[Marxism] Marxists and Human Rights

["Funke Jayson J" <funke.jj@xxxxxxxxxx>]

Chris Brady writes: 

"Critics of Marxism chide that their antagonists would prefer to destroy 
excellence in favour of mediocrity for the masses, that Marxists denigrate the 
individual while celebrating the amorphous crowd.  Maybe they need an 
introduction to Marxist dialectics."

In footnote 11 of her introduction to Engel's The Origin of the Family, Private 
Property and the State, (International 1972) anthropologist Eleanor Burke 
Leacock wrote that in regards to arguments revolving around individualism 
versus cooperative society, that "The assumption that cooperativeness 
automatically entails a muting of individuality is seemingly illustrated by the 
much studied Pueblo Indians of the American Southwest, where someone who is too 
ambitious or becomes too successful is liable to be accused of witchcraft. 
Assumptions such as this ignore history. The Pueblo Indians have fought for 
over four centuries to maintain their autonomy and their cooperative society; 
this has not been without its toll. Moreover, in the 16th century, the Spanish 
introduced the practice of killing rebellious Indians as witches..." (25)

One of the more damaging misunderstandings propagated by capital is that people 
are "naturally" competitive. I've heard this arise in conversation numerous 
times, and it is easily believable by folks not steeped in study of the topic.

Jayson Funke 
  
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