Latest letters
Letter: The Road and the Ditch
December 20, 2025
“In the pages of Cosmonaut a discussion has been sparked by the recent book Flowers for Marx related to the scientific status of Marxism. In my original review, …”
Letter: For Asad
December 16, 2025
“It's a matter of seizing these things back and demanding more. -Asad in an email to me, April 2020.It’s hard to believe that Asad is dead. Like many …”
Letter: Grasping the Golden Bough
December 7, 2025
“Several weeks ago, I reasonably critiqued Meagan Day’s offhand dismissal of occult influences in socialist politics. In turn, a positivist Donald Parkinson rejected my idea that occultism has …”
Letter: We Must Never Again Remain Silent in the Face of a Genocide
December 4, 2025
“The following motion was submitted to the 18th federal congress of the German socialist youth organization Linksjugend—the youth wing of the German party Die Linke—by the Berlin delegation …”
Letter: The Conceptual Erasure of Empire in McManus’ Liberal Socialism
November 26, 2025
“A response to McManus’ defense of “liberal socialism” must begin with imperialism because it is the terrain on which the very philosophical issues he foregrounds—humanism, Marx interpretation, essentialism—acquire …”
Letter: Defending Liberal Socialism—A Reply to Yanis Iqbal
November 23, 2025
“I appreciated Yanis Iqbal’s recent article “The Contradictions of Liberal Socialism: A Critique of Matt McManus” published in these very pages. Iqbal formulated a cogent and tight hard-left …”
Letter: The Dead Will Not Be Raised
November 17, 2025
“"Look here, brotherWho you jivin' with that cosmic debris?" -Frank ZappaOne of the benefits of agreeing on materialism as a philosophy is that it saves us the trouble …”
Letter: Rattner on Chibber's "Chauvinism"
November 10, 2025
“In a recent letter, Michael Rattner criticizes Vivek Chibber's keynote speech at Jacobin magazine's "Socialism In Our Time" conference. Writes Rattner: "In an incredible show of chauvinistic hubris, …”
Letter: The Dead Will Be Raised
November 6, 2025
“Jacobin editor Meagan Day recently relayed a historical account of the entwinement of socialist and occult practices. Applauding the US socialist movement’s embrace of materialist practice, Day claims …”
Letter: Red Flag, Not Stars and Stripes
November 4, 2025
“Meagan Day’s recent piece in Jacobin, “Patriotism Against Authoritarianism” argues that the outpouring of patriotism and flag-waving at the recent No Kings protests was “a good thing.”Let’s start …”
Letter: Decree No. 4 and the Town Where Nothing Happened
October 26, 2025
“As Trump continues to ramp up his unchecked violence against the people along South America’s Caribbean coast, as well as an ever-widening segment of the US population, I …”
Letter: SJP UH x Houston Arms Embargo Campaign Hunger Strike
October 22, 2025
“On October 15th, 2025, Students for Justice in Palestine at the University of Houston launched a hunger strike in solidarity with the great people of Gaza, who for …”
Letter: Adults in the Room?—The 2025 'Jacobin' Conference
October 15, 2025
“Last month, on Saturday, September 13, Jacobin Magazine held a day-long conference at Church in the Village, a politically progressive, combined Methodist congregation on the corner of 13th …”
Letter: “Socialist Unity?” A Principled Provocation—An Open Letter to Tom O'Brien
October 2, 2025
“Dear Tom,I’ve returned frequently to your talk “Unifying Marxism & Cybernetics,” which you presented earlier this year at the Complex Anarchism Symposium in Brussels.The talk is a critique …”
Letter: Sufficiency, Not Efficiency—The Problem with 'Abundance'
September 29, 2025
“I found much to agree with in Marco Rosaire Rossi’s account of the liberal ‘Abundance’ movement, meaning that my present response will more resemble an improvisational “Yes, And…” …”