Metamodern Marxism: Jacobin's Shameless Shilling

Hypocritic cringe or ironic sincerity?

I’ve been musing this week over an ad in the last couple of newsletters from Jacobin (an American socialist publication for all the out-of-the-loop crypto-fascists and radical centrists out there). I’m not quite sure what to make of it. It’s rather…layered (no pun intended).

Something about it sticks with me. Obviously, it’s adorable. That goes without saying. Babies in socialist kit turns out to be surprisingly cute. There’s no denying that. If I had a baby I’d probably buy one. So it’s a good ad.

But there’s so much more to it.

For one it tells me a lot about the demographics of Jacobin — they are obviously millennials of baby-making age. This news wouldn’t play so well with Boomer Fox News dads and it wouldn’t play with the 20-something Gen Zs.

There’s also some value telegraphing going on. Note the inclusion of a “small union