File spoon-archives/marxism-intro.archive/marxism-intro_2001/marxism-intro.0110, message 66


Date: Mon, 22 Oct 2001 13:16:40 -0400 (EDT)
From: CJR-AT-pseud.pseud
Subject: Re: M-INTRO: Marx and Mindy


I fully agree with what Che says.  A -- if not the -- primarly reason that
is misunderstood is because his concepts are antithetical to the dominant
ideology.

What Che doesn't emphasize is how difficult Marx is to understand.  In
the first chapter of "The Limits to Capital", David Harvey explains the
burden that Marx places upon the reader:

"This dialectical way of proceeding imposes a great deal upon the reader.
We are forced to grope in the dark, armed with highly abstract and
seemingly a priori concepts we have very little understanding of, working
from perspectives we are not yet in a position to evaluate.  Most readers
therefore encounter great difficulty on reading the first few chapters of
Capital.  But after a painful and often frustrating period of groping, we
begin to perceive where we are and what it is that we are looking at.
Shadowy understandings emerge as Marx bit by bit illuminates for us
different aspects of the intricate complexity of capitalism.  The meaning
of the concepts use value, exchange value and value become clearer in the
course of the analysis.  The more we understand how capitalism works, the
more we understand what these concepts refer to."

Claude


On Mon, 22 Oct 2001 Che-AT-pseud.pseud wrote:

> I have to say I agree with dbags views on Marx, he is highly
> misunderstood, and he should be lauded for his view as they are well
> ahead of his time, and even ahead of today's thinking.  For this reason
> many people mark him and his theories as subversive.  I think that a lot
> of people do not understand Marx simply for the fact of the social views
> that are the norm today.  We are in a capitalistic system of thinking and
> everything outside this social norm of thinking is considered fallacious
> thinking and considered to be subversive.  To truly get at the essence of
> Marx to understand his argument toward capitalism, one has to step have
> to step out of what they are socialized to believe, capitalism, and take
> his argument without it being subjected to personal biases, which cloud
> understanding.  I think many people approach Marx, with preconceived
> notions about Marxian ideas.  This is in large part due to the cold war
> and the systematic demonization of Marx in the subsequent ideology war
> that has taken place and still persists to this day.
> 
> I am no expert in Marxian thought, but know that to truly try and to the
> essence of Marx you have to step outside of what you already perceive to
> be the truth.  Marx indeed was ahead of his time and maybe why he is met
> with such scorn and misunderstanding from those who are engulfed in the
> prevalent capitalistic system.




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