Definitions, Citations, Sources
A Functional Bibliography — updated after each post!
In the interest of promoting anti-anti-intellectualism, I am making it much easier to find all of my definitions, citations, and sources. This will function as the larger bibliography for the entire site. If I am missing any sources, please feel free to let me know!
Definitions, by Topic:
Economic Definitions:
It is important to be precise when dealing with economic terms when the modus operandi of the capitalist economist is obfuscation. Many of the terms defined here are taken with little modification from the primary sources, which are referenced and linked as well for clarity.
capitalism - an economic system defined by private ownership of social production predicated on private property, expropriation, and colonial violence
constant capital - everything necessary for the production process (raw materials, machinery, buildings, insurance, etc.) that do not include labor; must be present before variable capital can be deployed to create surplus value
necessary labor-time - the amount of labor-time necessary to replace the spent variable capital (wages) of the worker
surplus labor-time - the amount of labor-time after the necessary labor time has been reached that is captured by capitalists as surplus value
surplus value - value that is generated which exceeds the variable capital expended; the goal of capitalist production; confused by Ricardian economists for profit;
Tariff - import tax (typically then pushed onto consumers)
variable capital - amount of capital expended on labor-power, measured by wages
Philosophical Definitions:
In this section, I am collecting various operative definitions that are used throughout my sociocultural critique. When using these terms, I will explicitly reference their origin; defining a term here does not mean that I endorse those ideas, merely that they were worth discussing and being later referenced.
love - M. Scott Peck’s definition of love is “the will to extend one’s self for the purpose of one’s own or another’s spiritual growth.” My interpretation of this definition means that love must reach and fulfill each block on the hierarchy of needs (Maslow) in order to be achieved (spiritual growth equates to self-actualization, in my schema).
Sources and Citations:
Please let me know if I am missing any; will be updated continuously as new posts are added. Use the tab on the left side of your screen to navigate easier!
This ‘anti-woke’ video game is actually good… (KC:D2)
For more on the Crusades, see
#ForTheBoys 2: “Are Men Assholes…?”
Citations:
- hooks, bell
“All About Love: New Visions”
- Marx, Karl
“Estranged Labour,” from Economic and Philosophic Manuscripts of 1844
Capital, Volume 3: Part 3: The Law of the Tendency of the Profit Rate to Fall: Chapter 13: The Law As Such
“Manifesto of the Communist Party,” (1848)
- Ross, Justin
“Men Aren’t Assholes, They Just Need Sex” (2024)
- Otto, Amy
“Men Did More When It Was Harder to See Boobs” (2016)
Sources
“UK prosecutors say 21 charges authorised against Tate brothers” — BBC
“Hasan Piker: A Progressive Mind in a Body Made for MAGA” — NYT
“If you think tough men are dangerous…” — Twitter, @ jordanbpeterson
“Essential reads for most people but especially men”
“The Handsomest Drowned Man in the World,” Gabriel García Márquez (short story, 1968) - study this society: this is how we should live. How can we make our world better for the ones we love?
“The Will to Change,” bell hooks - Please pick up this book ASAP. I cannot recommend it enough to help challenge a lot of your preconceived masculine notions. DO NOT SLEEP ON bell hooks!!
The Politics of Housework, Pat Mainari - a frank dissection of the political nature of the distribution of labor.
Estranged labor, Karl Marx (treatise, 1844) - absolutely essential prerequisite to understanding the modern, capitalist-colonized psyche. Marx outlines the material processes that contribute to the psychological and subconscious degradation of the modern subject.
Caliban and the Witch, Silvia Federici - A thorough history of the repression and economic exploitation faced by women through the beginning of capitalism. The most consequential history of capitalism since Marx.
“Good For Nothing,” Mark Fisher (blog post, year unsure) - If one of the most illuminating theorists of the twenty-first century was still convinced he was worthless, what hope do any of us have? Raw reflection
Someone killed a snake… (6/8/25)
Extra Reading List
For more on liberal intellectualism, see: “The Humanities Have Sown the Seeds of Their Own Destruction” by Tyler Austin Harper
Refaat Alareer, “If I Must Die.”
Bertolt Brecht, “A Bed for the Night.”
Courtney Gustafson, “Poets Square: A Memoir in Thirty Cats”
Hanson Egerland, “Eulogy for Roadkill”
Walt Whitman, “Song of Myself,” Section 52 - “A spotted hawk swoops by”
The Man Question (For The Boys #1)
Citations
- Foley, Barbara
“Marxist Literary Criticism Today” (2019)
- Manne, Kate
“Down Girl: The Logic of Misogyny” (2019)
- Ross, Justin
“Men Aren’t Assholes, They Just Need Sex”
Sources
“Elliot Rodger: How misogynist killer became 'incel hero’” — BBC News
“Mark Zuckerberg says people can fill the need for friends with AI, but ‘there is no replacement' for human relationships, psychologist says” — NBC10 Philadelphia
“Sexual misconduct allegations against Donald Trump – a timeline” — The Guardian
Further reading
“Estranged labor”, Karl Marx (treatise, 1844)
absolutely essential prerequisite to understanding the modern, capitalist-colonized psyche. Marx outlines the material processes that contribute to the psychological and subconscious degradation of the modern subject.
“The Handsomest Drowned Man in the World,” Gabriel García Márquez (short story, 1968)
study this society: this is how we should live. How can we make our world better for the ones we love?
Mashle: Magic and Muscles, Hajime Kōmoto (manga/anime 2020-2023/23-?)
through the layers of Harry Potter parody and silliness, the main character, Mash, evinces an overwhelming violence to crush the system that seeks to exterminate people like him. Compared to the liberal, Naruto, Mashle represents a revolutionary critique of society, particularly commenting on disability rights. Violence, here, is as Fanon describes in The Wretched of the Earth, the only means of communication that the colonizer/oppressor respects.
The kids are NOT alright 5/9/25
Citations
- Graeber, David
“Bullshit Jobs: A Theory” (2018)
- Hao-Ping (Hank) Lee, et al. (2025)
The Impact of Generative AI on Critical Thinking: Self-Reported Reductions in Cognitive Effort and Confidence Effects From a Survey of Knowledge Workers. In Proceedings of the 2025 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (CHI '25). Association for Computing Machinery, New York, NY, USA, Article 1121, 1–22. https://doi.org/10.1145/3706598.3713778
- Lauritzen, et al. (2024)
Lauritzen AD, Lillholm M, Lynge E, Nielsen M, Karssemeijer N, Vejborg I. Early Indicators of the Impact of Using AI in Mammography Screening for Breast Cancer. Radiology. 2024 Jun;311(3):e232479. doi: 10.1148/radiol.232479. PMID: 38832880. url: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/38832880/
- Marx
“Estranged Labor,” from Economic and Philosophic Manuscripts of 1844
Capital, Vol. 1, Chapter 8: Constant Capital and Variable Capital
- Patel, Shailja
“Solstice Re-pot” (poem)
- U.S. PIACC 2017 Results
Highlights of the 2017 U.S. PIAAC Results Web Report (NCES 2020-777). U.S. Department of Education. Institute of Education Sciences, National Center for Education Statistics. Available at https://nces.ed.gov/surveys/piaac/current_results.asp.
- Search Engine podcast
“Playboi Farti and his AI Homework Machine,”
Sources
“The Rise and Fall of the iPad Kid” — The Western Howl (Western Oregon University)
“Everyone Is Cheating Their Way Through College” — NY Mag (paywalled)
“Explained: Generative AI’s Environmental Impact” — MIT News
“AI Is Making You Dumber, Microsoft Researchers Say” — Forbes
Economics for Babies #1: Tariffs (5/3/25)
Citations
- Bevins, Vincent
The Jakarta Method, 2020 [isbn: 9781541724013]
- Card, K, and Hepburn, K. J. (2023)
Is Neoliberalism Killing Us? A Cross Sectional Study of the Impact of Neoliberal Beliefs on Health and Social Wellbeing in the Midst of the COVID-19 Pandemic. International journal of social determinants of health and health services, 53(3), 363–373. https://doi.org/10.1177/00207314221134040
- Congressional Budget Office
From 1989 to 2022, total family wealth almost quadrupled—from $52 trillion in 2022 dollars to $199 trillion—but that increase in wealth did not affect groups equally. The share of total wealth held by families in the top 10 percent of the distribution increased from 56 percent to 60 percent, and the share held by families in the top 1 percent increased from 23 percent to 27 percent. Other families in the top half of the distribution, by contrast, went from holding 37 percent of all wealth to holding 33 percent. The share of wealth held by families in the bottom half of the distribution remained unchanged at 6 percent.
- U.S. Federal Reserve Data
Graph highlighting the massive split between the top and bottom in America
- Friedman, Milton
“A Friedman Doctrine,” 1970 -
-Lenin, V.I.
“Imperialism: The Highest Stage of Capitalism: III - Finance Capital”
- Marx, Karl
Capital Vol. 1:
- Parker C.F., Stern K. (2022)
The Trump Administration and the COVID-19 crisis: Exploring the warning-response problems and missed opportunities of a public health emergency. Public administration, 10.1111/padm.12843. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1111/padm.12843
Sources
“A massive tariff on millions of Americans’ purchases just went into effect — cue the chaos” — CNN
“Temu to stop selling goods from China directly to US customers” — BBC
“Hiring slowed in April amid turmoil set off by Trump's 'Liberation Day' tariffs” — ABC News
“Trump announces 90-day pause on ‘reciprocal’ tariffs with exception of China” — CNN
“China not negotiating with US on trade war, Beijing says” — Fox Business
“The fatal flaw of neoliberalism: it's bad economics” - The Guardian
“Critiques of Gates Foundation’s agricultural interventions in Africa” — U.S. Right to Know
“Examining Trump’s claims that tariffs will revitalize American manufacturing” — PBS News Hour
“‘A deranged fringe movement’: what is Maga communism, the online ideology platformed by Tucker Carlson?” — The Guardian
“Job Lock, Work, and Psychological Well-being in the United States” — Fisher, Ryan, Sonnega, Naudé
“National Accounts - Analysis of Main Aggregates (AMA)” — UN Stats
“Embracing Sustainability: How Businesses Can Contribute to the ‘Beautiful China’ Initiative” — China Briefing
“Where’s SLEEPY JOE? He’s SLEEPING, that’s where!!!” - realdonaldtrump -IG
“China times two: The worldwide spread of progress” — McKinsey Global Institute
“mao zedong propaganda music Red Sun in the Sky” — Meheandus Revolution, Youtube
“Two Years Later: Funding from CHIPS and Science Act Creating Quality Jobs, Growing Local Economies, and Bringing Semiconductor Manufacturing Back to America” — Commerce.gov
“In world of wealth, 9 million people die every year from hunger, WFP Chief tells Food System Summit” — World Food Programme
Let me know if I am missing any sources or citations, or if you would like to suggest some media for me to incorporate some way. Thank you for reading!