Sunday, 7 May 2017

Das Kapital

Forgive me if I'm overloading you by posting twice in one day. I just found this article on the BBC News website:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/election-2017-39837515

It's headlined:

What is Marx's Das Kapital?


There then follows a long article explaining about Karl Marx and his chef d'oeuvre. It's published because John McDonnell, depute leader of the Labour Party, was asked on a political programme if he was a Marxist and apparently had difficulty explaining what his views were. Actually I don't think he had any difficulty at all explaining what his views on the economy of the UK were: he's a smart guy, John McDonnell, more than up to the challenge of discussing political ideas. I think he found himself facing (1) an interviewer who regarded being a Marxist as some sort of crime and (2) he wasn't sure how to explain to the TV audience what he was talking about.

I'm dismayed: I've always thought the UK had one of the best educated populations in the world - and we should have, given how much we invest in education.

Maybe I've got that wrong. Maybe Marxism has dropped off university politics courses. Maybe no one in Labour or SSP Party circles ever raises the fair distribution of wealth in meetings. Maybe a large element of the UK population is suffering from collective amnesia and no longer recognises how unfair it is that the people who produce the goods, provide the services and keep the country going are paid with zero hours contracts, are rewarded with high taxes and low wages, and are regarded as scroungers if they can no longer contribute - and that includes the unemployed, the disabled and people like me, pensioners who worked and contributed for 50 years.

As well as that, I read today that 'rich' people earning £100,000 a year don't regard themselves as wealthy because they compare themselves, not to the rest of the population, but to other rich people. So if Richard Branson or an investment banker or the CEO of a minor company is pulling down mego-millions, the man on £100,000 feels poor. Meanwhile, I know people trying to get by on less than £9,000 a year.

And forgive me, but it's not envy. I don't actually bother that there are people out there earning gazillions more than I do. I'm not a gazillion type of gal: I went into public service to make a difference and was rewarded at the going rate. If you gave me loadsamoney, I'd either waste it on great holidays or give it away. Like most people, I suspect, I crave being 'comfortable.' You know what I mean: not dreading the sound of a bill hitting the carpet, being warm enough, having enough cash for treats for me and my family, and managing the odd day out.

But I know what Marxism is and I know why generations of people right round the world embraced Marxism last century - and I know why it will make a comeback. I always used to think I was living in an age when capitalism was triumphant. Now I think capitalism is failing. Right round the globe. The deal was: we do the work, the capitalists pay us. It's not happening now. So I wouldn't write Marxism off just yet. 

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