Marx Was Right: Five Surprising Ways Karl Marx Predicted 2014 By Sean McElwee, Rolling Stone 1 February 2014 Theres a lot of talk of Karl Marx in the air these days— from Rush Limbaugh accusing Pope Francis of promoting pure Marxism to a Washington Times writer claiming that New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio is an unrepentant Marxist. But few people actually understand Marxs trenchant critique of capitalism. Most people are vaguely aware of the radical economists prediction that capitalism would inevitably be replaced by communism, but they often misunderstand why he believed this to be true. And while Marx was wrong about some things, his writings (many of which pre-date the American Civil War) accurately predicted several aspects of contemporary capitalism, from the Great Recession to the iPhone 5S in your pocket. Here are five facts of life in 2014 that Marxs analysis of capitalism correctly predicted more than a century ago: 1. The Great Recession (Capitalisms Chaotic Nature) 2. The iPhone 5S (Imaginary Appetites) 3. The IMF (The Globalization of Capitalism) 4. Walmart (Monopoly) 5. Low Wages, Big Profits (The Reserve Army of Industrial Labor) Marx was wrong about many things. Most of his writing focuses on a critique of capitalism rather than a proposal of what to replace it with—which left it open to misinterpretation by madmen like Stalin in the 20th century. But his work still shapes our world in a positive way as well. When he argued for a progressive income tax in the Communist Manifesto, no country had one. Now, there is scarcely a country without a progressive income tax, and its one small way that the U.S. tries to fight income inequality. Marxs moral critique of capitalism and his keen insights into its inner workings and historical context are still worth paying attention to. As Robert L. Heilbroner writes, We turn to Marx, therefore, not because he is infallible, but because he is inescapable. Today, in a world of both unheard-of wealth and abject poverty, where the richest 85 people have more wealth than the poorest 3 billion, the famous cry, Workers of the world unite; you have nothing to lose but your chains, has yet to lose its potency. readersupportednews.org/opinion2/277-75/21822-marx-was-right-five-surprising-ways-karl-marx-predicted-2014
Posted on: Fri, 28 Feb 2014 15:54:53 +0000
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