I wrote about Marx, the Social Character of Labour, and LLMs

beerandfreedom.substack.com/p/marx-the-s...

My book club @beerandfreedom.bsky.social is doing a deep dive on Marx's theory of alienation so I decided to write a very straightforward and accessible overview of the concept.

This could be a good one for the Marx-curious out there.

open.substack.com/pub/beerandf...

Beer and Freedom finished up Walkaway last night with our third meeting.

Next up are two essays that explore themes from the book.

Post-Scarcity Anarchism by Murray Bookchin & The Right To Be Lazy by Paul Lafargue

Canada claims it's stopped sending weapons to Israel. But much like Canada's claims of peacekeeping & multiculturalism & reconciliation, it's all LIES.

There's a continuous, massive pipeline of Canadian weapons flowing directly to Israel. Including 421,070 bullets.

armsembargonow.ca/report/

Rereading Walkaway by Cory Doctorow for the next @beerandfreedom.bsky.social book club and this line, man:

“Work needed doing, and he could help. What more could anyone ask for?”

I'm *almost* finished my readings for tonight's @beerandfreedom.bsky.social and here's what stood out so far:

"That which is just must be useful; That which is useful must be true; That which is true must be possible"

The next book Beer & Freedom will be reading is Walkaway by Cory Doctorow!

Although we have now finished The Dispossessed, we are still exploring the themes of the book through our next set of selected readings:

- Peter Gelderloos / Anarchy Works

- Petr Kropotkin / Mutual Aid

- Pierre-Joseph Proudhon / What is Property? /

- Errico Malatesta / Anarchy

In Solidarity!

The first meeting for the Beer & Freedom book club was a success - thanks to Canvas brewing for hosting us and to everyone who showed up.

First of many!

Solidarity

Things that jump out at you in Discworld after an evening with the @beerandfreedom.bsky.social crew:

“They think they want good government and justice for all, yet what is it they really crave, deep in their hearts? Only that things go on as normal and tomorrow is pretty much like today”

Beyond its brilliant exploration of clashing utopias, The Dispossessed is just so quotable.

Take this gut-punch line: 'It is useless work that darkens the heart.'

A critique of alienation, but also - labour should feed the soul, not drain it

Dive deeper into Le Guin's Anarres by exploring Kropotkin's "Mutual Aid" and Chapter 3 of "The Conquest of Bread." Discover the real-world ideas that shaped her vision.

Super appropriate notebook via @akpress.org for taking notes on Book 1

Book 1 for the Beer & Freedom Muskoka Book Club is The Dispossessed by Ursula K. Le Guin

Don't live in Muskoka? You can still follow and read long!

In Solidarity!