{"id":2926,"date":"2011-03-14T20:55:31","date_gmt":"2011-03-15T01:55:31","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.uvm.edu\/aivakhiv\/?p=2926"},"modified":"2011-05-27T07:53:38","modified_gmt":"2011-05-27T12:53:38","slug":"more-on-communism-vision-history","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.uvm.edu\/aivakhiv\/2011\/03\/14\/more-on-communism-vision-history\/","title":{"rendered":"More on communism (vision & history)"},"content":{"rendered":"

Following up from the last post<\/a>…<\/p>\n

Part of Jodi Dean<\/a>‘s response to her critics was this paragraph:<\/p>\n

Perhaps the most remarkable aspect of communism is its capacity to return, throughout history, as an aspiration, even in the face of counter revolution, active hostility, defeat, war, etc. Communism is irreducible to the conflicts of the 20th century. I think the reason is that “from each according to ability to each according to need” is an axiom of working and living together with undeniable power.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

I like this very much. If every creed or faith has its core statement of principles, and if this is communism’s (which I think it is), then it’s a very appealing one. Whether it’s realistic is another matter, but as a vision I agree it’s worth preserving.<\/p>\n

If our students graduated with a string of appealing visions — communism’s (from each according to their ability, to each according to their need<\/em>), Christianity’s (love your neighbor as yourself<\/em>), Buddhism’s (suffering is what unites us, but it can be reduced and ended by cutting the threads of illusion that produce it<\/em>), Adam Smithian capitalism (do what you’re best at, let others do the same, trade fairly among yourselves, and everything will work itself out<\/em>), Darwinism (from the struggle to survive arises the whole universe of wondrous living things<\/em>), etc. — then our universities would be doing a very good job.<\/p>\n

To do a great job, we have to also teach the ability to compare ideals with realities. Universities have actually been better at this critical task, and less good at the visionary task. So I would go along with visionary communism: upholding that vision is good and useful, and probably necessary. But the vision shouldn’t substitute for the historical record. We need to know and acknowledge both.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Following up from the last post… Part of Jodi Dean‘s response to her critics was this paragraph: Perhaps the most remarkable aspect of communism is its capacity to return, throughout history, as an aspiration, even in the face of counter revolution, active hostility, defeat, war, etc. Communism is irreducible to the conflicts of the 20th […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":99,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[203,691215],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2926","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-academe","category-politics_postpolitics"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p4IC4a-Lc","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":2910,"url":"https:\/\/blog.uvm.edu\/aivakhiv\/2011\/03\/14\/belief-in-expired-worlds-in-worlds-to-come\/","url_meta":{"origin":2926,"position":0},"title":"Belief in expired wor(l)ds, & in wor(l)ds to come…","author":"Adrian J Ivakhiv","date":"March 14, 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"It riles me up when intelligent people whose work I respect a lot say ill-considered, if not outright indefensible, things. Jodi Dean's post arguing that communism \"worked\" strikes me as such a thing. I've provided a lengthy counter-argument on her blog, the gist of which is that the political projects\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Philosophy"","block_context":{"text":"Philosophy","link":"https:\/\/blog.uvm.edu\/aivakhiv\/category\/geo_philosophy\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":2715,"url":"https:\/\/blog.uvm.edu\/aivakhiv\/2011\/02\/27\/revolutionary-democracy\/","url_meta":{"origin":2926,"position":1},"title":"Revolutionary democracy","author":"Adrian J Ivakhiv","date":"February 27, 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"Here are a few thoughts after watching Frontline's Revolution in Cairo, which is a very good 24-minute summary of how this particular democratic moment occurred, and after reading Badiou's, Hardt & Negri's, Hallward's, Amit Rai's, and some other takes on the events. (1) The recipe: Tools + Techniques + Events\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Media ecology"","block_context":{"text":"Media ecology","link":"https:\/\/blog.uvm.edu\/aivakhiv\/category\/media_ecology\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":4962,"url":"https:\/\/blog.uvm.edu\/aivakhiv\/2011\/07\/09\/plasticity-run-wild\/","url_meta":{"origin":2926,"position":2},"title":"Plasticity run wild","author":"Adrian J Ivakhiv","date":"July 9, 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"In response to my Dharma of file sharing post, visual artist Tom Gokey, whose work readers may know from Speculations journal, shared a link to his video on \"Public Libraries, 3D Printing, FabLabs, and Hackerspaces.\" It is... stunning in its implications. Just watch. http:\/\/youtu.be\/HCXlJ36x-q0 The democratization of production? The total\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Eco-culture"","block_context":{"text":"Eco-culture","link":"https:\/\/blog.uvm.edu\/aivakhiv\/category\/ecoculture\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/img.youtube.com\/vi\/HCXlJ36x-q0\/0.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":12618,"url":"https:\/\/blog.uvm.edu\/aivakhiv\/2022\/06\/27\/is-there-life-after-big-data\/","url_meta":{"origin":2926,"position":3},"title":"Is there life after ‘big data’?","author":"Adrian J Ivakhiv","date":"June 27, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"Big data + authoritarian governance = techno-totalitarianism. At least that's the equation we're most familiar with, and the route that appears to be being laid out in Xi's China, according to this lengthily researched New York Times piece. (To be fair, the authors only use \"techno-authoritarianism,\" and the titular and\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Politics"","block_context":{"text":"Politics","link":"https:\/\/blog.uvm.edu\/aivakhiv\/category\/politics_postpolitics\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blog.uvm.edu\/aivakhiv\/files\/2022\/06\/image.png?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blog.uvm.edu\/aivakhiv\/files\/2022\/06\/image.png?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blog.uvm.edu\/aivakhiv\/files\/2022\/06\/image.png?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blog.uvm.edu\/aivakhiv\/files\/2022\/06\/image.png?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blog.uvm.edu\/aivakhiv\/files\/2022\/06\/image.png?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blog.uvm.edu\/aivakhiv\/files\/2022\/06\/image.png?resize=1400%2C800&ssl=1 4x"},"classes":[]},{"id":1159,"url":"https:\/\/blog.uvm.edu\/aivakhiv\/2009\/11\/24\/zizek-and-his-others\/","url_meta":{"origin":2926,"position":4},"title":"\u017di\u017eek and his Others","author":"Adrian J Ivakhiv","date":"November 24, 2009","format":false,"excerpt":"Speaking here at the University of Vermont last Friday, Slavoj \u017di\u017eek responded to a student query about where to study Lacanianism by lauding our Film and Television Studies Program as the only one anywhere at which Lacanians are actually \"in power\" -- the current chair, former chair, and at least\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Philosophy"","block_context":{"text":"Philosophy","link":"https:\/\/blog.uvm.edu\/aivakhiv\/category\/geo_philosophy\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"images.jpg","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blog.uvm.edu\/aivakhiv\/files\/2009\/11\/images.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":1133,"url":"https:\/\/blog.uvm.edu\/aivakhiv\/2009\/10\/05\/ken-burns-parks-and-natures-nation\/","url_meta":{"origin":2926,"position":5},"title":"Ken Burns’ parks and nature’s nation","author":"Adrian J Ivakhiv","date":"October 5, 2009","format":false,"excerpt":"Before Ken Burns' 6-part, 12-hour series on the national parks was aired, a perceptive article by the LA Times' Scott Timberg warned that it might be greeted by \"sharp knives.\" Ten years in the making, The National Parks: America's Best Idea, finally came to our television screens last week, and\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Eco-culture"","block_context":{"text":"Eco-culture","link":"https:\/\/blog.uvm.edu\/aivakhiv\/category\/ecoculture\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"grand_canyon_rainbow-park-over.jpg","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blog.uvm.edu\/aivakhiv\/files\/2009\/10\/grand_canyon_rainbow-park-over.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.uvm.edu\/aivakhiv\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2926","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.uvm.edu\/aivakhiv\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.uvm.edu\/aivakhiv\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.uvm.edu\/aivakhiv\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/99"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.uvm.edu\/aivakhiv\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2926"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/blog.uvm.edu\/aivakhiv\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2926\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4270,"href":"https:\/\/blog.uvm.edu\/aivakhiv\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2926\/revisions\/4270"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.uvm.edu\/aivakhiv\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2926"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.uvm.edu\/aivakhiv\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2926"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.uvm.edu\/aivakhiv\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2926"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}