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Alice Malone
@alicirce.bsky.social
· Jan 26
Books I read in 2024 and what I got from them🧵
Books I read in 2025 and what I got from them 🧵
"A being is at each moment itself & yet something else. Life is therefore a contradiction which is present in things & processes themselves, & which constantly originates & resolves itself; as soon as the contradiction ceases, life, too, comes to an end & death steps in"
— Engels
— Engels
October 12, 2025 at 5:16 PM
"A being is at each moment itself & yet something else. Life is therefore a contradiction which is present in things & processes themselves, & which constantly originates & resolves itself; as soon as the contradiction ceases, life, too, comes to an end & death steps in"
— Engels
— Engels
Reading this book, I was just constantly reminded of how much I wish I could be a scientist in a socialist society 👩🔬
Then I'd put my book down and go back to producing knowledge for a for-profit firm 😔😔
This collection of essays is great, strong recommend for any Marxist scientist.
Then I'd put my book down and go back to producing knowledge for a for-profit firm 😔😔
This collection of essays is great, strong recommend for any Marxist scientist.
12. The Knowledge Economy and Socialism by Agustín Lage Dávila
In capitalism, knowledge itself has been privatized. Knowledge shares many similarities with other commodities, but there are also meaningful differences. The author reports what Cuba has learned about knowledge production in socialism.
In capitalism, knowledge itself has been privatized. Knowledge shares many similarities with other commodities, but there are also meaningful differences. The author reports what Cuba has learned about knowledge production in socialism.
October 8, 2025 at 2:14 PM
Reading this book, I was just constantly reminded of how much I wish I could be a scientist in a socialist society 👩🔬
Then I'd put my book down and go back to producing knowledge for a for-profit firm 😔😔
This collection of essays is great, strong recommend for any Marxist scientist.
Then I'd put my book down and go back to producing knowledge for a for-profit firm 😔😔
This collection of essays is great, strong recommend for any Marxist scientist.
I'm glad I read this one, because I think a lot of writers try to explore similar themes but just don't do it as well.
It's easy to be too flattering about how great and important reading is. It's a message readers are eager to consume.
It's easy to be too flattering about how great and important reading is. It's a message readers are eager to consume.
36. If on a Winter's Night a Traveller by Italo Calvino
A postmodern reflection on reading, the reader's relationship with books, the act of reading, authors, and other readers. Dragged at times, stamped with the author's disillusionment with socialism, but the beautiful highs made up for it.
A postmodern reflection on reading, the reader's relationship with books, the act of reading, authors, and other readers. Dragged at times, stamped with the author's disillusionment with socialism, but the beautiful highs made up for it.
July 11, 2025 at 10:09 PM
I'm glad I read this one, because I think a lot of writers try to explore similar themes but just don't do it as well.
It's easy to be too flattering about how great and important reading is. It's a message readers are eager to consume.
It's easy to be too flattering about how great and important reading is. It's a message readers are eager to consume.
Reposted by Alice Malone
If you a poor and socialist they will call you jealous.
If you are rich and socialist they will call you hypocritical.
If you are in a small socialist minority they will call you radical.
If you are in a large socialist majority they will call you authoritarian.
If you are rich and socialist they will call you hypocritical.
If you are in a small socialist minority they will call you radical.
If you are in a large socialist majority they will call you authoritarian.
this kind of panic is completely disconnected from objective reality, what on earth are they expecting will happen if the city becomes (optimistically) 10% more responsive to the needs of people who will never know anyone who has a line drawing of themselves in the newspaper
June 20, 2025 at 1:09 AM
If you a poor and socialist they will call you jealous.
If you are rich and socialist they will call you hypocritical.
If you are in a small socialist minority they will call you radical.
If you are in a large socialist majority they will call you authoritarian.
If you are rich and socialist they will call you hypocritical.
If you are in a small socialist minority they will call you radical.
If you are in a large socialist majority they will call you authoritarian.
There are parallels between the rise of condos and the flight to the suburbs in the mid-20th century.
Both housing arrangements block community organizing efforts and increase social atomization. Both were led by the relatively affluent.
Both housing arrangements block community organizing efforts and increase social atomization. Both were led by the relatively affluent.
June 3, 2025 at 7:35 PM
There are parallels between the rise of condos and the flight to the suburbs in the mid-20th century.
Both housing arrangements block community organizing efforts and increase social atomization. Both were led by the relatively affluent.
Both housing arrangements block community organizing efforts and increase social atomization. Both were led by the relatively affluent.
"There's a torn and splintered ridge across the stumps I call the 'screamers' ... These are the unsawn last bits, the cry of the tree's heart...."
May 19, 2025 at 2:32 AM
"There's a torn and splintered ridge across the stumps I call the 'screamers' ... These are the unsawn last bits, the cry of the tree's heart...."
I sometimes research in this way too, and I've wondered how much of that is discernible by others.
May 11, 2025 at 4:07 PM
I sometimes research in this way too, and I've wondered how much of that is discernible by others.
For a time last year, I read a string of excellent non-fiction books but wasn't really connecting with the novels I picked up.
Now I'm finding myself very taken by novels, but haven't been so moved by the non-fiction I've tried out.
Is it my reading list curation or myself that has changed?
Now I'm finding myself very taken by novels, but haven't been so moved by the non-fiction I've tried out.
Is it my reading list curation or myself that has changed?
April 19, 2025 at 8:03 PM
For a time last year, I read a string of excellent non-fiction books but wasn't really connecting with the novels I picked up.
Now I'm finding myself very taken by novels, but haven't been so moved by the non-fiction I've tried out.
Is it my reading list curation or myself that has changed?
Now I'm finding myself very taken by novels, but haven't been so moved by the non-fiction I've tried out.
Is it my reading list curation or myself that has changed?
"To put in the same category the cost of manufacturing hats and the cost of subsistence of man, is to transform man into a hat. The cynicism is in the things themselves, and not in the words which express these things."
— Marx, 1847
— Marx, 1847
March 12, 2025 at 2:10 PM
"To put in the same category the cost of manufacturing hats and the cost of subsistence of man, is to transform man into a hat. The cynicism is in the things themselves, and not in the words which express these things."
— Marx, 1847
— Marx, 1847
"Were these projects driven purely by philanthropic enlightenment? No, the employer knew that a workforce who would lose even their home and community if they lost their their job would be much more easy to exploit!"
Fixed this for you!
Fixed this for you!
February 7, 2025 at 2:58 PM
"Were these projects driven purely by philanthropic enlightenment? No, the employer knew that a workforce who would lose even their home and community if they lost their their job would be much more easy to exploit!"
Fixed this for you!
Fixed this for you!
The final scene of Ethel Voynich's revolutionary novel, The Gadfly, is pretty metal
February 4, 2025 at 4:14 PM
The final scene of Ethel Voynich's revolutionary novel, The Gadfly, is pretty metal
Books I read in 2025 and what I got from them 🧵
Books I read in 2024 and what I got from them🧵
January 26, 2025 at 8:30 PM
Books I read in 2025 and what I got from them 🧵
In capitalism, sharing knowledge rather than seeking profit appears irrational.
In the grand scheme of things, this system hinders our ability to advance our knowledge and develop new tools.
Putting science ahead of profit poses a threat to capitalism.
In the grand scheme of things, this system hinders our ability to advance our knowledge and develop new tools.
Putting science ahead of profit poses a threat to capitalism.
January 25, 2025 at 11:46 PM
In capitalism, sharing knowledge rather than seeking profit appears irrational.
In the grand scheme of things, this system hinders our ability to advance our knowledge and develop new tools.
Putting science ahead of profit poses a threat to capitalism.
In the grand scheme of things, this system hinders our ability to advance our knowledge and develop new tools.
Putting science ahead of profit poses a threat to capitalism.
Reposted by Alice Malone
if the world's richest man can afford to make a nazi salute but a 31 year old meterologist can't afford to criticize him for doing so, it suggests that the price of speech may in fact be slightly higher than "free"
January 22, 2025 at 10:23 PM
if the world's richest man can afford to make a nazi salute but a 31 year old meterologist can't afford to criticize him for doing so, it suggests that the price of speech may in fact be slightly higher than "free"
Reposted by Alice Malone
In 2013, when Trudeau ran for leader of the Liberal party, the entry fee was $75,000. Now, it's $350,000.
This is a party that only wants to attract the rich to lead it, so they can serve the rich.
This is a party that only wants to attract the rich to lead it, so they can serve the rich.
January 12, 2025 at 1:02 AM
In 2013, when Trudeau ran for leader of the Liberal party, the entry fee was $75,000. Now, it's $350,000.
This is a party that only wants to attract the rich to lead it, so they can serve the rich.
This is a party that only wants to attract the rich to lead it, so they can serve the rich.
Reposted by Alice Malone
🇺🇸U.S. politicians: We're the BEST democracy in the world because our people VOTE in elections. Everybody should be like us. So much democracy. USA #1!!!
🇨🇳Xi Jinping:
🇨🇳Xi Jinping:
January 1, 2025 at 5:44 PM
🇺🇸U.S. politicians: We're the BEST democracy in the world because our people VOTE in elections. Everybody should be like us. So much democracy. USA #1!!!
🇨🇳Xi Jinping:
🇨🇳Xi Jinping:
It's interesting to contrast American "shared prosperity" with Chinese "common prosperity".
The word "common" implies a universality that a "share" does not.
Think, for example of a share in a company: your contribution might net you a small dividend, while the billionaire owners earn far more.
The word "common" implies a universality that a "share" does not.
Think, for example of a share in a company: your contribution might net you a small dividend, while the billionaire owners earn far more.
27. Rewriting the Rules of the American Economy by J. Stiglitz
There's value in sparring with the ideas of the left wing of liberalism. Stiglitz is influential, a Nobel winner. It's interesting to see what he considers (tiny tax reforms, etc) & what he doesn't (inequality as inherent to capitalism)
There's value in sparring with the ideas of the left wing of liberalism. Stiglitz is influential, a Nobel winner. It's interesting to see what he considers (tiny tax reforms, etc) & what he doesn't (inequality as inherent to capitalism)
December 3, 2024 at 4:24 PM
It's interesting to contrast American "shared prosperity" with Chinese "common prosperity".
The word "common" implies a universality that a "share" does not.
Think, for example of a share in a company: your contribution might net you a small dividend, while the billionaire owners earn far more.
The word "common" implies a universality that a "share" does not.
Think, for example of a share in a company: your contribution might net you a small dividend, while the billionaire owners earn far more.
Reposted by Alice Malone
Should Canada Post look like an Amazon warehouse with gig economy jobs, or become an engine for public service expansion?
Right now, 55,000 postal workers are striking to answer that question. I wrote about it for @policyalternatives.bsky.social
Right now, 55,000 postal workers are striking to answer that question. I wrote about it for @policyalternatives.bsky.social
Why Canada Post workers are on strike
On the morning of November 15, 55,000 postal workers—members of the Canadian Union of Postal Workers (CUPW)— walked off the job. It’s the latest in a series of large-scale public sector strikes that h...
monitormag.ca
November 20, 2024 at 8:18 PM
Should Canada Post look like an Amazon warehouse with gig economy jobs, or become an engine for public service expansion?
Right now, 55,000 postal workers are striking to answer that question. I wrote about it for @policyalternatives.bsky.social
Right now, 55,000 postal workers are striking to answer that question. I wrote about it for @policyalternatives.bsky.social
thanks to Disco Elysium I never have to look up the meaning of revanchism
November 23, 2024 at 3:36 AM
thanks to Disco Elysium I never have to look up the meaning of revanchism
Reposted by Alice Malone
Vagueness is probably the single greatest weapon for pretending to have a point when you have none. Which right wing positions specifically are worth hearing out? Usually the author’s answer is that we should be more transphobic or racist, but they don’t want to say that up front.
Opinion - The problem with Bluesky: It won’t broaden our horizons: In the wake of Donald Trump’s election win, the social-media platform has enjoyed a surge of new users looking for an alternative to Elon Musk’s X. But will it be useful, if it just creates an echo chamber for the left?
The problem with Bluesky: It won’t broaden our horizons
In the wake of Donald Trump’s election win, the social-media platform has enjoyed a surge of new users looking for an alternative to Elon Musk’s X. But will it be useful, if it just creates an echo chamber for the left?
www.theglobeandmail.com
November 22, 2024 at 5:21 PM
Vagueness is probably the single greatest weapon for pretending to have a point when you have none. Which right wing positions specifically are worth hearing out? Usually the author’s answer is that we should be more transphobic or racist, but they don’t want to say that up front.
Reposted by Alice Malone
I didn't know this. Apparently you can thank the USSR for the worldwide eradication of smallpox.
August 17, 2024 at 8:32 PM
I didn't know this. Apparently you can thank the USSR for the worldwide eradication of smallpox.
Books I read in 2024 and what I got from them🧵
February 12, 2024 at 3:16 PM
Books I read in 2024 and what I got from them🧵
Losurdo will be like "a recent book" and the book will be written 25 years earlier.
January 18, 2024 at 2:47 AM
Losurdo will be like "a recent book" and the book will be written 25 years earlier.
The United States was so frightened by the Cuban Revolution.
Great examples of capitalist imitations of socialist policies (see also: redsails.org/concessions/)
[Excerpt from Fidel Castro's My Life]
Great examples of capitalist imitations of socialist policies (see also: redsails.org/concessions/)
[Excerpt from Fidel Castro's My Life]
October 22, 2023 at 3:57 AM
The United States was so frightened by the Cuban Revolution.
Great examples of capitalist imitations of socialist policies (see also: redsails.org/concessions/)
[Excerpt from Fidel Castro's My Life]
Great examples of capitalist imitations of socialist policies (see also: redsails.org/concessions/)
[Excerpt from Fidel Castro's My Life]