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Just because his economic theories tend to have historically been executed exceedingly poorly by mendacious totalitarian thugs doesn't mean that he couldn't hav
by Nihilartikel 11y ago
Just because his economic theories tend to have historically been executed exceedingly poorly by mendacious totalitarian thugs doesn't mean that he couldn't have actually been correct about a thing or two, here and there.
- Animats 11y agoAs a general comment, Marx wrote in a period when 1) productivity was much lower and the big problem was still making enough stuff, and 2) most labor was direct labor, so there was a direct relationship between labor inputs and product outputs. Neither of those apply to the developed world today. Many of the developed world's economic problems come from the fact that we no longer need many people to make the stuff and provide the services. US employment in manufacturing, mining, construction, and agriculture is now about 14% of the US workforce. In Marx's day, 80-90%. Marx wrote in an era when capital for enterprises was hard to accumulate. Now we have a capital glut, but a demand shortage. Economic policy-making hasn't caught up to this yet.
- danieltillett 11y agoYou are totally right John. Marx is like all the 19th C scientists - things have moved on and most of what he had to say is no longer relevant. He did give the plutocrats a scare for awhile.
- rasz_pl 11y agoI find Das Kapital extremely relevant today.
- danieltillett 11y agoI did say most, not all :)
- deleted 11y ago[deleted]
- doyoulikeworms 11y agoJust because someone says that a quote sounds like Karl Marx doesn't mean they're saying he was incorrect about everything. Defensive, much?
- tim333 11y agoIt would hard to fill the 50 volumes of Marx/Engels Collected Works with statements that were entirely false but there is a fair amount of bunk in there too. I don't think Marx is entirely innocent of the suffering that tends to follow when people try to implement his ideas.