nathan j robinson fired a bunch of staff at current affairs mag for trying to organize a workers co op so you'll forgive me if i disagree with 'most vindicated man alive' on principle
I wish I could find his response to this 'cause it was stronger than I thought. Most of those writers are as bad if not worse than him politically and want control over something that was mostly his work and already run fairly horizontally.
Edit: found it here: https://yasminnair.com/march-what-really-happened-at-current-affairs/
What happened at Current Affairs is not the story of a malevolent overlord oppressing his minions but a much more mundane one about the inevitable fate that befalls too many left institutions: the magazine was overtaken by what Jo Freeman has termed “The Tyranny of Structurelessness.” This is the mistaken idea that informal structures with ill-defined positions are more truly radical and leftist than those with systems of accountability.
This was my impression as the story unfolded, and I've seen similar things in lots of other small groups that take on big projects. At some point you have to grow out of the ad hoc stage, and that can cause issues between folks who have contributed to different degrees.
So basically, the staff's story was that they were all fired for trying to organize, when in reality they were not fired and they were not trying to organize.
honestly stunning.
A lot of folks here and elsewhere on the left ate it up uncritically, too. Calls for some self-crit on how we respond to these sorts of accusations in the future.
Yeah wow. I just read most of it. Just... absolutely embarrassing. That one guy who literally didn't even work at the magazine and followed Nathan into a store screaming at him is really blowing my mind. And honestly, I really am just like "why" and "how".
Nope, not what happened, he's already been vindicated for it. Most vindicated man alive.
is there a cliff's notes for this incredibly meandering, lengthy article?
tldr as far as I remember:
Nathan Robinson: Guys can we please come up with some kind of structure to this magazine that is my actual full time job so that it ships out on time and our Patreon supporters get their rewards? Also, the person we hired to answer the phones and do basic secretarial work isn't doing the thing we're paying her to do.
Current Affairs writers: ummm idk like we just like doing this cool thing with our friends, um it's like socialist which means anyone does what they want whenever cause it's just like whatever man
Nathan Robinson: Dawg I got my mom doing administrative work for free here because there's no organization, I'm open to anything, maybe a company structure or a co-op or whatever, but shit needs to get done.
CA writers: Umm maybe a co-op because we're epic socialists. Also the secretary we hired can be an artist or some shit, also this other person you refused to hire needs to get another job and we don't like the person you did hire.
Magazine implodes
CA writers: Nathan Robinson fired us for doing co-op socialism :angery:
Damn is this really what happened hahahah
Having read through way too much of that lengthy article (that has plenty of receipts), basically yes. Robinson can be criticized for not being a great manager (though he was in a difficult situation, too), but the stuff about union busting and even simply the accusations of firing people hold zero water.
There's also a fair amount about how the departing staff were informed they would be getting severance pay, and Robinson even suggested more severance pay than they initially asked for, but they were still seeking donations on Venmo and CashApp. If there's a grifter here it's not Robinson.
tyvm
Guys can we please come up with some kind of structure
radlibs will shit on Stalin and then follow his exact leadership style for their dogshit rag lol
It's me. I hate boomers and boomer culture. Fuck john lemon beetles songs sucked.
libeling a fellow traveler because i get a little psychic rush, and i get to show off my orthodox bona fides, without doing any research on the accusations, is cool and good actually.
Same. Current Affairs was one of my go-to publications back in the day and now I don’t even visit it. Grifter ass britisher wannabe.
Wrong, he's super vindicated, most vindicated man alive
I hate Robinson's weak tea ass ideas of "socialism" but I find the case here incredibly convincing, he did nothing wrong
There are some good lessons here in how not to respond to accusations:
The Current Affairs matter is not simply a fight among friends that spilled out: left institutions got involved without getting multiple sides of the story. The Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) branch in New Orleans ejected Robinson as a member with a statement that erroneously copied the charge of “union busting.” This was in violation of DSA procedure, because there was no hearing or opportunity to rebut the charges, only a public notification that Robinson was out. The International Workers of the World Freelance Journalist Union issued a solidarity letter condemning Robinson’s “authoritarian act” of “retaliatory firings.”
No investigation, no right to speak, and certainly no right for an organization to take action against a member.
Edit: Forgot the wildest part of that anecdote
Robinson filed an appeal, pointing out that he had not been granted due process. In a bizarre twist of events, the DSA’s National Harassment Grievance Officer [corrected to reflect proper title], Paula Brantner, wrote to him in March 2023 that not only was his expulsion to continue but that he was now accused–and found guilty of–“charges of harrassment, threats, and attacks on another member’s character.” Robinson pointed out that these charges, of which he has been found guilty, were unknown to him and that he had been given no chance to dispute them. In response, Brantner wrote, “The DSA grievance process is not a legal process, and so the same ‘due process’ guarantees” …are not part of this process” (she is paid a controversial salary of of $360,000, as a part-time consultant, to engage in such fulsome communications).
$360K to not even do basic stuff like "hey maybe we should hear from this guy like our procedures mandate," and not even do it full time.
Same. I now file him under “compatible left” along with Chomsky and most of the New Left/Frankfurt School.
The thing is that the relentless trolling campaign against Oz was good (meaning effective) politics in Pennsylvania. It's a shame that it was used to elect a Zionist.
i think the charitable reading is that NJR doesn't think that fetterman's racist schlub routine is scalable and or motivating/leading a progressive movement, and he's certainly being proven right on that.
I definitely agree that his visual presentation would be a liability in most other states. But looking put together is not incompatible with the dirtbag shitposting strategy his campaign pulled off well.
It's also worth noting that Fetterman won against a quack TV doctor totally lacking in both charisma and signature policies. If we're thinking how reproducable his strategy is, the opponent matters.
On top of all that it was also the most obvious case of a rich asshole "moving" somewhere just to get elected since Hillary in New York state.
Maybe Romneys an exception but, ya know, Mormons.
Yeah. Robinson was wrong to say it was bad electoral strategy.
you do not, under any circumstances, "gotta hand it to him"
Sorry, but I do.
Yes, a man who hates Marx and Marxism is the most "vindicated" man alive. Dude writes articles that are sometimes good, that's it. lol
Take a look through the rest of the thread -- the guy is the poster child for why we should actually investigate smears like "he hates Marx" instead of taking them at face value.
I say in Why You Should Be A Socialist that [Marx] had “a better understanding than almost anyone else of the way that economics determines the fabric of the social world,” and praise texts of his as “brilliant” and “profound,” full of “great insight.” I am not sure how that can be squared with thinking I have scant regard for him.
His issue with Marxism (in addition to anarchist critiques of it and the broader ML tradition) is basically that some Marxists are dogmatic almost to a religious degree, and can condescend to people who haven't read Das Kapital in its entirety.
He’s never going to be accepted by most people here, I think, simply because of his stance on AES (“atrocities of communist regimes” and “Stalin will never be redeemable, Stalin is socialism’s worst enemy”).
Stalin is socialism’s worst enemy
Close with this statement but needs to figure out that it's fictional Stalin in the minds of the people that has created this problem. The solution is correcting the fiction, not reinforcing it by agreeing with the opposition to socialism that he was bad.
The fictional Stalin they created is a punching bag boogieman rigged up to constantly give easy punches against socialism.
dogmatic almost to a religious degree,
"Does anyone else think Darwinian evolution is a cult?" same energy
condescend to people who haven't read Das Kapital in its entirety.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oppose_Book_Worship
Mao's frequent slogan "no investigation, no right to speak" is a theme throughout the essay
...did you read Oppose Book Worship? Much of it is exactly Robinson’s point about how some Marxists are more obsessed with interpreting Marxist texts than with real-world engagement:
Whatever is written in a book is right — such is still the mentality of culturally backward Chinese peasants. Strangely enough, within the Communist Party there are also people who always say in a discussion, "Show me where it's written in the book."...
The method of studying the social sciences exclusively from the book is likewise extremely dangerous and may even lead one onto the road of counter-revolution. Clear proof of this is provided by the fact that whole batches of Chinese Communists who confined themselves to books in their study of the social sciences have turned into counter-revolutionaries. When we say Marxism is correct, it is certainly not because Marx was a "prophet" but because his theory has been proved correct in our practice and in our struggle.
See also "I haven't read Marx's Capital, but I have the marks of capital all over my body."
Sucks to find out what happened with him. I remember his Jordan Peterson write-up being one of the better takedowns that I could actually show to liberals. Breadtube videos were too weird for them.
His F Scott Fitzgerald schtick is simultaneously cringe and compelling
I mistakenly thought he was a total lib from skimming Twitter discourse but always figured he’s an ok guy bc he seems to be amused by one of those niche micro left accounts “impersonating” him
He is maybe somewhat more radical than a succdem at best. I just think it's pretty funny when he's right, or at least when he winds up looking good in hindsight.
Nah he’s a total Jacobin lib. One correct take on a Democrat isn’t sufficient to make them correct
Heartbreaking, the most mediocre person you know just made a great point.
Banned? DM Wmill to appeal.
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