About this episode
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In this unlocked patreon episode Breht traces and explains a subterranean philosophical lineage running from Spinoza through Hegel to Marx and Louis Althusser. Beginning with Spinoza's conception of God or Nature as a single, immanent Substance, he explores how Hegel transforms S ... Show More
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[BEST OF] The Fundamentals of Marxism: Intro to Political Economy
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[BEST OF] The Fundamentals of Marxism: Historical Materialism, Dialectics, & Political Economy
<p><em>[Originally released Oct 2020]</em></p> <p>In this episode of our sister podcast "Red Menace", Alyson and Breht summarize and discuss the fundamental ideas, concepts, and arguments within Marxism. We want this episode to stand as a resource for *everyone* interested in Mar ... Show More
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Jun 2025
[BEST OF] The Fundamentals of Marxism: Historical Materialism, Dialectics, & Political Economy
[Originally released Oct 2020] Alyson and Breht summarize and discuss the fundamental ideas, concepts, and arguments within Marxism. We want this episode to stand as a resource for *everyone* interested in Marxism - from those who are brand new to the Marxist left all the way to ... Show More
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<p data-pm-slice="1 1 []">In this lecture, Breht provides an accessible but rigorous introduction to the Marxist theory of history: historical materialism. Breht explains how historical materialism is dialectical materialism applied to the evolution of human societies over time, ... Show More
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Dialectical Materialism w/ Josh Sykes
<p class="MsoNormal">Contradiction is one of the most important concepts in Marxist philosophy. When we think about Marxism, we typically think about the contributions that Marx, Engels, Lenin (and many others since) have made specifically to the study of political economy—but th ... Show More
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The Origin of the Family, Private Property, & The State by Friedrich Engels (Pt. 1)
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In this episode, Alyson and Breht introduce the core concepts of Marxist political economy by an analysis of the history of political economy, core economic concepts in Marxism, and much more!
Outline for this episode with timestamps
Political Economy:
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[5:00] Definition: Political economy as the study of economics as played out in reality. Economics in relation to society, production, culture, politics, etc.
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[12:28] History: Adam Smith's development of economics in the wealth of nations, alongside Mill's principles of political economy.
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[20:05] So what does Marxism have to do with political economy?
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[33:31] Critique of capitalist economics today
The Details and Concepts
1) [35:30] the Means of Production and Productive Forces
2) [43:20] Class as a relation to Production
3) [47:00] Value, Use, and Exchange
4) [58:05] Surplus Value and Wages
5) [61:09] Money, Capital, and the M-C-M Cycle
6) [68:35] Commodity Fetishism Closing Questions:
Questions:
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[74:43] Why does this matter? If Marxism is about revolution, what's the deal with all this abstract economic analysis?
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[78:13] Marxian economics vs Marxism: what's the difference, is there an issue with the former?
<p><em>[Originally released Feb 2021]</em></p> <div dir="ltr">In this episode of <a href= "https://redmenace.libsyn.com/">Red Menace</a>, Alyson and Breht introduce the core concepts of Marxist political economy by an analysis of the history of political economy, core economic co ... Show More
<p class="date"><em><strong>ORIGINALLY RELEASED Feb 3, 2021</strong></em></p> <div id=":yf" class="ii gt"> <div id=":ye" class="a3s aiL"> <div dir="ltr">In this episode of <a href= "https://redmenace.libsyn.com/">Red Menace</a>, Alyson and Breht introduce the core concepts of Mar ... Show More
<div class="DraftEditor-paragraphElement" data-block="true" data-editor="ev7m" data-offset-key="eigsr-0-0"> <div class= "public-DraftStyleDefault-block public-DraftStyleDefault-ltr" data-offset-key="eigsr-0-0"><span data-offset-key= "eigsr-0-0"><span data-text="true">In this epis ... Show More