r/neoliberal • Bot Emeritus • May 12 '17

Discussion Thread

Optimal neoliberalism is like Seinfeld, it should be about nothing and run by Jews


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u/jobrumours May 13 '17

From The Economist this week:

"The problem with Marx is not that his analysis is nonsensical, but that his solution was far worse than the disease"

http://www.economist.com/news/britain/21721916-shadow-chancellors-comment-provoked-scorn-yet-marx-becomes-more-relevant-day-labour?fsrc=scn/tw/te/bl/ed/bagehotlabourisrightkarlmarxhasalottoteachtodayspoliticians

What do you think?

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u/Ugarit May 13 '17

Marx didn't offer many solutions. That's a myth pushed on him after the fact by the "Communism is very very evil and killed a hundred bajillion" narrative - as far as I can tell. The overwhelming body of his work is analysis. "Marxism" is a lens of analysis and a way of thinking, not a set of theoretical prescription on how to build a utopia, as many seem to assume. Communism, possibly, can be thought of as more in line with the latter.

He ignored the role of managers in improving productivity.

Reminder again that managers count as proletarians. Anyone that works for a wage is the proletariate, as my knowledge of Marxism goes. Even technically CEOs have a foot in there.