Hi everyone, welcome to another entry of our Short Attention Span Reading Group.
The Text
On the abolition of all political parties by Simone Weil.
Rather than talk about the text which is very short and quite straight to the point, I'll say a few words about the author.
Simone Weil was a philosopher, a mystic, and a radical socialist. She lived by her word and it could be argued that her commitment to sticking to her principles to the letter was what deteriorated her already fragile health to the point of killing her. She agitated workers by working in a factory, she helped organize a strike among the unemployed people of a village - that they won, the fought in the Spanish Civil War etc. And while her most famous piece Oppression and Liberty is quite pessimistic, she always fought to improve the lives of people with incredible strength and fervor, heavily criticizing Marxists and Anarchists alike, with rigor and interesting arguments.
I strongly recommend listening to Rev Left Radio's episode on her.