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A review by gilmae
Total Propaganda: Basic Marxist Brainwashing for the Angry and the Young by Helen Razer
3.0
I don’t know what to make of this book. I’ve read it twice now and I keep coming away with very mixed feelings. I start off enthusiastic - I’m sympathetic to the ideals - but I end with a very wary feeling. And that leaves me unable to even say anything. So I get to the point of trying to write a review and not quite knowing what to say.
As I said, I am sympathetic - and increasingly so - to the view points. I can feel the walls that capitalism has constructed around me. But I am also very aware that I am almost completely privileged compared to even most people in Australia let alone the rest of the world. Razor builds an argument that while discrimination of all sorts is painful and important, class is more important. And she keeps losing me while making this argument. The most egregious example is her support for the class anxiety theory of Trump’s victory as opposed to racism. This is a point of view I am never going to agree with and it undermines my ability to be convinced by the back third of her book.
So, first two thirds, great. Last third … your milage may vary.
As I said, I am sympathetic - and increasingly so - to the view points. I can feel the walls that capitalism has constructed around me. But I am also very aware that I am almost completely privileged compared to even most people in Australia let alone the rest of the world. Razor builds an argument that while discrimination of all sorts is painful and important, class is more important. And she keeps losing me while making this argument. The most egregious example is her support for the class anxiety theory of Trump’s victory as opposed to racism. This is a point of view I am never going to agree with and it undermines my ability to be convinced by the back third of her book.
So, first two thirds, great. Last third … your milage may vary.