[lbo-talk] Reading Capital

[Yoshie Furuhashi]

Karl Marx's Capital, in three volumes, consists of 2,261 pages  
(International Publishers, 1967).  The average American's reading  
speed is said to be one page per minute (or about 250 words per  
minute).  So, if an American worker reads Capital, it is likely to  
take the worker at least 2,261 minutes -- about 38 hours.

According to the most recent American time use survey results  
("American Time Use Survey -- 2004 Results Announced by BLS,"  
September 20, 2005, <http://www.bls.gov/news.release/pdf/atus.pdf>),  
men spend 0.30 hour, and women 0.42 hour, per weekday (and men spend  
0.37 hour and women 0.49 hour per weekend) on reading in the United  
States.  That's about 2.24 hours per week for men and 3.06 hours per  
week for women.

If an average male American worker and an average female American  
worker devoted all their reading time to reading nothing but Capital  
-- a tough regimen! -- it would take the male worker about 17 weeks  
and the female worker 12 weeks to finish reading the three volumes of  
it.

If Capital is on few American workers' reading list, the chief reason  
may be its length rather than difficulty, or rather American workers'  
inability to win leisure.

Yoshie Furuhashi
<http://montages.blogspot.com>
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