Great article overall except I don't understand the second to last paragraph. I don't see Marx as ever being liberal in his thinking, especially not classically liberal. There's no way he was a liberal in 1848 when he had published the incredibly racist book "On the Jewish Question" in 1844.
His early views were steeped in Protestant liberalism, ie freedom of speech/press/religion, as his father's views had been, too. In the 1840s his ideas morphed from essentially liberal and communal to more of his working-class revolutionary notions. He believed that capitalism was a "good thing" in that it was the first step towards socialism and eventually state-run communism. But he also often courted capitalists and he himself was of the bourgeoise class. So you're not wrong, but there is some fascinating nuance here.
Interesting. I guess the 1840s were part of his conversion to communism. You probably already know that Marx's father was entrepreneurial and made the family quite a bit of money. Marx ended up marrying into the aristocracy as well.
"... the essay On the Jewish Question reveals an element of anti-Semitism that played a fundamental role in the conversion of Marx to Communism. Criticism of the Jew served to support the Marxian thesis that capitalism, identified with Judaism, is evil. New sources have reinforced the suspicion that not only is there at this time of 1843-44 an element of anti-Semitism in Marx’s writings, but that this sentiment played a key role in his conversion to communism. This is what this essay seeks to prove."
Yes. I did. Agree with you re the antisemitism. The author of the biography I'm reading actually defends Marx in this regard, which I did not agree with or buy. So you're right. Interestingly, Engles, his best friend and coauthor, worked in the cotton wholesale industry. Good ole contradictions and hypocrisy.
Great article overall except I don't understand the second to last paragraph. I don't see Marx as ever being liberal in his thinking, especially not classically liberal. There's no way he was a liberal in 1848 when he had published the incredibly racist book "On the Jewish Question" in 1844.
His early views were steeped in Protestant liberalism, ie freedom of speech/press/religion, as his father's views had been, too. In the 1840s his ideas morphed from essentially liberal and communal to more of his working-class revolutionary notions. He believed that capitalism was a "good thing" in that it was the first step towards socialism and eventually state-run communism. But he also often courted capitalists and he himself was of the bourgeoise class. So you're not wrong, but there is some fascinating nuance here.
Interesting. I guess the 1840s were part of his conversion to communism. You probably already know that Marx's father was entrepreneurial and made the family quite a bit of money. Marx ended up marrying into the aristocracy as well.
"... the essay On the Jewish Question reveals an element of anti-Semitism that played a fundamental role in the conversion of Marx to Communism. Criticism of the Jew served to support the Marxian thesis that capitalism, identified with Judaism, is evil. New sources have reinforced the suspicion that not only is there at this time of 1843-44 an element of anti-Semitism in Marx’s writings, but that this sentiment played a key role in his conversion to communism. This is what this essay seeks to prove."
https://www.scielo.br/j/rep/a/rcTfQnnsQSH8s7dxFwmWHrf/#:~:text=Criticism%20of%20the%20Jew%20served,in%20his%20conversion%20to%20communism.
Yes. I did. Agree with you re the antisemitism. The author of the biography I'm reading actually defends Marx in this regard, which I did not agree with or buy. So you're right. Interestingly, Engles, his best friend and coauthor, worked in the cotton wholesale industry. Good ole contradictions and hypocrisy.
Very enlightening .