Jefferson predicted many of the same problems as Marx did and had proposed solutions that were so ridiculous that no one even bothered to try them. He also owned slaves.


Both were visionaries that could be discounted because of their faults by people who can't see past them to see the brilliance of what they did.

 

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He was so dreamy.

 

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Pretty confident that Marx abhorred the idea of individualism, actually I think that's what initially separated him from the Hegel disciples, which is what set him off on his path eventually giving us Das Capital...

 

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Unlike our discussion in the other thread, I completely agree with Onin here. Marx and Jefferson made mistakes by our modern standards, but they were clearly considered normal by these same standards when they lived. Even the liking the mochachino thing Jefferson had going on, those things happened.

 

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Das Kapital is in large part about the nature of the ownership of the means of production. Individual ownership of the means of production is counter to ideals like Indpendence in his world view.


His position is based on the idea that a small group of people will own the means of production and amass great power and wealth while other simply work. This pits these two groups against one another and turns Democracy into a conflict between the power of people versus the power of money.

 

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Marx's contribution to world history was his diagnosis of the problems with capitalist economies, not his solutions.


Ironically, it was probably his own work that stopped his predictions from coming to pass. He didn't properly account for the fact that the capitalist classes would read and understand his work and decide to buy off the proletariat rather than exploit it to the point of revolution.


Marx created the world we live in today as much as almost any other single person.

Not at all. Marx didn't care what vocation you chose to pursue. You're confusing how communist countries have misued central planning in the name of Marx. You could be a business owner (Marx said somebody would need to do this) or work for the business, but the key point was the distribution of profits from the business. Instead of paying somebody a wage that remains static despite great profits, everyone should receive compensation relative to their input into the work. This would not only make the workplace more equitable, it would drive workers toward excellence at their jobs. There are a few companies around that attempt some form of these core principles. Southwest Airlines is one and it's probably the reason why they seem to always do well.

 

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Yes, in a purely theoretical realm Marx is godlike. In the practical realm its those things called people that fuck it up, time after time.

 

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A capitalist Democracy can be corrupted too last time I checked.


I agree people are the problem.

 

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Screw individualism, if everyone was just like you the world would be a great place...


Or put another way...

 

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