Since this is very obviously about me saying that socialism and small-c conservatism aren't incompatible (which wasn't an endorsement of any particular configuration of the two) and citing Cohen as an instance of this, I'm going to clarify a few things. https://twitter.com/nulla_corona/status/1281878605103017985

1. The context was not about telling anyone in particular that they're already Marxist.
2. I didn't & wouldn't say that anyone can be a Marxist as long as they object to markets organizing social life. This would make many basic reactionaries Marxists, which would be ridiculous.

3. Small-c conservatism doesn't mean "politically conservative on all social issues." That's partly what makes it small-c. As Cohen uses it, it means a bias in favor of existing valuable things, not b/c of their external purposes or principles they embody https://twitter.com/nulla_corona/status/1281879151188770816

but because they are distinct & are what they are. You can contrast this with, for example, a value-maximizing attitude that doesn't prioritize particular valuable things. If you are small-c about a particular thing, you are willing to conserve that thing even against maximizing

value. For ex, if you're a member of a dwindling tribe subject to deforestation, cultural wipeout, etc, and you wanted to preserve your ways because they're valuable, & valuable b/c they're distinct & they're yours, even if less efficient, useful, etc, in some ways than what

would replace your home and your culture, that is paradigmatically small-c. Capitalism is value maximizing in broadly this way. It's indifferent to existing bearers of value, actively hostile to distinctness, etc, in its pursuit of maximal profit. We see Marx at his most small-c

when he says we're "obliged" to preserve "the fruits of civilization" through anti-capitalist revolution. You can be a Marxist & think some endangered indigenous tribes should be able to preserve their ways of life. You can be a Marxist & oppose gentrification & "urban renewal."

4. Big-C conservatives pervert the preservation of existing value in defense of unjust social hierarchy. But this isn't entailed by small-c. There's nothing in small-c that entails thinking racism or transphobia, for ex, have any value. & as they don't, there's no conflict

between being small-c in some ways & radical, even militant, in opposing them.
5. Small-c also doesn't entail prioritizing existing value at any cost. There are surely cases where something is valuable, distinct, & yours but it's still better to replace it.
6. Most people are

small-c about some things. The Left can use this, since capitalism is behind the destruction of many of the things they're small-c about. Again, this doesn't mean engaging with every right winger no matter how bigoted or delusional. But it's an opportunity to reach the avg person

Lastly, no one should regard me as an aspiring public intellectual lol. I have no career to promote, I'm not building a brand, & I actively avoid discussing my actual work, political or not. This is a personal account & I post whatever I feel like posting. https://twitter.com/nulla_corona/status/1281879954402107392

No, check my previous tweets + replies lol. He means me. But he does seem to think she and I are in the same camp here.