The Left is Not a Concept

A Response to the Platypus Affiliated Society

For some time now, The Platypus Affiliated Society has been on my radar for its criticisms of the contemporary left’s “pseudo-radical anti-Marxism.” Platypus gets as close to “antileftism” as they can get while still clinging to an ideal of the left, yet it is here where we depart. I was thus intrigued by their invitation to explore our differences in a forthcoming issue of the Platypus Review. The resulting essay achieves this contrast through a critical analysis of Leszek Kolakowski’s “The Concept of the Left,” a pivotal theoretical influence for Platypus.

With their permission, I am now releasing this 2500-word article early to my subscribers. Limiting this advance access benefits my subscribers while not overshadowing its eventual publication at Platypus. Following this “intermission,” I will be rolling out the final three installments of my initial six-part series on Marx, which will read the writings of Marx and Engels as antileftism. These articles will remain free, but please use this as an opportunity to subscribe to access “The Left is Not a Concept,” which represents my deepest challenge to the leftist true-believer, and to support the perpetuation of this project, whose impact can be felt in Platypus’s solicitation of this essay.

---