What We Are Reading (Patreon)

Hey hope everyone is well. Given the discussion during our think tank yesterday, I feel it is more than needed to return to a bit of Rousseau. In the text I am linking to Rousseau outlines his theory regarding the two types of inequality, that coming from nature and the other being created by humankind. This distinction was crucial for me in breaking with the capitalist idea that the inequality around us is natural. 

If you aren't familiar Rousseau is a very interesting thinker, he provides crucial insights into democracy, society, and egalitarianism. That being said, Rousseau was never able to escape from the limitations of an idealist world-view. Which is why I suggest following the text with Marx's Critique of The Gotha Program here Marx is able, by using a materialist understanding of politics, to work through the contradiction of "complete equality" so many utopian & idealist thinkers fall into. 

- David Griscom  

What We Are Reading 

On the Origin and Foundation of The Inequality of Mankind - Rousseau, 1754 

Critique Of The Gotha Program - Karl Marx, 1875