[lbo-talk] [Pen-l] thoughts on Marx the journalist?

[socialismorbarbarism]

On Wed, Dec 7, 2011 at 10:07 PM, socialismorbarbarism
<socialismorbarbarism at gmail.com> wrote:
> nathan tankus: "thoughts on Marx the journalist?"
>
> He did it for the money.
>
> That doesn't mean Marx was good at making money from journalism. He
> didn't have what it takes to be a hack, as the linked article shows.
>
> There's an old journalist's credo that goes something like this (if
> anyone can find the original, please post): a) You can do original
> research and track people down and write and re-write your story until
> it's the best it can be, and maybe reveal something that's never been
> revealed before--as long as you get it in by deadline. b) You can fill
> up your column inches with anything that sounds good to your
> editor--as long as you get it in by deadline. c) Both a) and b) pay
> the same.
>
> The article treats what Marx did as some kind of historical curiosity,
> writing journalism that was strange then and even stranger now. Hmmm.
> I don't know. He wrote long, discursive articles about foreign
> affairs, often heavy on abstract economic concepts, yet still bringing
> in the latest news, while for all intents and purposes sitting on his
> ass in the capital city of the leading capitalist power of his day.
> But is this strange?
>
> Isn't there anyone, today, who does this? Maybe even someone else
> writing for a newspaper in New York? Someone who may even have been a
> recent discussion subject of Doug's radio show?
>
> Really, think about it. As journalists Marx and Thomas Friedman are
> *exactly the same.* Except, you know, one of them is one of the
> greatest thinkers the world has ever known, someone whose birdcage
> liner can still be re-read a century and a half later for its
> insights, while the other is a fucking idiot who is proved wrong week
> to week while averaging 2.5 mixed metaphors and 1.8 worthless
> analogies per paragraph. Oh, and one of them lived in obscure poverty,
> while the other lives in a Maryland mansion and gets suck-up phone
> calls from the President of the United States. Little differences like
> that. But the genre is certainly recognizable. So what went wrong
> [sic] for Marx?
>
> Marx seemed constitutionally incapable of just writing shit about shit
> he didn't care about it, or didn't bother to learn about, the loser.
> :) He was constantly screwing up sweet gigs where he could make coin
> simply by re-writing the conventional wisdom, but he fucked up every
> time.
>
> An even better example of how he just couldn't write for mass market
> paydays might be his work for the Dana and Ripley for the American
> Cyclopedia. This project is eventually what allowed Ripley to retire
> in comfort:
>
> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Ripley_(transcendentalist)#Writing
>
> His editors were apparently willing to throw a good bit of work Marx's
> way, but he may have fobbed a lot off on Engels, while here's an
> example of something that clearly has his own touch:
>
> http://www.marxists.org/archive/marx/works/1858/01/bolivar.htm
>
> I read the article, and thought two things. First, does Hugo Chavez
> know about this? Second, what a lousy encyclopedia entry. Marx
> couldn't have gotten away with this article if could have written it
> for free on Wikipedia. Now, it's not an uninteresting piece (even if I
> don't agree with it), and I suppose getting some whacks in on Bolivar,
> who was already on his way to plaster saint status, serves some use.
> But it wasn't going to fly in an encyclopedia (and, sure enough, later
> editions after the war had no trace of Marx's Bolivar article)--and I
> get the impression that Marx didn't really give a shit.
>
>
> On Tue, Dec 6, 2011 at 7:49 PM, nathan tankus
> <somekindofheterodox at gmail.com> wrote:
>> http://www.marxsite.com/Marx%20as%20a%20Journalist.html
>>
>> --
>> -Nathan Tankus
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