converts to the left

[Carrol Cox]

I was culturally conservative and voted the straight Democratic Ticket
from 1952 through 1964. And when I first read *Capital* it delighted me
as a book but had absolutely no political impact on me, except to
speculate that perhaps a return to feudalism would become necessary. I
moved gradually left in response to the black struggle and vn through
1966, but still (without knowing a fucking thing about it) dismissed
marxism as defunct. (Oh yes, when I taught "A Modest Proposal" in
freshman comp at U of Mich, I essentially taught it as anti-communist
--communism being defined as foolish utopianism). And I think it was in
58 or 59 when I and 3 other (male) grad students spent over 3 hours in a
bar in Ypsilanti arguing with a female grad student in defense of the
cold war. (She, quite sensibly, wanted to know what the hell the
russians would *want* to "occupy the U.S. for.) And, of course, I was in
the Air Force 1951-55, attached to the National Security Agency.

Any how by 1967 I had decided that probably when I found out what
marxism was that would me, and I spent the following years working my
way into a marxist position (while my career but not my job went by-by,
since I had achieved tenure just before things got heavy). Incidentally,
left but not marxist is a pretty empty category. I know leftists who
refuse to *call* themselves marxist, but they might as well, for they
are, labels or no labels. Ezra Pound to Marx and Lenin and Luxemburg and
Mao and .... I guess that counts as right to left.

Carrol

(I'm assuming that after 43 years the statute of limitations or
something like that make it safe to mention NSA.)