Reddit reviews Marx's Capital Illustrated: An Illustrated Introduction
We found 7 Reddit comments about Marx's Capital Illustrated: An Illustrated Introduction. Here are the top ones, ranked by their Reddit score.
> why did socialism drop off in the consciousness of working people?
In many countries around the world socialism is still openly pushed for by large movements and established politicians. In the US socialism and the true left in general were quite literally killed off. People actually died fighting for the 8 hour work day, striking workers and their families were gunned down by company mercenaries, and during the largest labor uprising in the US the president ordered military bombers to attack coal miners from the air. Then we had several iterations of the Red Scare, decades of psychologically grounded propaganda from capitalists and the federal government in cooperation, and the rise of neoliberalism.
Capitalists rightly saw that socialism was a threat to their bottom line so they did everything they could to stop it. Socialism did not just fade away, it was methodically stamped out.
Post-modernism, the Frankfurt school, Trotsky, Stalin, these are not things that contemporary socialists concern themselves with in general. Thinking about academic distinctions and focusing on one attempted socialist revolution is not the way to understand socialism.
First read what some of the most famous socialists have to say about socialism. Debs, Du Bois, Einstein, Goldman, Marx (this is a great intro to Capital), and many others whom I cannot recall off hand.
To them socialism is simple: workers controlling the means of production. That means democracy in the workplace, where bosses are elected and business decisions are made by the workers. It means the abolition of private property (not the end of personal possessions), when no one can own a river and environmental destruction is not merely an 'externality'. It means the end of wage slavery, so no one is forced to rent themselves just to survive. It means the end of capitalism, the toxic ideology that private greed will somehow lead to public good.
Socialism has nothing to do with a State, anarchism is a form of socialism. Socialism has to do with how economic organizations are run and does not need a government decree or political revolution. Employee owned businesses are socialist. Socialism does not need the end of market economies, the first formulation of anarchism (mutualism) was a market socialist. If socialism means any one thing then it is this: a society organized in such a way that human well being is prioritized over profit.
As the culmination of capitalism reveals the monster that it truly is, people are searching for alternatives and those with the greatest potential to adapt to new ideas are finding it first. I think that's why so many young people are finding that socialism holds the greatest promise for a better future. We're not being pushed left, we're been searching for an alternative to the self destructive economies we struggle to survive in today. Socialism is that alternative.
https://www.amazon.com/Marxs-Capital-Illustrated-Introduction/dp/1608462668
Sure thing!
David Smith's Illustrated guide to Capital is a great introduction.
Also, anything by Tony Smith. He is an incredibly clear writer, and tends to steer clear of the obtuse language in which many Marxist scholars like to indulge.
If you ever feel like getting more serious in your study of Marx, then the following are great resources.
Karl Marx's Theory of Revolution by Hal Draper;
Time, Labor, and Social Domination by Moishe Postone;
Marx Without Myth by Rubel and Manale
Also, I highly recommend that you spend time actually reading Marx, especially Capital Vol. I. I have found the secondary literature on Marx to be incredibly poor. So reading Marx is essential to getting a grip on his thought.
Funnily enough I found this
And [this] (https://www.amazon.com/dp/1608462668/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_i_xGvUCbJAG1RXQ)
All of these, even the heavy reading one, are appropriate for a beginner. Pick how big your first bite will be!
Casual:
Moderate difficulty:
Heavy reading:
Is this the one? https://www.amazon.com/Marxs-Capital-Illustrated-Introduction/dp/1608462668
It looks like a cartoon interpretation of Das Kapital? No?
This although it may seem childish it really breaks down the concepts perfectly.