> Marx does argue for a "mechanical determination of ideology" He literally doesn't. He is a materialist in that he doesn't believe in magic or god. He is not

> Marx does argue for a "mechanical determination of ideology" He literally doesn't. He is a materialist in that he doesn't believe in magic or god. He is not a mechanical, deterministic one because he doesn't think there's an obvious 1-1 determination of social structure -> ideology, but instead that the two influence each other in extremely complicated ways even though ultimately everything flows from material reality. This is a pretty basic point and embarrassing to get wrong if you're an economist talking about Marx! And obviously Marx thought Engels could be a communist despite being from a bourgeois background, which is what Piketty is saying Marx has an extremely crude theory of. > Piketty does have a theory The other person responded to this but yeah I did not say he doesn't have a theory, but that his theory is flawed in that he thinks "why don't we just change the laws the bourgeois made".