Benjamin Balthaser
@blbalthaser.bsky.social
Assoc prof of multiethnic US lit; au of Dedication (2011), Anti-Imperialist Modernism (2016), Citizens of the Whole World: Anti-Zionism & the Cultures of the US Jewish Left (2025). He/him. 🕎🌹😷🇵🇸Chicago 🐢
https://iusb.academia.edu/BenjaminBalthaser
https://iusb.academia.edu/BenjaminBalthaser
Why is it I get the sense the Democrats ended the shut down not despite the string of Democratic victories, but because of them?
November 11, 2025 at 3:09 AM
Why is it I get the sense the Democrats ended the shut down not despite the string of Democratic victories, but because of them?
W every passing day after the cease fire the global silence over Israeli’s admitted crimes is deafening
www.theguardian.com/world/2025/n...
www.theguardian.com/world/2025/n...
November 11, 2025 at 2:22 AM
W every passing day after the cease fire the global silence over Israeli’s admitted crimes is deafening
www.theguardian.com/world/2025/n...
www.theguardian.com/world/2025/n...
Reposted by Benjamin Balthaser
Chuck Schumer Helps Pull Democrats Back From Brink Of Courage
November 10, 2025 at 5:02 AM
Chuck Schumer Helps Pull Democrats Back From Brink Of Courage
Funny, the Right wants to force kids to pray in schools but prevent adults from praying in public for prisoners
November 9, 2025 at 6:52 AM
Funny, the Right wants to force kids to pray in schools but prevent adults from praying in public for prisoners
A friend asked why Marx’s Capital spends so much time on the appearance of commodities & markets, & takes so long to get to questions of exploitation. One answer is that the success of capitalism as a system is convincing even its victims that it is not a system at all… 1/2
November 9, 2025 at 6:20 AM
A friend asked why Marx’s Capital spends so much time on the appearance of commodities & markets, & takes so long to get to questions of exploitation. One answer is that the success of capitalism as a system is convincing even its victims that it is not a system at all… 1/2
Nations ofc, are no more a feature of nature than gender is, which is why the Supreme Court fears the questioning of one will lead to the undoing of another.
“Displaying passport holders' sex at birth no more offends equal protection principles than displaying their country of birth”
“Displaying passport holders' sex at birth no more offends equal protection principles than displaying their country of birth”
November 7, 2025 at 7:43 PM
Nations ofc, are no more a feature of nature than gender is, which is why the Supreme Court fears the questioning of one will lead to the undoing of another.
“Displaying passport holders' sex at birth no more offends equal protection principles than displaying their country of birth”
“Displaying passport holders' sex at birth no more offends equal protection principles than displaying their country of birth”
Reposted by Benjamin Balthaser
I suppose it is not surprising to learn that contemporary reactionary politics, like old fashioned reactionary politics, imagines all hierarchies as rooted in a mythical, organic ideal of nature, & finds any attempt to suggest hierarchies are arbitrary & contingent v threatening
November 6, 2025 at 5:28 PM
I suppose it is not surprising to learn that contemporary reactionary politics, like old fashioned reactionary politics, imagines all hierarchies as rooted in a mythical, organic ideal of nature, & finds any attempt to suggest hierarchies are arbitrary & contingent v threatening
I hear there’s another NYT editorial about why something that famously sucks under capitalism sucks bc a disempowered group now has a little more power. Shocking, NYT, you don’t say.
November 6, 2025 at 4:54 PM
I hear there’s another NYT editorial about why something that famously sucks under capitalism sucks bc a disempowered group now has a little more power. Shocking, NYT, you don’t say.
So quickly Zionism turns eugenicist - diaspora Jews “dying out” is ofc a Nazi idea (to say nothing of how Palestinians are regarded)
November 6, 2025 at 5:28 AM
So quickly Zionism turns eugenicist - diaspora Jews “dying out” is ofc a Nazi idea (to say nothing of how Palestinians are regarded)
There are none. Socialism, to quote David Harvey, is what happens in cities or, as Baudelaire put it, modernism
November 6, 2025 at 5:19 AM
There are none. Socialism, to quote David Harvey, is what happens in cities or, as Baudelaire put it, modernism
The funny thing is that Democrats often say they want to tax the rich and expand social services - Mamdani is “aggressive” and not “conciliatory” bc he apparently was not lying and actually wants to accomplish these goals
November 6, 2025 at 12:11 AM
The funny thing is that Democrats often say they want to tax the rich and expand social services - Mamdani is “aggressive” and not “conciliatory” bc he apparently was not lying and actually wants to accomplish these goals
November 5, 2025 at 9:08 PM
Translation: Mamdani should do everything possible to ensure he accomplishes nothing bc we are the paper of the status quo
“He should start by building a leadership team light on democratic socialists and heavy on officials with records of accomplishment and proven management skills”
“He should start by building a leadership team light on democratic socialists and heavy on officials with records of accomplishment and proven management skills”
November 5, 2025 at 4:56 AM
Translation: Mamdani should do everything possible to ensure he accomplishes nothing bc we are the paper of the status quo
“He should start by building a leadership team light on democratic socialists and heavy on officials with records of accomplishment and proven management skills”
“He should start by building a leadership team light on democratic socialists and heavy on officials with records of accomplishment and proven management skills”
To put a finer point it, widespread Jewish support for a socialist anti-Zionist in NYC is the most exciting development in Jewish life I have experienced.
It’s hard to overstate how joyful it is to elect an anti Zionist socialist for NYC mayor who actually seems to love goddamn everyone
November 5, 2025 at 4:37 AM
To put a finer point it, widespread Jewish support for a socialist anti-Zionist in NYC is the most exciting development in Jewish life I have experienced.
It’s hard to overstate how joyful it is to elect an anti Zionist socialist for NYC mayor who actually seems to love goddamn everyone
November 5, 2025 at 4:22 AM
It’s hard to overstate how joyful it is to elect an anti Zionist socialist for NYC mayor who actually seems to love goddamn everyone
“I can’t miss work” and “I’ve had covid enough and don’t want to do that again” are tbh my two most honest answers for why I continue to wear a mask in most public indoor places
Tom Hanks explains to Stephen Colbert why he masks on the subway:
"I'm doing a play right now so I cannot get sick... I've had COVID enough in my life, I don't need to do that again. So I'm wearing this for health reasons."
Thank you Tom! Masks are still a key part of public health.
"I'm doing a play right now so I cannot get sick... I've had COVID enough in my life, I don't need to do that again. So I'm wearing this for health reasons."
Thank you Tom! Masks are still a key part of public health.
November 4, 2025 at 11:58 PM
“I can’t miss work” and “I’ve had covid enough and don’t want to do that again” are tbh my two most honest answers for why I continue to wear a mask in most public indoor places
Cannot express the relief to have a scholar who has long written about the American left, Jewish and non, declare that I have “done my homework” logosjournal.com/article/benj...
Benjamin Balthaser's Citizens of the Whole World - Logos Journal
This volume, by a cultural scholar teaching at Indiana University, South Bend, could not have appeared at a more auspicious moment. Some Facebook participants describe it as ”the most talked-about boo...
logosjournal.com
November 4, 2025 at 8:12 PM
Cannot express the relief to have a scholar who has long written about the American left, Jewish and non, declare that I have “done my homework” logosjournal.com/article/benj...
I have to say, in the long history of “Marx failed to consider” takes by internet reply-guys, “Marx failed to consider the use-value of warm coats” should win its own category of award
November 4, 2025 at 5:08 PM
I have to say, in the long history of “Marx failed to consider” takes by internet reply-guys, “Marx failed to consider the use-value of warm coats” should win its own category of award
I have a feeling I don’t want to know what Trump has in mind for Jews who do not do what is in what he perceives to be their best interests
November 4, 2025 at 4:56 PM
I have a feeling I don’t want to know what Trump has in mind for Jews who do not do what is in what he perceives to be their best interests
Mamdani answering the ? of whether he will moderate his message w a photo of Paul Robeson & a quote by Marcantonio: “If it be radicalism to believe that our natural resources should be used for the benefit of all, and not for the purpose of enriching just a few, then I plead guilty to the charge.”
November 4, 2025 at 6:50 AM
Mamdani answering the ? of whether he will moderate his message w a photo of Paul Robeson & a quote by Marcantonio: “If it be radicalism to believe that our natural resources should be used for the benefit of all, and not for the purpose of enriching just a few, then I plead guilty to the charge.”
Chicago ppls- my friend Raffi & I will converse abt my recent book on the American Jewish left & anti-Zionism, & what if anything it has to say abt the current conjuncture, American & Jewish Studies, literature, social movements, empire & sundry things at UIC 11/6 huminst.uic.edu/events/benja...
Benjamin Balthaser on the Memory and History of the Jewish Left, in conversation with Raffi Magarik | Institute for the Humanities | University of Illinois Chicago
...
huminst.uic.edu
November 4, 2025 at 5:57 AM
Chicago ppls- my friend Raffi & I will converse abt my recent book on the American Jewish left & anti-Zionism, & what if anything it has to say abt the current conjuncture, American & Jewish Studies, literature, social movements, empire & sundry things at UIC 11/6 huminst.uic.edu/events/benja...
Reposted by Benjamin Balthaser
They gutted the Washington Post. CBS. NYT. Now Teen Vogue.
The point isn't to bring in more conservatives. They've reached that saturation point.
They are killing the fourth estate and buying up the social media to control the messages we see. These were all targeted to disarm the left of truth.
The point isn't to bring in more conservatives. They've reached that saturation point.
They are killing the fourth estate and buying up the social media to control the messages we see. These were all targeted to disarm the left of truth.
November 4, 2025 at 12:29 AM
They gutted the Washington Post. CBS. NYT. Now Teen Vogue.
The point isn't to bring in more conservatives. They've reached that saturation point.
They are killing the fourth estate and buying up the social media to control the messages we see. These were all targeted to disarm the left of truth.
The point isn't to bring in more conservatives. They've reached that saturation point.
They are killing the fourth estate and buying up the social media to control the messages we see. These were all targeted to disarm the left of truth.
I think Mamdani’s campaign, like DSA, is radical. DSA is just disciplined in its messaging & aware of the structural limitations of electoral campaigns. Even so the change in the discourse around Palestine that Mamdani’s campaign has effected and legitimated is already significant
Mamdani is not a radical. He has run a tight, smart, fairly standard local campaign. He'll probably get 20 or 30 percent of his platform if he's lucky. The one radical thing he's done is told the Times to go to hell. He has campaigned every step of the way like he doesn't need them, and he's right.
November 3, 2025 at 1:42 AM
I think Mamdani’s campaign, like DSA, is radical. DSA is just disciplined in its messaging & aware of the structural limitations of electoral campaigns. Even so the change in the discourse around Palestine that Mamdani’s campaign has effected and legitimated is already significant
Reposted by Benjamin Balthaser
US citizen shot from behind as he warned ICE agents children would be coming to get bus, lawyers say
U.S. citizen shot from behind as he warned ICE agents about children gathering at bus stop, lawyers say
Lawyers for Carlos Jimenez said he was in fear after an agent threatened him with chemical spray, then pointed a gun at him.
www.latimes.com
November 2, 2025 at 11:25 PM
US citizen shot from behind as he warned ICE agents children would be coming to get bus, lawyers say