A generation (Z) has been brainwashed by social justice fundamentalists with warmed over Marxism because too many Gen Xers did a terrible job raising their children.
My son came home from college reading Marx, and I asked him to research who Karl Marx was – the son of privilege who never worked as a laborer in his life and let his own children die of starvation rather than get a job.
Like Thomas Sowell said, “The offspring of privilege have dominated the leadership of Marxist movements from the days of Marx and Engels through Lenin, Mao, Castro, Ho Chi Minh, and their lesser counterparts around the world and down through history. The sheer reiteration of the "working class" theme in Marxism has drowned out this plain fact.”
But it was when he looked at what was taken out of his paycheck that he started to find out the truth.
Agreed. I've enjoyed every book I've read by Sowell - it's a gift to be that smart as an economist and then be able to make it readable. Usually economists make it so boring - like Marx!
One thing I especially liked about his book is that he maintains a neutral view throughout most of the book, just clearly explaining it. He reserves his devastating critique for the final chapter. (I did the same thing when I took a Marxism course at Oxford. My tutor liked me until my final essay!)
I don't recall. I don't think he gave me a bad grade -- that would be really bad after he had liked all my previous essays. But I'm sure it killed my chance of an A. This was the mid-1980s when ideological distortion in the universities was not *quite* as bad as today. Interestingly, I also had a Marxist tutor for an ethics class and we got on well (he had been in jail in South Africa) but then we didn't discuss politics.
My son came home from college reading Marx, and I asked him to research who Karl Marx was – the son of privilege who never worked as a laborer in his life and let his own children die of starvation rather than get a job.
Like Thomas Sowell said, “The offspring of privilege have dominated the leadership of Marxist movements from the days of Marx and Engels through Lenin, Mao, Castro, Ho Chi Minh, and their lesser counterparts around the world and down through history. The sheer reiteration of the "working class" theme in Marxism has drowned out this plain fact.”
But it was when he looked at what was taken out of his paycheck that he started to find out the truth.
Get in the Ring, Karl Marx! https://lizlasorte.substack.com/p/get-in-the-ring-karl-marx-v-thomas?r=76q58
Sowell's book on Marx is excellent and highly readable.
Agreed. I've enjoyed every book I've read by Sowell - it's a gift to be that smart as an economist and then be able to make it readable. Usually economists make it so boring - like Marx!
One thing I especially liked about his book is that he maintains a neutral view throughout most of the book, just clearly explaining it. He reserves his devastating critique for the final chapter. (I did the same thing when I took a Marxism course at Oxford. My tutor liked me until my final essay!)
I wonder, did he give you a high grade, or did he give you the ideological debit?
I don't recall. I don't think he gave me a bad grade -- that would be really bad after he had liked all my previous essays. But I'm sure it killed my chance of an A. This was the mid-1980s when ideological distortion in the universities was not *quite* as bad as today. Interestingly, I also had a Marxist tutor for an ethics class and we got on well (he had been in jail in South Africa) but then we didn't discuss politics.