Superman and the Case for Open Borders
Literate Machine
What does Superman tell us about the ethics of closed borders? Support this project on Patreon at https://patreon.com/ericrosenfield Especially since at this moment Warner Brothers did a copyright claim on this video to take all the revenue despite the fact that I only use small clips for the purposes of review and commentary which is definitionally fair use. I've disputed it, and we'll see how it goes, but I've never had such small clips mostly without sound get copyright striked in my videos before. Bibliography:...
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Gaiman/Trump and the New Thought Behind the Abuse
Literate Machine
How the New Thought and Positive Thinking movements helped create Neil Gaiman and Donald Trump and undermined our economy and lives Support this project on Patreon at https://patreon.com/ericrosenfield Thanks to all my Patrons! Full bibliography at: Other formats, text, and more information at https://literatemachine.com
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Our Coming Cyberpunk Dictatorship (Snow Crash)
Literate Machine
There's a worst case scenario looming here, isn't there? Snow Crash by Neal Stephenson, Curtis Yarvin, Freedom Cities, "Anarcho-Capitalism", and the Neofeudal Order Still to Come Special thanks to my Patrons Support this project at https://patreon.com/ericrosenfield for exclusive author's notes, deleted material, and other goodies Blog version: https://literatemachine.com/2025/04/13/our-coming-cyberpunk-dictatorship-snow-crash Bibliography: https://literatemachine.com/2025/04/13/our-coming-cyberpunk-dictatorship-snow-crash#bibliography Music: "What Shall We Do Now?" written by Roger Waters,...
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Gravity's Rainbow Over Palestine
Literate Machine
How Jewish Socialists Made an Outhouse for the European Soul Apologies I had a cold through part of the recording of this and you can hear that my voice is hoarse Extra content, ad-free content, early access, exclusive authors notes and more at: Thanks to my patrons! Tip me: Text of the episode and information about the podcast version: Full Bibliography: Including links to cited articles and videos
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What Do We Do Now?
Literate Machine
https://literatemachine.com/2024/11/07/what-do-we-do-now/What do we do now that the orange fascist is back? Support me at: Support me at: , Sources: People like Biden's policies but not Biden: Bernie Sanders on the election: Berlesconi's ownership of the media: Get your news from: , (New York City area only), and other journalist cooperatives Progressive legislators have: Helped secure housing for the homeless: And healthcare for undocumented immigrants: A Mind Forever Voyaging into Neoliberalism: Thanks to my Patrons: Curtis Shea, Craig DeHaan, Emre Bagdatoglu, Christopher Paul...
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10,000 Subscriber Q&A
Literate Machine
This a Q&A episode in honor of the YouTube channel hitting 10,000 subscribers. Topics include degrowth and socialism, private cities, anime, Loki Season 2, and my cat In this video I say I couldn't think of a source talking about alienation, work, and mental health, but after I made it I came across this video that does a pretty good job at the basics: Thanks for listening! You can support me on Patreon at https://patreon.com/ericrosenfield and get early access to videos like this one, extra content, exclusive author's notes and more! You can also tip me at...
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How Capitalism Becomes Feudalism (Severance and Technofeudalism)
Literate Machine
As commerce transforms around the new rent-extracting digital fiefdoms, algorithms and AI become a way to transform skilled labor into machine-learning piecework. In Severance, technology is used to "sever" people's working selves from their actual selves, creating the perfect, dehumanized work force. Bibliography: https://literatemachine.com/2024/06/25/how-capitalism-becomes-feudalism-severance-and-technofuedalism/#bibliography Blog version and links to the podcast and mailing list at https://literatemachine.com You can support this project at Patreon.com/ericrosenfield where for as little as...
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Elon Musk, Wokeness, and the Myth of Meritocracy
Literate Machine
How Tony Stark, the myth of meritocracy, and our unspoken beliefs about genius explain Elon Musk and the (re)turn of eugenics to the right wing Blog version and information about podcast and mailing list: If you enjoyed this, please tell someone, as word-of-mouth is how projects like this grow. For as little as $1 an episode, you can get exclusive authors notes, excerpts, and early access to episodes by supporting me on Patreon at: Thanks to my current Patrons: Kathryn Carruthers, Gabi Ghita, Hristo Kolev, Kevin Cafferty, Ulysse Pence, Wilma Ezekowitz, IndustrialRobot, Not Invader Zim, Jason...
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How Will Capitalism End? The Orville, Eduard Bernstein, and What is to Be Done?
Literate Machine
What does comedic science fiction television show The Orville tell us about how capitalism will end? How did Germany go from having the largest and most powerful socialist movement in the world to finding its movement gutted and its country given over to fascists? How did Eduard Bernstein, despite his best intentioned, upend the Marxist movement and provide cover for those who wanted to destroy it? And was he actually right all along? All this and more will be answered! The previous video, Star Trek into Socialism, is not necessary for appreciating this one, but the two inform each other:...
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Star Trek into Socialism: or Who Deserves the Future
Literate Machine
Does Star Trek show us what socialism looks like? What would it look like if we organized society democratically instead of allowing a few people to control most of the resources? Bibliography and Further Reading * Obviously, the work of Marx and Engels is key to this piece. Particular texts I drew on here include The Civil War in France (1871) (modern editions contain the first draft and the address on the Civil War) and The Critique of the Gotha Programme (1875). Marx's "La Liberte" speech (1872) is where he proposes that some countries might transition to communism peacefully:...
info_outlineWhat does Superman tell us about the ethics of closed borders?
Support this project on Patreon at https://patreon.com/ericrosenfield
Especially since at this moment Warner Brothers did a copyright claim on this video to take all the revenue despite the fact that I only use small clips for the purposes of review and commentary which is definitionally fair use. I've disputed it, and we'll see how it goes, but I've never had such small clips mostly without sound get copyright striked in my videos before.
Bibliography: https://literatemachine.com/2026/01/19/superman-and-the-case-for-open-borders/#bibliography
00:00 Superman 2025 and the rightwing backlash
03:26 Superman as an immigrant
06:28 The moral case for open borders
10:40 Immigration and crime
12:42 Immigration and social services
13:59 Immigration and labor
21:35 Immigration and space
23:55 Immigration and history
31:50 Immigration and racism
35:46 Right-wing obsession with birthrates
37:45 They're punking us, right?
45:50 It doesn't have to be this way
51:40 The problem with Superman (2025)
59:23 Politics is something we do, not something done to us