-----Original Message----- From: owner-lbo-talk at lists.panix.com [mailto:owner-lbo-talk at lists.panix.com]On Behalf Of Tahir Wood Sent: Monday, September 23, 2002 4:23 AM To: lbo-talk at lists.panix.com Subject: Re: Lefty Despair and Re: More Michael Parenti Re: Deserving Americans Marxism simply isn't gonna take hold in this country -- not with its republican tradition -- and this mad belief in Marxism's ineivtable triumph is, again, similar to the belief in the Second Coming. And Maoism? Right. Wake me for that one.
What is Marxism anyway? I always thought it was mainly a critique of certain variants of the 19th century economic theories - and as such, it's chances of "taking a hold" in this country are indeed minuscule. Americans tend to be anti-intellectual and generally have little understanding of complex theoretical arguments and, for that matter, any story with a complex plot (that is why most foreign literature is so embarassingly unpopular here, save it for the campus elites here and there).
But in popular usage, Marxism also means a form of utopia or a blue print for a better society. That utopian train of thought seems very popular in this country, albeit it is heavily infested with cheap religiosity and pettit bourgeois sentiments. Too bad that Marx did not have much to say on this subject - most of what passes for "marxism" in this sense was imputed by social reformers of various stripes who adopted Marx as their patron saint.
wojtek