Alternative Hypothesis (2nd Edition)

From 2007-2014, Nikolai Brown was a co-founding member of the Revolutionary Anti-Imperialist Movement and writer for AntiImperialism.org. As a lead proponent of ‘Maoism – Third Worldism,’ many of the ideas and stances (along with the tactics) he upheld have since become more common. At the time, he was renowned as biting polemicist with a deep knowledge of Marxist theory, history, and literature. Then, he stepped away and virtually disappeared.

Now, after 7 years of absence, he’s returned again with a new essay.

Alternative Hypothesis picks up in reference to where his previous writing left off, yet also elaborates clear shifts in thinking both on the modern world and the meaning of socialism.

He describes in historical materialist terms how changes in the productive forces of the digital age are altering the mode of production and contemporary class relations, thus affecting today’s culture and tomorrow’s potential future. This new ‘neo-tributary’ mode of production is defined as one where the expansion of control has supplanted expansion of capital of the driving force.

It reevaluates many of the foundational assumptions within Marxism and polemically ties leftism and western ruling class ideology together as varied expressions of a single ‘western neo-modernity ethos’ that was born from the Enlightenment yet truly came to dominate the cultural and political landscape after World War 2.

Finally it offers an alternative ethical and political foundation for resistance to the modern western ruling class, one which promises not a classless egalitarian society but rather continual struggle in service to honing the higher human spirit.

Alternative Hypothesis is a truly novel analysis, one which brings together years of experience within and the far left and years of reflection, further study, and analysis.

Alternative Hypothesis – 20,000+ words (updated 2nd Edition, Jan 2024)