We talk to Pavel Khazanov about the delusional ideations of the generation that ended the Soviet Union…children of serfs who began to identify themselves with Russia’s old nobility.
It’s interesting to talk about the “unbearable-ness” of collective living when that is the way humans lived, essentially, for—what—90% of our history before the modern era?
early communists did think about more collective ways of living that weren't built around a nuclear family structure. and they build new types of buildings that experimented with this concept. stalin's era put an end to it. my mom who grew up in a collective apartment hated it because multiple nuclear families were crammed into a single apartment meant for one rich family. it had one toilet, etc. the situation was unbearable because the facilities weren't meant to support so many people. basically the soviet union never truly went the radical way to figure out new collective forms of living. it reverted to a bourgeois templet.
It seems there was perhaps an unresolvable contradiction between the aspects of Soviet culture that (at least superficially) promoted some form of communalism and those that were quite rooted in notions of bourgeois individualism. What do you think of the idea that the October Revolution was still at heart a bourgeois revolution against feudalism with merely the trappings of the socialist ideal draped over it?
This was very good. I wish there was a written transcript for my use in posterity. Have you guys ever tried "AI" transcription, or do you not really care to?
Okay I found it. It is around the 1 hour 27 minute. When you were discussing The textbooks you found of dialectical training. And you spoke of the anger of half-educated people. And it just felt so true.
I meet a lot of highly accredited people that have the degrees but not the education or the culture. Even if they live the dream and make the money, they feel insecure and unfulfilled. Half conceptualized people. The American version of the enlightened man.
There was a recent episode where you both talked about autism and the loose borders of what is and isn’t autistic. I’ve been kind of digging into this because I have a young child with level 2 autism. I think there is some kind of loose defining of autism when you are dealing with level 1 autism or what people use to call Aspergers, and the value of diagnosis for those people is that they can get services if needed. From what I’ve read and heard, the level 1 diagnosis is designed to catch more people so as not to leave people without services. Because diagnosis equals access to services. But the definition of the condition becomes very clearly defined when you have a kid who has level 2 or 3 and they have limited language, violent tantrums, and intense stemming. Like, it’s those children who are kind of the basis for the diagnosis and the treatments. Side note, historically psychoanalysists thought autism was the result of bad mothers.
It’s interesting to talk about the “unbearable-ness” of collective living when that is the way humans lived, essentially, for—what—90% of our history before the modern era?
early communists did think about more collective ways of living that weren't built around a nuclear family structure. and they build new types of buildings that experimented with this concept. stalin's era put an end to it. my mom who grew up in a collective apartment hated it because multiple nuclear families were crammed into a single apartment meant for one rich family. it had one toilet, etc. the situation was unbearable because the facilities weren't meant to support so many people. basically the soviet union never truly went the radical way to figure out new collective forms of living. it reverted to a bourgeois templet.
It seems there was perhaps an unresolvable contradiction between the aspects of Soviet culture that (at least superficially) promoted some form of communalism and those that were quite rooted in notions of bourgeois individualism. What do you think of the idea that the October Revolution was still at heart a bourgeois revolution against feudalism with merely the trappings of the socialist ideal draped over it?
This was very good. I wish there was a written transcript for my use in posterity. Have you guys ever tried "AI" transcription, or do you not really care to?
Substack does one but randomly translates half of it to Russian. I complained but no one is fixing it.
I love Evengia's idea of half conceptualized people. I think that represents the current America.
I can’t remember what I said. What did I mean by that?
Okay I found it. It is around the 1 hour 27 minute. When you were discussing The textbooks you found of dialectical training. And you spoke of the anger of half-educated people. And it just felt so true.
The course on dialectical materialism cannot be worse than the course on legal professional ethics that all American law students have to take.
Thanks!
I meet a lot of highly accredited people that have the degrees but not the education or the culture. Even if they live the dream and make the money, they feel insecure and unfulfilled. Half conceptualized people. The American version of the enlightened man.
There was a recent episode where you both talked about autism and the loose borders of what is and isn’t autistic. I’ve been kind of digging into this because I have a young child with level 2 autism. I think there is some kind of loose defining of autism when you are dealing with level 1 autism or what people use to call Aspergers, and the value of diagnosis for those people is that they can get services if needed. From what I’ve read and heard, the level 1 diagnosis is designed to catch more people so as not to leave people without services. Because diagnosis equals access to services. But the definition of the condition becomes very clearly defined when you have a kid who has level 2 or 3 and they have limited language, violent tantrums, and intense stemming. Like, it’s those children who are kind of the basis for the diagnosis and the treatments. Side note, historically psychoanalysists thought autism was the result of bad mothers.
Have you seen the Limonov biopic yet? Managed to see a showing here in Paris last week. Curious to hear both of youse's take on it.
no haven't see it yet.