Prep School: On Your Marx

As we reach the bicentennial of Marx’s birth, what lessons might we draw from his dangerous and delirious philosophical legacy? What precisely is Marx’s lasting contribution?

“I am not a Marxist,” Marx is said to have said, and it’s appropriate to distinguish what he intended from the uses other people made of his writings.

There is nothing essential about humans living under capitalism; we humans are capable of organizing ourselves into all kinds of different social orders, including societies with much longer time horizons and far more respect for natural life-support systems.

Although economic insecurity has helped give rise to the divisive appeals of politicians like Walker and Trump, it has also drawn many workers to labor.

In the summer of 2012, Barack Obama informed America’s capitalists that they were not the sole authors of their success… The Republican donor class recoiled in horror at this declaration of “class war.”

By undervaluing the labor of creative professions, we put artists in a double bind: their artistic work isn’t seen as work, but it’s also assumed to be so lucrative that any non-acting job they might pursue is suspect.