Jason Read

@jasonread.bsky.social

8269 Followers 3986 Following

Professor of Philosophy at the University of Southern Maine, Author of The Double Shift: Spinoza and Marx on the Politics of Work from Verso Books: https://www.versobooks.com/products/2920-the-double-shift More here: http://www.unemployednegativity.com

Free Gifts: Capitalism and the Politics of Nature by Alyssa Battistoni
Bento (dog) at beach being chased by other dog
Bento (dog) and me
Bento (dog) catching frisbee
Bento (dog) on trail with construction in background
Me hitting rubber ball with whiffle ball bat, Bento (dog) catching it
Bento (dog) on trail going into woods
Bento (dog) hiking in woods at sunrise
Me throwing football and Bento trying to catch it
Flag that reads Guns, Titties, Beer, Freedom with American Flag
Tomatoes in garden
Bento (dog) sitting, shaking, speaking (even though I did not ask for that, but he got excited) and rolling over
Jurassic Park logo with outline of T-Rex skeleton
Bento (dog) on beach
Bento (dog) next to sign which reads “No Dogs on Beach 9 AM to 5 PM
Bento (dog) on trail with construction in background
Me watering garden with Bento in background
Me and Bento (dog)
Okay fine, Platner again. Although he did tend to use the word oligarch a lot, and, even worse, "the Epstein class," Platner was often very clear about the class division in society. He defined the working class as anyone who sells their labor in order to live; the New York Times called this definition capacious, I would call it Marx's (but maybe not Marxist). However, this broad definition of class was undercut by the aesthetics of class that fueled his appeal. He is a white man, who wears flannel, and works with his hands as an oyster farmer. The same claim, that everyone who sells their work, their labor power is working class, would be received very differently if it came from a barista, an undocumented farm worker, or even a college professor. In the US at this moment, class is more of an aesthetic category than a political or economic one, and the Platner situation is just one more example of why that is so bad for politics.
Bento (dog) in front of sign that reads “State of the Art Fishing Lures and New Swimwear”
Picture of coffee cup and books on table outside with dog in background
Bento (dog) under Willow tree with clover
Bento (dog) on trail in the day
Bento (dog) near raised bed
One of the things that drew a lot of people in Maine to Platner was that he broke with a pattern of calculated electability, in which Democrats in particular, weigh their support for transgender people or opposition to the genocide in Gaza, against some metric of established opinion. He came out for trans rights, against the bombardment of Gaza, and against ICE, and in support of Maine's communities of immigrants (I only ever heard him speak once, and it was during an anti-ICE rally, as he shared the stage with members of Maine's Somalian community). This solidarity eroded bit by bit, as his history emerged, and supporters began to frame another hierarchy, not that of electability, but one understood in terms of class versus, race, or gender. Class, support for the working class, came first, and everything else had to take a back seat. This priority of class over race and gender on the part of the "left" is just a reprehensible as attempts to calculate the most electable position. Any politics which sacrifices one group, one issue, for others is doomed to fail. As Frédéric Lordon puts it, "If therefore, to put it in big words, we had to formulate a political ethics of struggles, or of the coexistence of struggles, its first principle would be to do nothing in one's struggle that could harm other struggles."
For months now, almost since the beginning of Graham Platner's campaign, I have seen the same pattern unfold. Some scandal breaks out, first the tattoo, then the racist and sexist Reddit posts, and then the texts, but I walk around my neighborhood and still see the Platner signs up, still hear about the massive turn outs for his rallies across the state. Support never wavered, and I do not think that it was for the reasons that people out of state thought; it was not because people in the state were basically Nazis, or so caught up in some fantasy of flannel and masculinity that they fell for the image. People were willing to forgive, to believe that he had changed, because they wanted very much to believe that there was a politician who wanted to help working people, to deliver promises of universal healthcare, to say no to genocide and war, and to openly confront the rise of fascism in Washington. People believed that Platner was the person he said he was, and he exploited that belief until it could no longer be sustained.
Unemployed Negativity: Fragments on Philosophy, Politics and Culture along with other books
Kicking ball under canoe
Kicking balls to Bento (dog) using canoe as goal
Bento (dog), pumpkin leaves, soccer ball
The Future is Feline ad in paper
Bento and other dog swimming, sailboats in background
Trump is watching the Fox News of himself watching Fox News
Bento (dog) between my feet
Book Figures du Communisme with translation and dog
Bento (dog) in ocean
Bento (dog) inside
Bento (dog) catching ball
Me and Bento (dog) playing backyard baseball
Bento (dog) on bridge in woods
Dog at night with full moon
Bento (dog) with ball underneath Willow tree
Cloud over city streets
Bento (dog) fetching ball from river
Bento (dog) in woods in front of recycling plant
Bento (dog) and me
Bento (dog) running in backyard
Bento (dog) and me in front of mural of the sea
Bento (dog) at night
Bento (dog) swimming in river
Bento (dog) and me in woods
Bento (dog) sitting next to clipboard with manuscript pages
Bento (dog) on dock by ocean
Bento (dog) swimming in ocean
Bento (dog) with soccer ball
The program to Parable of the Sower with stage in background
Bento (dog) me and stegosaurus