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Marx after communism
The Economist ^ | Dec 19th 2002

Posted on 12/19/2002 7:00:36 PM PST by Sawdring

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To: cornelis
Either way, it's bunk, IMO. As much as I like Fukuyama's Hegelian interpretation of the failure of Marxism, I can't put any more stock in Hegel than Marx. It's all just a little too much historical determinism for my tastes ;)
41 posted on 12/21/2002 11:00:20 AM PST by general_re
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To: general_re
Where marxism/liberalism(social evolution) came from...

That's the case with the Darwinists in the United States. The majority of the people are skeptical of the theory. And if the theory starts to waver a bit, it could all collapse, as Napoleon's army did in a rout."

"They have... lost(link)---a big one."

"They're like Napoleon's army in Moscow. They have occupied a lot of territory, and they think they've won the war. And yet they are very exposed in a hostile climate with a population that's very much unfriendly."

42 posted on 12/21/2002 1:36:28 PM PST by f.Christian
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To: Sawdring
thanks. good question.

actually, i picked up the idea while in grad school from a jesuit philosophy professor with whom i read plato in the original attic dialect. his pet peeve was the marxist students telling him that they were atheists, in particular the other student whom he tutored, a ph.d. candidate in philosophy, in his early 20's, a marxist.

the jesuit maintained that marxism was a secular messianic religion. marxists believe in man's alienation from the world, while rejecting god's grace, and substitute themselves as a messianic messengers of a new world which they will create by revolution. jews figure into this alienation since they have been in exile.

chiliasm derives from "xilioi" in classical greek, simply means 1000, and is thus equal to the latin millinarianism, a thousand years, and those religious who believe in the doctrine of the millenium, that a savior will present himself, and that a just society will follow.

jews don't believe in jesus, but prefer to wait, believing that another true savior will appear.

many jews substituted the internationalism of communism and the russian revolution . they believe in a "tikkun olam", or repair of the world, repair by human actions would erase social injustices, especially anti-semitism. in other words, human revolutionaries become gods.

this explains in part why many liberal jews celebrate the holocaust and blame germany, but forget that stalin had too a "final solution" to kill off the rest of the jews. indeed, stalin killed more jews than did hitler.

according to david horowitz, in the politics of bad faith, the radical assault on america's future, p.122, there were two schools of thought amongst european jews: 1. the internationalists such as trotsky and deutscher argued for remaining in europe and overthrowing capitalism, a marxist revolution would bring social justice and the end of anti-semitism. and 2. the zionists argued for immigration to palestine to build a new state.

the zionists had created israel as a " raft state", and it had to be defended as such, until the time came when the international revolution, in which he (and i) still believed, would eliminate the need for such a refuge. p. 228, radical son, also by horowitz.

in other words, a world revolution would destroy capitalism, create a just society, and eliminate anti-semitism.

i turned to horowitz to answer your question, because his books are at hand, and my professor's lectures have long ago faded from my memory. i strongly recommend horowitz' "the politics of bad faith", especially ch. 3, the religious roots of radicalism, in which he discusses marxism and judiasm, from which some of this answer was taken.

p.s., the jesuit philosophy faculty member took early retirement, because of the leftists in his university in the 1980s, and emigrated to italy.

43 posted on 12/22/2002 12:55:29 PM PST by koax
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To: koax
The elimination of capitals is marxist : )
44 posted on 12/22/2002 3:58:37 PM PST by cornelis
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To: cornelis
and a merry hyundai and happy daiwoo-woo to you and yours!

may your stockings be filled with korean, chinese, ... joy!

45 posted on 12/24/2002 3:42:47 PM PST by koax
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To: koax

46 posted on 12/24/2002 4:35:22 PM PST by cornelis
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