mjordan2nd said:
I find that a very intelligent post, Penny. I don't know too much about marxism other than what everyone knows, so I may be wrong on certain points. I will say, however, that my economic views lean left. I think that the idea of Marxism is good. I am also one of those people who thinks that in practice it would not work, as evinced by the communist nations that we have seen over the last century. One could argue that the leaders of these communist nations were corrput and dictatorial, and they would have a valid point. Nevertheless, I think that the only way to implement a communist type of economic system without anarchy breaking loose is through a very involved, almost tyrannical government, for the simple reason that communism goes against human nature. We are a very competitive species, and the idea of sharing even simple things must be instilled into our minds from a very young age, otherwise we are extremely posessive about everything. Communism is so counterintuitive to us that I belive we would rebel unless we had a very strict, guiding government. Also, throughout the history of man, there has always been a hierarchical socioeconomic structure. Abolishing this structure, is once again, against human nature. What the repercussions of abolishing the hiearchical society would be, I don't know, but I don't think it would fly too well.
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Yeah, well Marxism doesn't deal with things "flying well". I see your objections, and they are understandable and easily defendable. However, Marx speaks to that. This is Marx talking, not me, but he belives that there is no human nature, and that everything we do in the high brain (so I'm not considering sex drive, need for food, water, etc) is all the way that you are nurtured.
When saying that it wouldn't fly, and people would object, that's because you are seeing it as the attempts at communism that governments have tried. In a true Marxist system, there is no objection to it. It doesn't come from the government forcing it on the people. It is just another economic phase change, one of the loops. While going through the loop, there are more and more small changes called quantitative changes. In the "loop" of capitalism, for instance, a quantitative change would be in more people falling from the upper class into the lower class, and more and more workers getting exploited (yes workers are exploited in Capitalism, they are only worth their human labor because the upper class expropriates their means of production rendering them useless except for their ability to work). Then, when "enough is enough" of the old system, there is a "qualitative" change that marks the begining of a new loop. Like I said, with class struggle driving that loop, it must stop at communism. Why? Well, there are no classes! There is a WHOLE lot of depth to what Marx is saying, so much that it is impossible to describe in a post
.
Honestly, MJ, you would REALLY enjoy reading Das Kapital, one of Marx's works. I recommend getting this book.
http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/...270517-3139855
It's an easy read, since you probably don't want to read the large, overly wordy Das Kapital. I
strongly urge you to buy this, it will open up some great new windows of thought for you. This book is entertaining and intelligent (it has a comic running through it describing whats on each page as well, they are very smart comics and are fun to read and will make clearer the Marxist thought that you are enjoying on each page).
Good day!