[Marxism] The notion of absolute truth and marxisms - aquestionfor the list

["Charles Brown" <cbrown@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Mark Lause

I don't know what a "utopian Marxist" is, but I suspect we don't all mean
the same thing by "utopian" or "Marxist."  And religious people use terms
like "truth" and "proofs," too, but they just mean something different than
this writer.

What I see operating on the Left is a great deal of what can be described in
terms of magic theory.  Do or say the right things in the right sequence and
you get a viable party.  Another set of rituals, you get a movement.  Both
being conceived of primarily as things and objects that you either have or
don't have.  Then you and your assistants perform some more tricks and make
capitalism disappear.

The writings of V.I. Lenin and Karl Marx can be treated like magic books or
religious texts and we can choose to see their work as something like that
of their respective contemporaries, Houdini and P.T. Barnum.  I don't even
care to think about how many times I've heard radicals talk about "smoke and
mirrors."  Or how many "leaders" at the heads of organizations I've heard
who've done quite well by leading "their" organizations.



Perhaps, we should spell this out further in the style of Jeff Foxworthy....
If you think such-and-such, you might be treating radical politics as a
religion....

Solidarity!
Mark L.

^^^^^^

CB: Are you saying Marxism is a science ? Or that we shouldn't pay much
attention to what Marx, Engels and Lenin wrote ?



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