Welcome to DU! The truly grassroots left-of-center political community where regular people, not algorithms, drive the discussions and set the standards. Join the community: Create a free account Support DU (and get rid of ads!): Become a Star Member All Forums Issue Forums Culture Forums Alliance Forums Region Forums Support Forums Help & Search

General Discussion

Showing Original Post only (View all)

xchrom

(108,903 posts)
Thu Jul 5, 2012, 07:26 AM Jul 2012

Why Marxism is on the rise again [View all]

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2012/jul/04/the-return-of-marxism


A public sector worker striking in east London last year. Photograph: KeystoneUSA-ZUMA/Rex Features


Class conflict once seemed so straightforward. Marx and Engels wrote in the second best-selling book of all time, The Communist Manifesto: "What the bourgeoisie therefore produces, above all, are its own grave-diggers. Its fall and the victory of the proletariat are equally inevitable." (The best-selling book of all time, incidentally, is the Bible – it only feels like it's 50 Shades of Grey.)

Today, 164 years after Marx and Engels wrote about grave-diggers, the truth is almost the exact opposite. The proletariat, far from burying capitalism, are keeping it on life support. Overworked, underpaid workers ostensibly liberated by the largest socialist revolution in history (China's) are driven to the brink of suicide to keep those in the west playing with their iPads. Chinese money bankrolls an otherwise bankrupt America.

The irony is scarcely wasted on leading Marxist thinkers. "The domination of capitalism globally depends today on the existence of a Chinese Communist party that gives de-localised capitalist enterprises cheap labour to lower prices and deprive workers of the rights of self-organisation," says Jacques Rancière, the French marxist thinker and Professor of Philosophy at the University of Paris VIII. "Happily, it is possible to hope for a world less absurd and more just than today's."

That hope, perhaps, explains another improbable truth of our economically catastrophic times – the revival in interest in Marx and Marxist thought. Sales of Das Kapital, Marx's masterpiece of political economy, have soared ever since 2008, as have those of The Communist Manifesto and the Grundrisse (or, to give it its English title, Outlines of the Critique of Political Economy). Their sales rose as British workers bailed out the banks to keep the degraded system going and the snouts of the rich firmly in their troughs while the rest of us struggle in debt, job insecurity or worse. There's even a Chinese theatre director called He Nian who capitalised on Das Kapital's renaissance to create an all-singing, all-dancing musical.
113 replies = new reply since forum marked as read
Highlight: NoneDon't highlight anything 5 newestHighlight 5 most recent replies
Read this late last night malaise Jul 2012 #1
For a taste of the Frankfurt School, Herbert Marcuse is coalition_unwilling Jul 2012 #84
Have a good friend who loved Marcuse malaise Jul 2012 #92
Marxism on the Rise Again Iggy Jul 2012 #2
Ding ding ding alcibiades_mystery Jul 2012 #10
Indeed! chervilant Jul 2012 #3
Capitalism is the chief cause of socialism. Socialism is the chief cause of capitalism. RadiationTherapy Jul 2012 #4
I don't think so, Tim. JackInGreen Jul 2012 #5
Gilead has fallen my friend. have you forgotten the faces of your fathers? dionysus Jul 2012 #7
That is so true. I like the European idea of a marriage of BOTH systems. loudsue Jul 2012 #6
here in the EU, we (the government health care providers) pay sooo much less for pharma drugs stockholmer Jul 2012 #13
While traveling abroad in '07 I wandered into a pharmacy and asked if a certain antibiotic was Citizen Worker Jul 2012 #53
big pharma does research? HiPointDem Jul 2012 #95
'The Truly Staggering Cost Of Inventing New Drugs' stockholmer Jul 2012 #98
they spend more on marketing than research, & most of the real research is funded by the government. HiPointDem Jul 2012 #107
thanks for the links, and I despise big pharma, btw stockholmer Jul 2012 #109
Agreed, Right Now Iggy Jul 2012 #57
With a 'real' unemployment rate of some 15-18%, capitalism is failing to coalition_unwilling Jul 2012 #86
where do they have it sitting, under the bed? i'd bet it's invested in something, just not in HiPointDem Jul 2012 #96
I read one article Iggy Jul 2012 #99
i find that hard to believe. if $ isn't invested in *something* it loses value, and even more so HiPointDem Jul 2012 #106
I'm Not Convinced Iggy Jul 2012 #110
It seems to work Prophet 451 Jul 2012 #81
Um, feudalism was the chief cause of capitalism - n/t coalition_unwilling Jul 2012 #85
You have to be careful unreadierLizard Jul 2012 #8
The USSR was as much Communist as the Nazis were Socialists. Egalitarian Thug Jul 2012 #19
N/M BOG PERSON Jul 2012 #21
The USSR never claimed to be communist. They claimed to be socialist and a democracy. Puregonzo1188 Jul 2012 #27
That's the point. I'm glad that people are educating themselves. Hopefully it is not too late Egalitarian Thug Jul 2012 #28
Back when it was the Anarchists and Bolshiveks, it was actually working towards Communism Taverner Jul 2012 #49
I'd rather go down the road of Norway and Sweden. backscatter712 Jul 2012 #41
Sweden has a free market capitalist economy hack89 Jul 2012 #71
both have moved to the right since the 1980s. HiPointDem Jul 2012 #97
The Soviet Union was not Marxist lunatica Jul 2012 #45
I'm already in poverty, so I don't have to be careful... nt Comrade_McKenzie Jul 2012 #48
Ding, ding, ding. Bravo! - n/t coalition_unwilling Jul 2012 #87
The major problem with the Soviet Union was its totalitarian political system and NOT kestrel91316 Jul 2012 #52
i think the major problem with the soviet union BOG PERSON Jul 2012 #62
I will rave about how the USSR kicked Nazi Germany's ass along a 2,000-mile front while coalition_unwilling Jul 2012 #88
Well that part was admirable. kestrel91316 Jul 2012 #90
Josef Stalin and Chairman Mao were Socialist much like Pastor Hagee is Christian. Zalatix Jul 2012 #59
no true scotsman BOG PERSON Jul 2012 #61
Doesn't apply here. Zalatix Jul 2012 #63
so what are these big tenets of socialism? BOG PERSON Jul 2012 #65
Everyone is equal, for one. Zalatix Jul 2012 #67
So is this "pissing on marxism"? hughee99 Jul 2012 #68
But that doesn't make Socialism bad. Zalatix Jul 2012 #69
No, it doesn't. hughee99 Jul 2012 #70
"squalor"? BOG PERSON Jul 2012 #72
Unregulated Capitalism and inherited wealth will be the downfall of us all, if things do not change. Ikonoklast Jul 2012 #9
Drones. Zalatix Jul 2012 #64
I can see why. ananda Jul 2012 #11
Because the Teabaggers hate it! Crowman1979 Jul 2012 #12
With either system, the temptation is for the 1% to enrich themselves Lydia Leftcoast Jul 2012 #14
Thanks for sharing this Lydia. Puzzledtraveller Jul 2012 #20
aren'tt fascist parties gaining in Europe too? Green_Lantern Jul 2012 #15
you need to learn more about marxism. nt xchrom Jul 2012 #16
I've seen enough of it Green_Lantern Jul 2012 #17
Appealing to emotion, not logic, like the Tea Party? Applying morality to economics, like patrice Jul 2012 #30
oh my god, you don't know ANYTHING BOG PERSON Jul 2012 #32
insults mean you have no argument Green_Lantern Jul 2012 #33
an argument to what? BOG PERSON Jul 2012 #34
no...the worst in someone who ignores history and facts... Green_Lantern Jul 2012 #38
So said the first three developers of the wheel. LanternWaste Jul 2012 #39
I'm pretty sure a round shaped wheel always worked Green_Lantern Jul 2012 #40
no BOG PERSON Jul 2012 #43
you have yet to make an argument but please keep insulting me... Green_Lantern Jul 2012 #76
you're absolutely right BOG PERSON Jul 2012 #82
Have you read any of Marx? white_wolf Jul 2012 #42
yes I have read Marx and some his ideas have merit.. Green_Lantern Jul 2012 #75
And there you have it folks. At least he/she ADMITS......... socialist_n_TN Jul 2012 #93
I don't think that was my point... Green_Lantern Jul 2012 #100
And bosses are the ONLY ones who can provide leadership........ socialist_n_TN Jul 2012 #111
you make it sound like I'm being greedy just for wanting to run a business Green_Lantern Jul 2012 #112
Why was there a drug test? nt tama Nov 2012 #113
I hope more people wake up to the fact that Blue_Tires Jul 2012 #18
an older wiser friend of mine said marx was not practicle when a strong middle class was around dembotoz Jul 2012 #22
that is usually the result, destruction of the middle class Puzzledtraveller Jul 2012 #25
The middle-class is more accurately described as the protector class, They are the serfs granted Egalitarian Thug Jul 2012 #31
They create their own gravediggers. nt Comrade_McKenzie Jul 2012 #46
Beasts of England, Beasts of Ireland, Beasts of every land and clime, Hearken to my joyful tidings, Nye Bevan Jul 2012 #23
What goes around comes around. Bake Jul 2012 #24
Yeah, they do. This is what? The third time in a little over......... socialist_n_TN Jul 2012 #58
True, but Marxism fails because people are corrupt. Bake Jul 2012 #102
I've been calling myself a "born-again Communist" for years TrogL Jul 2012 #26
Bumping slackmaster Jul 2012 #29
Most of what Marx said about Communism turned out to be false. Unfortunately.. ThoughtCriminal Jul 2012 #35
Socialism not Marxism Mosaic Jul 2012 #36
Here's the party for you. Puzzledtraveller Jul 2012 #37
This message was self-deleted by its author BOG PERSON Jul 2012 #44
Capitalism is a religion that only those incapable of logic and reason... Comrade_McKenzie Jul 2012 #47
Capitalism is a predatory system that is impossible to maintain forever Hugabear Jul 2012 #50
I'm looking forward to a day when Marx is as uncontroversial as Galileo. Starry Messenger Jul 2012 #51
Marxism is making a comeback because liberal economics is failing to explain the world we see. limpyhobbler Jul 2012 #54
my bad. i thought you meant GROUCHO marxism. eom ellenfl Jul 2012 #55
Marxism explains the economy, the political, and the social........ socialist_n_TN Jul 2012 #56
The single-party political system coupled with state-controlled capitalism appears to be winning. FarCenter Jul 2012 #60
LOL...nt SidDithers Jul 2012 #66
It still cracks me up that the Communists bailed out Tsiyu Jul 2012 #73
so now China is Marxist when it suits your argument but not Marxist when people Green_Lantern Jul 2012 #80
Wasn't aware I had made an argument here Tsiyu Jul 2012 #94
sorry to get defensive.. Green_Lantern Jul 2012 #101
No problema Tsiyu Jul 2012 #105
Socialism is on the rise because the Worker will Rise up lovuian Jul 2012 #74
I'm a capitalist who agrees that if left unregulated capitalism would fail Green_Lantern Jul 2012 #77
European Social Democrats, and NOT Lenin were the legitimate heirs of Marx DBoon Jul 2012 #78
bad argument FOR Marxism because Social Democrats rejected Marxism... Green_Lantern Jul 2012 #79
also rejected communist revolution in favor of imperialist war BOG PERSON Jul 2012 #83
Marx wanted Germany to engage in the imperialist Crimean war... Green_Lantern Jul 2012 #104
the same german social democrats BOG PERSON Jul 2012 #89
Very True. Add to that the Anarcho-Syndicalists, the Zapatistas and the Spanish Republic Taverner Jul 2012 #103
Marxism is on the rise because the robber barons are on the loose. nt rrneck Jul 2012 #91
FDR and the Progressives of His Time, Knew That Marxism or Facism Was On The Rise Yavin4 Jul 2012 #108
Latest Discussions»General Discussion»Why Marxism is on the ris...