the first of knights is his Majesty Executioner At a streetcorner a murderer is holding a lecture about moral Infront of the prison's door the guardians are walking From the military armour plate the black sign proclaims that the first of the knights is his Majesty Executioner Aaah that the first of the knights is his Majesty Executioner Over the government palace rises the flag with guillotine The children love the ice cream cornets The judges were upset about them so they killed their ice cream man A horrible state it was, as you had to watch the writing beeing forbidden and the singing beeing forbidden And they didn't have enough they commanded the kids to pra Send us a text Support the show

We are back at it again talking decadence theory with Varn. This week, we dig into Samir Amin's piece from Monthly Review. We discussed the following materials: Morley, Neville. "Decadence as a Theory of History." New Literary History, Vol. 35, No. 4, Forms and/of Decadence (Autumn, 2004), pp.573-585 Decadence: The Theory of Decline or the Decline of Theory https://libcom.org/library/decadence-aufheben-2 Revolution or Decadence? https://monthlyreview.org/2018/05/01/revolution-or-decadence/ Check out Varn Vlog Here https://www.patreon.com/varnvlog Send us a text Support the show

Come listen to the boys discuss Hegel's enduring importance to the contemporary world. Hegel Is Still an Important Thinker for the Left https://jacobin.com/2023/11/hegel-political-philosophy-world-revolutions-book-review Hegel in the Era of “Wokeness” https://jacobin.com/2023/12/hegel-wokeness-world-spirit-political-theory-history-philosophy-richard-bourke Reading Hegel on Bastille Day https://jacobin.com/2016/07/hegel-bastille-day-burke-french-revolution The dialectic in the service of revolution (up to/until the Marx section…) https://links.org.au/dialectic-service-revolution Send us a text Support the show

We soldier on through this excellent but little known work on the national question. This week we FINALLY finish Chapter 1. Send us a text Support the show

The boys get together and talk about the triumphs and failures, the uses and misuses, and the love and hate for the concept of the Popular Front. Haslam, Jonathan. “The Comintern and the Origins of the Popular Front 1934-1935.” The Historical Journal 22, no. 3 (1979): 673–91. http://www.jstor.org/stable/2638659. Communists, Coalitions, and the Class Struggle https://www.cpusa.org/article/communists-coalitions-and-the-class-struggle/ The Popular Front Didn’t Work https://www.jacobinmag.com/2017/10/popular-front-communist-party-democrats France’s Popular Front: Lessons from the 30s https://www.counterfire.org/article/frances-popular-front-lessons-from-the-30s/ The Popular Front, Then and Now https://www.rs21.org.uk/2024/06/29/the-popular-front-then-and-now-france-and-the-elections/ The United Front http://isj.org.uk/the-united-front/ Uruguay’s Frente Amplio: From Revolution to Dilution https://upsidedownworld.org/archives/uruguay/uruguays-frente-amplio-from-revolution-to-dilution/ Send us a text Support the Show.

The boys dive in to chapter 6 of Dugin's Fourth Political theory. Don't worry, there are literally no digressions and the guys stay on point the whole time. Check out Varn Vlog here: https://www.patreon.com/varnvlog/posts Check out Antifada here: https://www.patreon.com/theantifada Send us a text Support the Show.

We just can't stop talking about Czechoslovak Socialism. We decided to deal with the Slovak portion of the Czechoslovak lands, which we feel has been a little neglected in our previous discussions. Slovakia is important as an integral part of the movement of Czechoslovak socialism and as a case study of the problem of the national question. If you have been following along with our discussions of Otto Bauer's work on the national question, you might appreciate the context. Hear the full episode: https://www.patreon.com/theregrettablecentury Send us a text Support the Show.

We accidentally released the wrong episode, this one should have come before the last! This week we sat down with C. Derick Varn to talk about "decadence theory," "crisis theory" and "breakdown theory." This is a special episode, mostly because it wasn't supposed to come out until August, but Varn accidentally released it early so y'all get a bonus episode. We discussed the following materials: Morley, Neville. "Decadence as a Theory of History." New Literary History, Vol. 35, No. 4, Forms and/of Decadence (Autumn, 2004), pp.573-585 Decadence: The Theory of Decline or the Decline of Theory? https://libcom.org/library/decadence-aufheben-2 Revolution or Decadence? https://monthlyreview.org/2018/05/01/revolution-or-decadence/ Check out Varn Vlog Here https://www.patreon.com/varnvlog Send us a text Support the Show.

Back at it again with the national question and continuing the long march through chapter one. A link to the PDF: https://libcom.org/article/question-nationalities-and-social-democracy-otto-bauer Send us a Text Message. Support the Show.

This is an impromptu episode recorded by Jason and Varn where they discuss their dissatisfaction with the general situation of American and world politics. It roughly fits in with the subject matter of our Dawn to Decadence series, so here ya go! Send us a text Support the Show.

This week we all sat down to talk about the uselessness of identifying with a political tendency in our current moment. Send us a text Support the Show.

This week we discussed an excellent study of migrant workers in the Soviet Union which focused on Uzbeks, Tajiks, Georgians, Azerbaijanis who came to Leningrad and Moscow in toward the end of Union's existence. Sahadeo, Jeff. 2019. Voices From the Soviet Edge: Southern Migrants in Leningrad and Moscow. Send us a text Support the Show.

First off, please forgive the first few minutes of Chris' audio, we adjusted the levels during the podcast and fixed it. You won't have to bear with it all the way through. We sat down to talk about SAVING DEMOCRACY FROM TRUMPIST FASCISM, or rather, how the left has fallen into the trap of letting the Democratic Party off the hook for its crimes against humanity and its constant kowtowing to the GOP. Stanley Payne on anti-fascism without fascism https://www.firstthings.com/web-exclusives/2021/01/antifascism-without-fascism Liberals’ Heated Fascism Rhetoric Sidesteps Self-Reflection https://jacobin.com/2024/04/liberals-fascism-rhetoric-democrats-election Anti-fascism: formula for confusion https://www.quinterna.org/lingue/english/historical_en/antifascism_confusion.htm Andy from Antifada on Antifa https://communemag.com/anti-anti-antifa/ Is Trump a fascist? 8 experts weigh in. https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/21521958/what-is-fascism-signs-donald-trump Noam Chomsky: Antifa is a 'major gift to the right' https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/noam-chomsky-antifa-major-gift-right-wing-anti-fascist-alt-left-a7906406.html Send us a text Support the Show.

This is an impromptu episode recorded by Jason and Varn where they discuss their dissatisfaction with the general situation of world politics. Check out Varn Vlog here: https://www.patreon.com/varnvlog/posts Send us a text Support the Show.

This week we are joined by our official France correspondent, Matthew. We discuss the unique threat of the post-fascist menace and what the results and prospects are for the shaky leftist coalition. Send us a text Support the Show.

Wake up babe, new Dugin Time just dropped. The boys are back and discussing Dugin's understanding of processes and, now that they're about halfway done with the book, begin to ask the question "What is the Fourth Political Theory?" Check out Varn Vlog here: https://www.patreon.com/varnvlog/posts Check out Antifada here: https://www.patreon.com/theantifada Send us a Text Message. Support the Show.

This week we sat down with C. Derick Varn to talk about "decadence theory," "crisis theory," and "breakdown theory." This is a special episode, mostly because it wasn't supposed to come out until August, but Varn accidentally released it early so y'all get a bonus episode. We discussed the following materials: Morley, Neville. "Decadence as a Theory of History." New Literary History, Vol. 35, No. 4, Forms and/of Decadence (Autumn, 2004), pp.573-585 Decadence: The Theory of Decline or the Decline of Theory? https://libcom.org/library/decadence-aufheben-2 Revolution or Decadence? https://monthlyreview.org/2018/05/01/revolution-or-decadence/ Check out Varn Vlog Here https://www.patreon.com/varnvlog Send us a Text Message. Support the Show.

This week we sat down with members of the New Zealand Federation of Socialist Societies to discuss their efforts to revitalize the socialist project and to build a basis for future socialist struggles. NZFSS Website https://www.socialistsocieties.org.nz/ Send us a text Support the Show.

Back at it again with the national question and soldiering on through chapter 1... A link to the PDF: https://libcom.org/article/question-nationalities-and-social-democracy-otto-bauer Send us a text Support the Show.

We invited podcast alumnus, Jess, back to talk about how terrible everything is. We touch on Tiktok houses, literature, and the death of the future. The End of The Future https://jacobin.com/2024/03/left-politics-future-history-capitalism-progress Why Is Our Culture So Obsessed With Individual Experience https://jacobin.com/2024/03/anna-kornbluh-immediacy-individualism-capitalism/ Guy Debord’s Society of the Spectacle: Are We Defined by How We Appear https://www.thecollector.com/guy-debord-society-of-the-spectacle/ The Anxiety of Influencers https://harpers.org/archive/2021/06/tiktok-house-collab-house-the-anxiety-of-influencers/ Send us a text Support the Show.