4 ms·
I disagree with all your empirical assertions about DPRK, etc. but let's put that aside. I think you underestimate two things: 1. The impossibility of strayin
by RedCondor 3y ago
I disagree with all your empirical assertions about DPRK, etc. but let's put that aside.
I think you underestimate two things:
1. The impossibility of straying from Marxism from a strictly scientific/historiographic point of view: It's similar to trying to chart an independent path from Newton or Darwin. Marx simply was the one who coined some plain true scientific observations, so your only two options are to artificially depart (towards incorrectness), or to try to pass off Marxist observations as personal novelties (as, say, Marshall McLuhan did). This is sussed out as soon as things begin to get politically interesting, and gets called a scandalous trick as soon as it's exposed (by both opponents and supporters). I think rigor and plain-speaking honesty is the better way.
2. The relationship between understanding Marxism and one's own economic situation. Marxism appeals to two large camps of people: people who pursue the truth no matter what, and toilers for whom settling for a wrong choice isn't an option. As the essay explains, "The West" has temporarily immunized itself from Marxism not in a rhetorical or cultural sense, but simply through sheer resource transfer. This is going away, and so Marxism is coming back.
In the end, the whole semantic discussion, which rarely points to any specific improvements and instead pleads for rhetorical or stylistic improvements, is a bit reminiscent of back in the 90s or 00s, when many well-meaning commentators argued that "feminism" had had its heyday. They argued it had become a rather toxic term, and that it was time for "egalitarianism" or some other re-skinned, watered-down variant that was more inclusive, to really make headway.
Of course, in the ensuing years feminism simply steadily gained ground until it became a national fixture, warts and all. This is basically what's going to happen with the supposedly-banished Marxism.