Sorry if this is a stupid question but fortunately I’m uneducated.
You have “Marxist economists” like Richard Wolff and Michael Hudson, and you have “non-Marxist leftists” like Noam Chomsky and Carl Oglesby. What do Marxist and non-Marxist mean in this context? Is it like, Marxists think that everything Marx thought was correct and non-Marxists think everything he thought was wrong? Or is it like a >50% thing, if you think Marx was right more than half the time you’re a Marxist and if not then you’re a non-Marxist?
This is probably the wrong community to ask but how is it possible to be a non-Marxist (assuming that means you think Marx was wrong about everything) when fictitious capital and a reserve army of labor are staring you in the face?
Generally, a Marxist is one that places Marxist analysis above all other economic interpretations and schools of thought. Marx was wrong about a few things, but in the grand scheme of things is overwhelmingly correct. The Marxists that think Marx was 100% correct are actually extremely few in number, because things like the way imperialism evolved came after Marx could even observe them, and his work was unfinished. He’s closer to 99% correct.
Plus, he got some math wrong sometimes like in volume 2 of Capital, and Engels had to correct him on it. Marx never finalized it though so he gets a pass on that IMO, and it was very uncommon for him to get arithmetic wrong.
Chomsky and the like explicilty reject Marx. They disagree with the law of value, dialectical and historical materialism, etc. Even if they agree with ideas like surplus value extraction, rejecting the law of value, dialectical and historical materialism, etc. is what makes them non-Marxist.
Did Chomsky not even know dialectics?
It me. It sounds like “theres are 2 opposing systems that fundamentally dont work together. Eventually this conflict gets resolved with something that makes sense of them both.” Is this way off, or in the ballpark?
Ballpark, I’d say! There’s a lot more to it than that, though, such as the interdependence of these opposing forces (capitalists and workers oppose each other but depend on them too) and if you’re down for a read I recommend Elementary Principles of Philosophy by Georges Politzer.
Cool, thanks
No problem!
Thanks, interesting site. I found something on there relating to my question, from “Why Marxism?”:
Emphasis mine. Seems like there are different definitions of what it means to be Marxist.
Well, that’s the Marxist stance when finding political power
Chomsky is a liberal
Yep, not a fan of Chomsky at all. Take a look at On Chomsky if you have half an hour to burn and want to hate the guy, haha.
Edit: Didn’t see you linked it! Now I look a bit foolish, haha.
Didn’t burn a whole hour but I do now have a burning dislike to replace the admiration I had previously
NYT and USA are both “the best in the world”? 🤮🤮
Yep, there’s also litanies against Anthony Bourdain and George Orwell if you want to gain even more hatred, haha.
Chomsky is to the left what Taco Bell is to Mexican food.
But I have a soft spot for Taco Bell… One of the easiest brands to veganize in a pinch, and I had it a lot growing up, haha. I do see your point though, good Mexican food blows it out of the water and it isn’t close.
Ok, cleared up again by Cowbee. That’s exactly what I was asking, thanks comrade o7. Btw did you see you made the front page of MeanwhileOnGrad? Someone didn’t know what propaganda is and somehow blamed that on… tankies? Idk it was pretty embarassing tbh lol.
Edit: Here it is
No problem!
Oh yea, I have some dedicated haters that put an almost supernatural reverance/fear of me. I’ve been on MWoG many times, I don’t really take anything that Nazi bar says seriously just like I don’t take flat Earthers or MAGA seriously. It is funny when even that Nazi bar pushes back against OP though, haha.
My favorite self-report from that thread:
These people are the type to drown in a few inches of water at the penguin exhibit lmfao
Yea, there have been some zingers from that lot in the past, and I expect many more to come.
XD
Hey how do you get those pictures and stuff in your replies?
Hexbear emotes! On the web version of Hexbear there’s a whole slew of emojis
I really don’t know how you do it, you’re stronger than me, I couldn’t handle that level of liberal smug ignorance. I hate how every non lemmygrad/hexbear place on the fedverse is just pure reddit smuggness, no idea why they ever left.
I really don’t take any of them seriously, just like I don’t take flat Earthers or MAGA seriously. The ones that change over time more than make up for it, as well as the ones that already were fairly pro-communism but wanting direction. That’s about it, really!