Understanding Marxism: The Enemy of Being is Having
Capitalism is the source of all evil. If we can just get rid of the capitalist system, we can eliminate poverty, inequality, exploitation, class conflict, and war. This is what Karl Marx believed, and many today still follow his lead. But is his utopian vision possible? And would we want it even if it were?
C. Bradley Thomspon is the author of “The Redneck Intellectual” on Substack, and America’s Revolutionary Mind: A Moral History of the American Revolution and the Declaration that Defined It.
#marxism #prageru #history #karlmarx
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Script:
Why does anyone still care about Marxism?
Karl Marx has been dead for well over a century.
Everywhere Marxism has been tried, it has left death and destruction in its wake. In fact, nothing in the last thousand years comes close to the amount of tyranny, terror, and mass murder brought about by Marxist regimes.
Yet Marxism lives.
It may present itself today as postmodernism, multiculturalism, feminism, environmentalism, or critical race theory, but it’s still Marxism.
So, there must be good reasons why it has endured — even flourished — in the face of unremitting failure.
Say what you will about Marx the economist, he was a master psychologist. He recognized that there are many people in every society who, like himself, are motivated by envy and resentment.
Marx speaks directly to them. He tells them they are not responsible for the misery in their lives. That responsibility belongs to our remorseless pursuit of money; that is, the capitalist system. If we can just get rid of that, he promises, we can eliminate poverty, inequality, exploitation, class conflict, war, and alienation.
Not a bad list if you’re looking to start a revolution.
But there’s more: Marxism assures us that this socialist utopia is close at hand — available to all, not in some distant future, or in the next life, but here and now.
All we have to do is overcome one little obstacle — human nature.
Marx expressed his deepest views on this subject in his Economic and Philosophical Manuscripts of 1844. They can be summed up in one phrase: The enemy of being is having. In other words, the desire to own things makes you a bad person. However, you’re not to blame. The blame belongs to capitalism.
The most common interpretation of Marx’s philosophy suggests that he opposed capitalism because it creates an unjust world of inequality, exploitation, and class conflict. Marxism, according to this view, is all about equalizing income and social status.
This is true, but it doesn’t go far enough.
Marx saw the accumulation of material wealth as dehumanizing.
The more money and material possessions one acquires, the more estranged one is from his true humanity.
And what was that?
In the philosopher’s socialist paradise, one gets to eat, drink, and go to the theatre free of charge and without having to earn a living. Best of all, you get to do it without the guilt of being a moocher.
All you have to do is enjoy yourself. Or, as Marx put it: “[you can] do one thing today and another tomorrow…hunt in the morning, fish in the afternoon, [and] rear cattle in the evening…”
Yes, rear cattle in the evening. That’s how in touch Marx was with reality.
But who cleans out the sewers — does the “dirty jobs” that keep a society functioning? Ironically, in the evil capitalist society, the sewer cleaner freely chooses to take on this job. In the socialist “paradise” coercion is almost always required.
Marx never bothered with such messy details. He left that to others. Unfortunately, those others always turn out to be megalomaniacs like Lenin, Stalin, Mao, Castro, Pol Pot and Hugo Chavez. They were the ones who brought Marx to life and in the process caused tens of millions to suffer and die.
Contrary to Marx’s claims, work freely chosen brings both money and dignity. Furthermore, most people work best when they pursue their own self-interest, an idea Marx despised.
To him, self-interest turns everyone into Ebenezer Scrooge: greedy, grasping, and unfeeling. Not only is money — that is, capital — inherently corrupting, but the acquisition of it can’t be done honestly or fairly. The rich got rich by exploiting the worker. For Marx, there’s no other possible explanation.
For many today, there is no other possible explanation. For these people, Marx offers a philosophical justification for their anger — even their rage. From generation to generation the formula never varies: only by bringing the “privileged” down, can the “underprivileged” be brought up.
For the complete script, visit: https://www.prageru.com/video/understanding-marxism-the-enemy-of-being-is-having?playlist=understanding-marxism-series
source
Centralization of government is a horrible, heretical evil.
John 12:8 King James Version (KJV)
For the poor always ye have with you; but me ye have not always. Noblesse oblige
phrase of noblesse
the inferred responsibility of privileged people to act with generosity and nobility toward those less privileged.
PragerU is, was, and always will be a joke.
Holy shit this is actually the most braindead video I've ever watched.
Great
2:51 Thompson: As Marx put it, you can do one thing today and another tomorrow. Hunt in the morning, fish in the afternoon, and rear cattle in the evening.
One Minute Later
3:51 Thompson: …most people work best when they pursue their own self-interest. An idea Marx despised.
Marx's main argument was that workers should be free to pursue their self-interests. That's what the hunting, fishing, and rearing cattle quote was about. The guys at PragerU have such a lazy understanding of Marx that they contradicted themselves in the space of a minute. I mean, it's a PragerU video, it's not like I was expecting honesty in the first place, but if they were just gonna lie anyways why didn't they exclude the quote that completely contradicts their point. 😂
Marxism is a cancer that should not be allowed to flourish under any circumstances
marxism legit sounds so based what
Marxism is when 7 deadly sins!!!11111
Im strongly pro Markets and contra Marx(the biggest chunks) but holy Shit is this a Bad front to marxism
jesus christ this is comically bad
The enemy of being is greed! The enemy of being is arrogant dogmatism. The enemy of being is hyperbole. The rich got rich because they deserve to be rich. The poor are poor because they deserve to be poor. Prosperity Gospel. Being rich is a sign of God's favor! That Israel conquered Canaan and Euro Americans Christins conquered pagan N. And S. America was manifest destiny! God Bless Adam Smith, Ayn Rand and lassiez faire Capitalism. And Christian America of course!🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸
2:24 that is true, though…money doesn't buy happiness. (PS: I'm very pro-capitalist, but still).
Marx was a moocher: he was always in debt, always needed the financial aid of others. He had plenty of self interest. The problem with socialism is that eventually you run out of other people's money.
FJB. LGB.
To those young people who think Marx is the way to go, it might help if you know when you have what he offers. Take a look at the history of Russia, including the Communist Revolution. Pay close attention to the period between 1917 and 1953, when the two pillars of the Soviet ruled the country. China between 1945 and 1975, when Mao's leadership and those of his appointed successors ruled the country. These are the periods when the greatest number of people received what Marxism has to offer.
Not to spoil it for you, but both of those time periods for the two cultures would be equivalent to a mass extinction event of the human species if they "ruled" the entire world. 10's of millions of innocent people died of starvation and murder. These are epic stories that only prove that Marx's ideas, if allowed to dominate the leadership of a nation, promise only human misery and death.
That's not something to look forward to, and its not something that the boogie man can be blamed for. Capitalist nations like the US were the destination of people trying desperately to ESCAPE Karl Marx's influence. You are all free to pursue what you believe are your best interests, so if you're so interested in what Karl Marx has to offer you need to go live in Russia, China, Venezuela, North Korea or Cuba. Even just a visit would be enough to cure most people of the foolish notion that Marxism is "the way to go".
Many trips to Russia cured me of mine…
This video is but a taste of how perverted Marxism is. Fundamentally, Marx hated himself and all of existence. The mere thought of making anything to support life was nauseating to him, symbolized by the his notion of property. A very depraved, sadistic, and insane vision by a contemptible human being.
🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣 all the socialist bots in the comment section having their say – Prager U gets their tiny panties in a wad every time!
C. Bradley Thompson is a brilliant thinker and writer, and the info in this video is fantastic, but PragerU continues to treat its video viewers as attention-deficit idiots or toddlers by endlessly popping up words in our faces, as if we can't just be happy watching and listening like adults.
This video is pure strawmanning. Nothing about the means of production, nothing about exploitation or the labor theory of value, nothing about putting political and economic power in the hands of the working class and its allies, no anything. Just pure strawmanning. Typical PragerU video. Seriously, anyone with the slightest ounce of critical thinking skills should see that this is not an educational channel, just conservative propaganda aimed at suburban parents worried about their children going to school with blacks or learning stuff that challenges the conservative ideology
I started watching this video a centrist. I finished this video a far left communist. Thanks for making me based and giving me the Marx pill, PragerU😌
Karl Marx is the walking dead
in Cuba and Venezuela.
Nobody cares about Marxism, Capitalism, communism, wokeism or any of the other political concocted terms that elite try to make up to convilud societies current issues. These scholars like this idiot speaking help sell a narrative to ease tensions from society. BUT THE TRUTH IS SOMETHING THAT COMPLETELY ILLUDES IDIOTS LIKE THIS GUY. The next concocted political term may be something like Cryptosism or Weakassism. This idiot speaking definitely has a Weak ass in him. No spine or backbone. If he only understood that "history is written by the Victos" so, history doesn't matter. Marxism came out victorious in history and that is why historians study it but the people living in that Marxism society didn't feel victorious.
hahahahahahahahaahahahahah
PragerU getting dunked on in the comments. Even your usual conservative audience are laughing at you now.
Go Tigers!! My man from Clemson!!
I remember in first grade we used to have those calendars explaining the different economic systems.
It was like:
communism: you and Fred milk the cow. Fred produces less milk than you. Both of you get the same amount of milk/money
Democracy:
You and Fred milk a cow. You produce more milk than Fred. You get more milk.
Oh, wait, except democracy is not a economic system so propaganda!
Should have said:
Communism:
You and Fred milk a cow, you both own the cow and the farm. Whatever you and Fred produce belongs to you and Fred.
Capitalism:
You and Fred milk a cow.
Fred got sick and died because he wasn't insured and likely not unionized. You produce 20 gallons of milk but someone else owns the cow so you get a pint of milk.
Your children are hungry, you want to be able to provide them a better life but college is too expensive. When people ask why you only get a pint of milk if you produce 20 gallons you laugh and say, yeah, I should really ask for a raise.
You ask for a raise.
You're now unemployed and your children are sick. You aren't mad at the cow owner who said you couldn't milk his cow anymore. You know he must work very hard cause he owns a lot of cows.
You get the idea to buy your own cow and sell your own milk.
Unfortunately your old boss is such a hard worker he's able to price you out of the market. In fact, he can price anyone out of the market as his family has been owning cows for generations now.
Your old boss offers you a gallon of milk for your cow.
You take it.
Your children are removed from your home by the state, you are now penniless and sick. You will die and no one will report on it. You hope one day your kids can own a cow.
The only thing that's keeping Marxism going is ignorance of the present generation. Capitalism is the only system where you can choose to fail or succeed but it comes with a price you actually have to work.
Khan academy is marxist
I've had some really stupid college professors who felt like a complete waste of my money, but I feel like they were actually worth the money, because at least I wasn't at Clemson taking one of your classes. Pretty sure your class is just you making up stuff about topics you know nothing about.