It's pretty sleek tbh, although since it's not guaranteed to fit and a lot of n95s are relatively reusable I'm not sure it's a great value proposition.
I took the gamble and don't think I regret it, the fit seems to have settled in for a decent seal now that I'm on my third day.
I wear a mask ~10 hours a day at work. When I was doing more laborious work I didn't though due to sweat and fit.
Imo the bare minimum should be masking for all short interactions. I understand not wanting to wear a mask all day at work, but it sacrifices very little to wear one for 30 minutes at the store or wherever.
I just switched from auras to a flomask. More comfortable, but still working out the seal.
But even without covid, there's other diseases and cameras everywhere. I'm happy that masking is more normalized (to the degree that it is. Still had people get very angry at me)
Obfuscation of class, cultural hegemony, is necessary for capitalism to persist.
At the same time, false consciousness is not the primary thing keeping well-off workers in the imperial core and periphery from revolting. They may buy into whatever delusions to avoid feeling guilt for their position, but when it comes down to it they benefit from imperialism. If given a choice between their humanity and their privileged position, they'll happily abandon their humanity.
For the rest of workers, developing class consciousness is important, but more important (or maybe part of the same process) is presenting an organized alternative to the bourgeois state. People may agree or disagree with whatever ideals, but they'll support the entity materially benefiting them.
The government tried to take away our houses, failed to provide food and medicine and education, abandoned us during the increasingly devastating environmental disasters. But this party calling themselves the Workers Front came in with aid and services. I don't know much about politics but they have my support.
The manufactured false consciousness for the lower working classes is well-funded and omnipresent, but it's ethereal, smoke and mirrors. A video of prosperity repeated 24/7 is not equivalent to real food on a real table. If the bottom falls out on material flows, the illusion breaks (and the bourgeois state has to increasingly turn to violence to enforce its power).
Only a small percentage of people are and will ever be political and ideologically disciplined. Others will get thrust into political action by their material circumstances, and it's the role of a party to help them organize and realize their power.
Lol I figure if I have them nearby I'm more likely to read them eventually. Which is true, but "eventually" is doing a lot of work.
I've started most of them fwiw, but only finished like 20%.
Nice to have on-hand to reference tho, especially as search engines continue to decline.
Ooh thanks for the share! I have his super imperialism but also haven't read it yet. I'll check these links out
Off the top of my head:
Eric Hobsbawm was a Marxist historian who wrote the Age of series. The Age of Revolution: Europe 1789 - 1848 isn't quite pre-capitalist but might be of interest to you. I have yet to read it even though the series is on my shelf, so I can't vouch for it.
Caliban and the Witch was already recommended and is a good read.
The Dawn of Everything isn't strictly materialist but is a good read, mostly focusing on pre-history and non-european cultures. Also Debt by one of the same authors.
Gerald Horne is a prolific writer, known for The Counter-Revolution of 1776. Looks like most of his work is also early capitalism forward, but what I've read and heard from him is good.
The Bourgeois Revolution in France 1789-1815 is a good class analysis, pretty interesting.
Open Veins of Latin America: Five Centuries of the Pillage of a Continent might also partially fit in the timeframe you're looking for.
I'd be very interested in anything 0 -1500 AD because it looks like my library is lacking there.
Real heads celebrate May Day
In order for atomic change to bring about social change, it has to be part of a broader trend. That's why, as materialists, we aren't particularly interested in idealist solutions (any plan where "if enough people come together and x"). If there were a material basis for communes to be an effective solution, that would be happening*, communes would be forming (and you'd see a self-preservationist backlash from the state). The only way people get inspired to do something on a wide scale is if there's a strong material basis already, and the "idea" is the catalyst for it to be realized.
Commune-ism is generally neo-feudalist, based on a misconception of self-sufficiency outside of global trade. Look at how much even small countries suffer under embargo; how would a society a fraction of the size fare, with access to fewer resources and capable of less specialization?
Now, that doesn't mean the idea has no merits. And it doesn't mean people on a small level can't carve out personal niches, maybe even develop small bits of power that can be leveraged for loftier goals. Local conditions in some places might be favorable to a rent coop or worker coop, which after formation could connect with a larger org and be part of a progressive network of power.
*Not to dismiss material analyses that suggest changing social conditions might bring about a basis for commune formation. With looming environmental destruction, I could see this being the case in the future.