Uncle Karl also predicted the recent ukulele craze and was ahead of the curve in embracing the instrument as a tool of revolutionā¦
Marx wasnāt an āeconomistā in the sense of creating models to explain micro- or macro-economics. Today we would probably call him a āfuturist.ā
Youāre rightā¦ I think most people would describe Marx as an historian and philosopher, as he was writing historical texts like The 18th Brumaire. But he was also an activist (The Communist Manifesto was a very active attempt to shape revolution in late 19th century Europe). And he was trying to create a scientific methodology of history, and was in direct conversation with hegel.
Incidental, did you read that recent biography of Marx by Jon Sperber. Iāve been wondering if itās any good:
I think there was also a book published not too long about his personal life, especially in regards to his wife, but canāt remember the name of it.
Eh, not a single citation to any of Marxās writings are given. Marx has always been a very difficult read, and his system of economics flowed less from the Adam Smith model of looking at actual data and output, and more from forming models based on pure reason, highly influenced by the equally unreadable Hegel. And his views changed a lot over time. The Marx of the Communist Manifesto and the revolutions of 1848 is not the same as the Marx of First International and later.
This article takes extreme simplifications of Marx and applies them to extreme simplifications of economics today.
resemblance to the bust a coincidence? I donāt think so.
Are you saying Marx predicted a future world ruled by white apes via his hairdressing choices?
To be fair, you canāt really expect footnotes in Rolling Stone.
It seems to me that this article takes some points of Marxās theories that are at this point relatively well-trod ground by people who actually study marx and connects them to specific historical events happening right now. Iād suspect the author is taking from some condensed version of say Capital or the communist manifesto, or more likely, a condensed treatment of one of those works.
Iāve always thought that Marx was very much an enlightenment thinker and was fully grounded in the events of Europe, both politically, socially, and economically, and reason was one of the core ideals of enlightenment thoughtāmaking man the center of history.
I think that Marx attempting to āturn hegel on his headā and ground historical processes in the material instead of some zeitgeist was a pretty important shift. That being said, youāre right, compared to Adam Smith, he absolutely was far more based on reason, but that was probably due to his environment as much as anything.
Also, this itās in the Rolling Stoneā¦ hardly a peer reviewed journal. I think we can forgive him not giving us specific citations.
Is Marx the new Nostradamus? Take some of his gnomic writing and apply it to an event that has since come to pass?
You may have noticed those events were not randomly chosen, but were economic events. You may also have noticed that Marx was a philosopher of economics. So no, the comparison to Nostradamus isnāt a strong one.
or knowledgeable choices for album of the year.
The instrument heās holding is a dobro.
Actually, itās both!!! National made/makes them. It is specifically this model:
http://www.nationalguitars.com/instruments/ukemahogany/mahogany.html
They are quite gorgeous and quite expensiveā¦ I know because I made the pictureā¦ 
Itās a Dobro Uke.
Such a thing was inevitable under the Marxian dialectic. Thesis: ukulele. Antithesis: resonator guitar. Synthesis: what you see before you.
ZING!!! Absolutely true! Marx makeās all things clear, comrade!
Whereās his Fucken Neck?
I think most people wince at trying to pronounce an khiā¦ an kxiā¦ an kchiā¦ an [unpronouncible grinding sound]ā¦ consonantal h cannot follow n in English.
Soā¦ donāt pronounce it? Personally, I find myself wavering between saying āa historianā and āan 'istorianā, according to whether I want to sound heducated or like an 'ick.
Or, you know, you could stop reading aloud.
