How Big Tobacco Smoked Out the President

[Louis Proyect]

Chris Burford:
>This is a clash of wings of capitalism just as much as the 16th century
>puritans, in opposing the eating of mince pies at Christmas, were actually
>expressing an underlying class conflict.

Chris, you are confusing economic determinism with Marxism. For a good
example of economic determinism, I recommend Charles Beard's "Economic
Interpretation of the American Constitution" which analyzes the various
provisions on the basis of which segment of the American wealthy it would
benefit.

Marxism has a much more complex approach. Marx's 18th Brumaire explains how
Louis Bonaparte took forceful action against the bourgeoisie in order to
defend its long term interests. Another worthwhile explanation of the
differences is contained in Plekhanov's "The Materialist Conception of
History".

Louis Proyect

(http://www.panix.com/~lnp3/marxism.html)