Author Archives: modulus

About modulus

Modulus is an unaffiliated Marxist from South Western EU (Spanish state). He studied computer science and law, and is at present preparing for civil service exams for the Spanish administration. An avid IRC user, he enjoys arguments and will occasionally play devil's advocate. He regards himself as orthodox and is concerned about unscientific attitudes on the left on such things as nuclear energy, biotechnology, and so on. His support for the European Union as a platform to unify the class struggle across the continent has earned him plenty of strong opposition, and doubtless will continue to do so; until, that is, his view is vindicated by history.

How to do better things with words

Posted on 23/10/2015 by modulus

The left has historically concerned itself with language and its use, given the need to engage in agitation and propaganda. Some of our efforts in trying to improve our communication strategies are, deservedly or not, classics of the genre, such … Continue reading →

Posted in Critique of the Left, Politics, Proletarian politics | Comments Off on How to do better things with words

Spain is not Greece, or is it? Electoral prospects for the left in 2015.

Posted on 05/02/2015 by modulus

After the electoral victory of SYRIZA in Greece, the attention of the European left has justly focused on its enormous difficulties in tackling a very unfavourable international conjuncture, as well as the very promising opportunities it opens up. It’s undeniable … Continue reading →

Posted in Politics, Proletarian politics | Comments Off on Spain is not Greece, or is it? Electoral prospects for the left in 2015.

Democracy and the role of the party

Posted on 20/03/2014 by modulus

Democracy in Crisis “In sharp contradiction to the belief that democracy is only a way to Socialism is another viewpoint which is also quite popular in Socialist ranks, namely, that true democracy is possible only in a Socialist society and … Continue reading →

Posted in Critique of the Left, Politics, Proletarian politics | 1 Comment

Podemos: what is it?

Posted on 12/02/2014 by modulus

Podemos is a new political option in the Spanish state. For now it is not much more than an idea, and it will go for elections for the first time for the European Parliament, a contest wherein–for reasons I will … Continue reading →

Posted in Politics, Proletarian politics | 2 Comments

The democratic road: marxism’s greater vehicle

Posted on 27/11/2013 by modulus

Movements are never uniform. Where humans meet to achieve a common purpose, more likely than not, divergences exist: on ends and means, on commitment and focus, on vision and motivation… Even the sort of movement Nechayev proposed in his mad … Continue reading →

Posted in Critique of the Left, Politics, Proletarian politics | 1 Comment

The twilight of democracy

Posted on 13/11/2013 by modulus

There’s a certain story that can be told about popular participation in government. It begins with Athens, glorious and bright, yet outnumbered and besieged by the sinister forces of oriental despotism. It continues with Rome, a mixed constitution where power … Continue reading →

Posted in Bourgeois politics, Politics | 4 Comments

Interview with a member of the Communist Party of Canada

Posted on 30/10/2013 by modulus

This is our second audio interview, this time with a young cadre from the CPC. We hope you find it as interesting as we do, and that this won’t be our last. Hopefully we will keep bringing you diverse communist … Continue reading →

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Production and consumption: differences in orientation

Posted on 03/09/2013 by modulus

A previous article on Spirit of Contradiction dealt with the issue of types of revolutions drawing the fundamental distinction between insurrection, socialisation in production and communisation in consumption. Some of these ideas were expounded on by earlier Marxists when confronting … Continue reading →

Posted in Culture, Politics | Comments Off on Production and consumption: differences in orientation

Spirit of Contradiction has outgrown its previous shared hosting solution, and so we’ve moved it. This may result in some weird behaviour for a couple of days while configuration is taking place. The result will be a much much faster … Continue reading →

Posted on 01/09/2013 by modulus | Comments Off on Outgrowing our old host

The European Monetary Union and the Left

Posted on 17/08/2013 by modulus

Recently a 45 page report written by Heiner Flassbeck and Costas Lapavitsas was issued by Rosa Luxemburg Stiftung, “The systemic crisis of the euro – true causes and effective therapies”. They later popularised their report in a Guardian article. The … Continue reading →

Posted in Economics, Proletarian politics | Comments Off on The European Monetary Union and the Left

Against the Grand Narrative: on postmodernism

Posted on 06/07/2013 by modulus

Without recapitulating the entire history of postmodern thought, which beginning we can, for our purposes, anchor at the publication of Dialectic of Enlightenment, it is safe to summarise its development as stemming from a justified distrust of the liberal project, … Continue reading →

Posted in Cultural analysis, Culture, Philosophy | 1 Comment

We’ve tried to keep a reasonable compromise between security and convenience, between automatically rejecting too many comments or approving too much spam. At this it seems we have failed (well, I should say I have, given I made the choices … Continue reading →

Posted on 20/06/2013 by modulus | Comments Off on Spam policy changes

Beyond law: towards an alternative to legal regulation under socialism

Posted on 06/03/2013 by modulus

The law, in its majestic equality, forbids the rich and the poor alike to sleep under bridges, to beg in the streets, and to steal bread. –Anatole France, Le Lys Rouge As a Marxist and a lawyer, I often find … Continue reading →

Posted in Bourgeois politics, History, Philosophy, Politics, Proletarian politics | 3 Comments

Telekommunist Manifesto: a useful but faulty map

Posted on 17/01/2013 by modulus

There’s a common wisdom, especially prevalent in the anglosphere, where it is, admittedly, closer to being true, that “information workers”–computer programmers, network and system administrators, and the like–have a particular affinity for capitalist ideology, in its most extreme forms as … Continue reading →

Posted in Politics, Proletarian politics | 4 Comments