teaching Marxism in China
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- Category: current online writing
- Published on Friday, 04 November 2011 05:21
- Written by Erik
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I always had this idea that I would like to teach a course on Marxism here in China. Yes, it's just like carrying owls to Athens, coal to Sheffield or selling snow to Inuits. Cool, no? This course will probably never see the light of day, but this evening I'm at least giving a one-off lecture -- on The Communist Manifesto, no less.
So, am I basically in favor or basically against? Well, that's probably the wrong question. Marx was without doubt the greatest social scientist who ever lived, only Adam Smith can really compare. Weber, Durkheim and the others look pale by comparison. Too bad Marx was so horrendously wrong about so much, and too bad he was taken seriously by such a lot of people with such a lot of power.
I wonder what Marx would have thought if he had seen China today? Given the lack of workers' rights, and the tension between social classes, he would surely have decided that what China needs is a Communist Revolution!