RP Book Club

Upcoming Session – One Day Only!

This Saturday, December 13^th, RP Book Club is diving into Dialectical and Historical Materialism (aka “D&HM”) a short text with outsized value.

Our group is MMT-literate. We’re developing a strong class analysis. D&HM gives us the method behind the analysis. It’s foundational. Really, you can apply it to anything.

If MMT shows how the monetary system works, and class analysis shows who benefits and at whose cost, D&HM shows how contradictions drive change and why societies develop the way they do. Crucially, it explains how material conditions shape consciousness, institutions, and political struggle.

During the session we’ll listen to the audiobook together, following along onscreen.

We’re fortunate to have special guest Esha Krishnaswamy leading the discussion. Esha is a writer and media critic whose focus is on history, foreign policy, and Modern Monetary Theory. She has hosted numerous shows on her YouTube channel, Historic.ly,

Dialectical and Historical Materialism lets us drill straight to the heart of every problem –slicing through news reports, mainstream history, and ‘conventional wisdom.’

Join us and help connect it to the work we already do in MMT, class politics, and movement building.

Saturday, December 13^th – 12 pm ET / 9 am PT

CLICK HERE TO REGISTER. You will receive an email with the Zoom link

Previous Book Clubs

State and Revolution by V. I. Lenin

State and Revolution is not a user manual; it’s a profound work of political theory. It’s a short book (a pamphlet, really) that shines a light on the dismal failures of our current system, where governing is done by the capitalist class and an unaccountable, permanent bureaucracy. At the same time, it’s a warning about the dangers of revolutionary violence. The book also presents a “what if?” of radical democracy, capturing our imaginations with Lenin’s vision of the future.

Some ideas to discuss:

The state is not neutral! It’s an instrument of class rule.
If reform is impossible, then peaceful electoral paths to socialism are an illusion.
We deplore the current surveillance state and militarization of police. So, do we approve of violence when it’s used in the name of revolution?
“Dictatorship of the proletariat” – We’ve all heard the phrase, but what does it mean? What should the transitional state look like?
We can fantasize about the perfect society, but it doesn’t magically occur. It’s a lengthy, complicated process. According to Lenin, the withering away of the state can only happen after certain conditions are met. What are those conditions?

RP Book Club invites you to read and listen along with us. For more on State and Revolution, read this article by Zeta Violet Koloskzi.

The book is free to read online at marxists.org
An audio version is available for free on YouTube

The Iron Heel

“The Iron Heel” by Jack London is a dystopian novel written during the early 20th century, particularly reflective of the socio-political climate in the United States. The story is told through the eyes of Avis Everhard, who chronicles the rise of a repressive oligarchy in a future America, detailing her husband Ernest Everhard’s revolutionary activities and the struggle for social justice against overwhelming oppression.

Link to full text pdf, audio with transcript links below.

Dec 5th – Chapters 1-12