Attended a seminar held by Soren Mau today and found about his book Mute Compulsion. Wondering if any comrade here has read it? If so, any thoughts you would like to share?

I am working on getting an understanding of ideology and been working from Marx & Engels to Gramsci and Althusser and something called PIT (critical ideology theory). From looking at what Maus book is about it might help in this as well (or not).

cross-posted from: https://hexbear.net/post/7749476

Original Show Notes:

Celebrating the life and work of Michael Parenti, a towering figure in Marxist scholarship and activism. We will discuss Parenti’s profound impact on the study of imperialism, war, propaganda, fascism, and the difficulties of socialist construction, as well as his unwavering commitment to the global class struggle. Speakers Ali Kadri (Professor, Sun Yat-sen University) Ben Norton (Editor, Geopolitical Economy Report) Corinna Mullin (Associate Editor, Middle East Critique) Immanuel Ness (Professor, City University of New York) Gabriel Rockhill (Author, Who Paid the Pipers of Western Marxism?) Sara Flounders (Co-director, International Action Center) Shiran Illanperuma (Researcher, Tricontinental Institute) Barry Lituchy (Professor, City University of New York) Chair: Carlos Martinez (Co-editor, Friends of Socialist China) Organisers International Manifesto Group / Critical Theory Workshop Co-sponsored by United National Anti-War Coalition, Iskra Books, Manifesto Press, Friends of Socialist China

Original Show Notes:

Celebrating the life and work of Michael Parenti, a towering figure in Marxist scholarship and activism. We will discuss Parenti’s profound impact on the study of imperialism, war, propaganda, fascism, and the difficulties of socialist construction, as well as his unwavering commitment to the global class struggle. Speakers Ali Kadri (Professor, Sun Yat-sen University) Ben Norton (Editor, Geopolitical Economy Report) Corinna Mullin (Associate Editor, Middle East Critique) Immanuel Ness (Professor, City University of New York) Gabriel Rockhill (Author, Who Paid the Pipers of Western Marxism?) Sara Flounders (Co-director, International Action Center) Shiran Illanperuma (Researcher, Tricontinental Institute) Barry Lituchy (Professor, City University of New York) Chair: Carlos Martinez (Co-editor, Friends of Socialist China) Organisers International Manifesto Group / Critical Theory Workshop Co-sponsored by United National Anti-War Coalition, Iskra Books, Manifesto Press, Friends of Socialist China

Noam Chomsky, described this ethos: “The cool observers – meaning us smart guys – it’s our task to impose necessary illusions and emotionally potent oversimplifications to keep these poor simpletons on course.”

Apparently Babylon 5 can now be watched on YT. Would not call it free though, because YT.

Used to be the biggest fan of this series and it has been only a few years since I last watched it, but though others might enjoy this news.

My oven pancake game is on point these days, look at all the bubbling! I put sourdough starter in it and it tastes amazing.

Time to

Figured this post would fit best here. I've been so happy that it is finally winter proper here and all the coniferous trees and nature finally gets at least some of the winter they need to survive.

There's been an incredible frost for some days now. Been on my daily hikes in the nearby trail and it's so incredibly silent there, everything but some birds hunkering down against the cold. Walking there alone always makes me think of how easy it is to think of nature as sacred.

Tension just melts from my shoulders when I walk into a forest, it feels like an embrace.

Sun kissed tree tops

Frost covered spruce trees on a hillside

A view from a raised peat bog towards a frozen lake close to sunset

Sunset from a trail on a hill

The way the swastika and its use has been framed in Finland is a ruling class story like no other. I know I've mentioned this on Hexbear before, how it's rationalized as an ancient symbol in use far before the nazis.

But today it looks like the national news has taken it upon themselves to re-educate everyone about this. This is a follow-up of some news articles lately of a gymnasium that has a swastika painted on the floor and how it isn't removed due the building being historical. And the recent air force symbol change where they just went for another fashy symbol. And most of all there was this Swedish intelligence report in the news where the new claim about Putins propaganda is that Putin is trying to get the Finnish people to think they were nazis (which we were) and how this is bad (says the completely neutral Swedish defence report and the national news). /s

So here we go, this is pretty much exactly how we are taught this in school, some translated bits from the article:

Headline:

Hitler's Germany turned the swastika into a hate symbol, but in Finland, you can still see the symbol in the most diverse of contexts

Background:

There is discussion about swastikas is Finland, partly, because the headmaster of the Iisalmi Lyceum would like to cover the swastikas on display in upper secondary school.

Here the explaining it away starts, remember that in Finland no discussion or awareness of the civil war, the White purges or any of that exist whatsoever, so the 1930s is just the era of wholesome independent Finland, nothing at all was going on. Don't read about the supression of proles:

The high school building, designed by Yrjö Sadeniemi, was completed in 1931, i.e. before the Nazis came to power in Germany. However, the way the swastika pattern has ended up on the floor of the lyceum is a mystery.

Then comes a long speculation on how nobody knows why this symbol that actually was not even in the original plans was updated to the swastika. Again, let's not look at what was happening in this society at the time.

Then we get to the good stuff:

Aino and more than 50 swastikas

In Finland, the swastika was part of the national awakening in the 19th century.

Whose awakening? Surely not the Swedish and German born and other aristros who changed their names to Finnish sounding names and talked about Greater Finland?

One example of this is Akseli Gallen-Kallela's triptych Aino-taru, the first version of which was completed in Paris in 1889. The frames of the National Treasure have a total of 54 swastikas made by the artist.

In her book History of the Swastika, published in the autumn, Teivo Teivainen, Professor of World Politics at the University of Helsinki, described Gallen-Kallela's work as the most famous starting point of the Finnish nationalist swastika tradition.

Aino and the swastikas can also be found in the collections of the Kuopio Museum of Cultural History. This is an Aino-crossed doll with as many as 56 swastikas embroidered on the hem of the dress.

According to Pekka Kankkunen, the museum's curator, the doll was produced in the 1890's.

Again, can't be a nazi symbol see, too soon...

Notice how this being pre-ww2 is the unwritten logic here. It can't have anything to do with fash ideology. This is how it's always framed at schools as well, because all of us have asked: "But why?"

"The symbol came into fashion then, and it was used in many different places.

Yes, it just "came to fashion" for some bizarre reason.

According to museum amanuensis Anu Reijonen, one of the uses was textiles, where the swastika was used as an ornament pattern.

"Even some of the national costumes have originally had swastika patterns.

Swastikas can also be found in old photographs

The swastika symbol also appears in several photographs taken by the Kuopio-based photographer Victor Barsokevitch at the turn of the last century.

In one of them, there are a group of children who decorate clothes. One of the girls has already sewn two swastikas, while the other has an Aino doll on her lap for the Barsokevitch family.

The article fails to notice that in this picture the children are very much upper class clothed, considering the era.

As a museum professional, Kankkunen does not support the idea that a swastika should be removed from old objects or buildings.

“If we went to censor history, we would destroy part of the cultural-historical heritage.

Yeah would be a real shame if we actually came to terms with the latent fascism in the country and actually had a discussion on why this particular symbol "became fashion" and whose fashion it was. It sure wasn't the peoples choice.

Welcome to Finland, the country where the exploitation and abuse of the proles looks pretty civil to outsiders, but it is such a devious fucking system with nowehere to turn, that the only way I can describe it is as a carceral system.

My partner has worked hard his whole life. He was a welder who happily worked in the ship building industry until neoliberals made landfall here in the 90s and he as a union man (steward) was eventually let go. He did odd jobs after that, but never found anything permanent so he decided to go to nursing school and became a practical nurse.

He was great at it. Did it for 10 years until he got so severely burnt out by it that it nearly killed him. He has never recovered and applied for retirement then, but wasn't allowed to retire. He's been in these joke jobs assigned by the empoyment agency several times since. They were short contracts of all kinds, but those at least were paid work. And his disability was taken to account with things like 4 hour days which he could still do.

He has been on this slightly better unemployment now for little over a year after the last stint of work. It's the sort of benefit that ends after a period and you drop to this shittier general benefit that we can't survive on despite my wage. He has been looking for any part-time work for 6 months now and had zero callbacks. He could probably do part-time work, he has tons of work experience in everything from construction to elderly care.

He has been in line for adhd assessement for over 2 years at this point and is still not allowed to retire, nor does he get called in to get tested. Covid also did a number on him and he is even more forgetful, tired and easily stressed than before.

And now the unemployment agency decided to put him into a 3 months "work rehearsal" which means no wage slave labor, full time. As a janitor for some small business owner. This way he gets to stay on that higher benefit tier for three more months, but after that it will end anyway. This is no prospect for actual waged work, nor does he get even meals or any support for commuting, but has to pay all that out of pocket. Yet it is mandatory and if he was to refuse, his entire benefit would be cut.

He also can't call in sick at all, because sick days for the poors have a 7 day wait period for any sort of sick leave payment and unemployment also isn't paid for sick days. So if he can't do this, he gets financially fucked.

So here I sit. Listening to this amazing human sleep as he has to get up at 6am to go to work for free and pay for the bus to get there. All to be just as unemployed three months from now as he is now. Time he could spend trying to find actual paid part-time work that would not burn him out.

This won't end well. I hate it.