Bi-Weekly Best Reads Round-Up

I crisscrossed the U.S. again in July to visit my elderly parents in the Kansas City area, so I’ve gotten a bit behind with my bi-weekly best reads round-ups. Always stopping in a small village somewhere in West Virginia and also in Lexington, Kentucky, I’m beginning to get to know each of those states quite well, and I’m appreciating what I’m learning in both places. (I plan on writing a piece about West Virginia and Kentucky shortly.)

That said, I want to jump into the latest reads that I want and need (!) to share with all of you. So, without further ado, let’s get to it.

1. First up is Elizabeth Silleck La Rue, Esq.’s brilliant piece titled “Why Are People REALLY Leaving the USA In Record Numbers?” I have much to say about this essay, so I’ll keep it short here (I’m going to write a much longer piece about it either today or tomorrow). Silleck is an attorney and runs a consulting business that helps people emigrate to other countries.

In this piece, she does not mince words about why people—not privileged white cis het folks—are leaving the U.S. in droves. She puts it pretty bluntly: it’s the fascism, stupid, and she threads all the things related to that in excruciating detail. Suffice it to say, things suck here. It’s a must-read for everyone, especially those considering leaving the country. As I said, I have more to say about it, so keep an eye out for that piece soon.

2. The second piece is by fantastically insightful Kaimataara and called “I am the river, and the river is me. A Māori Marxist critique of ‘On Authority’ by Friedrich Engels, and the anarchist concept of Means/Ends Unity.”

In this piece, Kaimataara presents Mana tūpuna as a central theme of te ao Māori. They state that: “It is the authority inherited from my ancestors,” and then relate it back to Engels’s “On Authority,” and a specific block quote from that text ensues. They continue their discussion on how he describes authority, stating:

Already this [quote] brings contention to the concept of authority as Engels is using it.

If authority indeed means imposition of ones will, then how does one ‘inherit’ authority? Mana tūpuna is not farfetched, you see it with royal families. A monarch’s authority can be inherited before they have exercised any will whatsoever. It is what they become subordinate to — in my case my subtribe, in theirs monarchy — that determines their authority.

While Engels believes the opposing party, as Kaimataara states, is subordinate, they assert the opposite. Instead, the inheriting party itself is subordinate, as it has obligations.

Kaimataara delves further into Engels’s analysis, teasing it out carefully with keen analysis. It’s a long, carefully written essay, worth reading in its entirety, as are all their pieces.

3. Next up is Anarcasper’s “On Emergent Authority: How social ecology and the structure of its relations can result in domination or stewardship.”

In her opening, she discusses how she originally planned to write the essay through the lens of her own experiences as a white Western person who has traveled to 126 countries. However, she abandons that plan and approaches it from a different vantage point: she wants to address authority, the Western notion of authority, and how wrong-headed it is. In addition, she writes, “I also want to do this without romanticizing non-Western epistemologies of authority.” She also ties it to social ecology and hierarchy, borrowing from Murray Bookchin's ideas. (Bookchin’s original insight, as Casper notes, “was that all ecological problems are rooted in social hierarchies.”) This essay is another long read, but, like Kaimataara’s, is worth your time, as it’s a fantastic, layered essay.

Well, that does it for this bi-weekly round-up! I’ll be back soon to share more amazing writers with you. In the meantime, resist, take care of your loved ones, and be easy on yourselves.