Yes, actually reading Marx is so enlightening and refreshing compared to hearing half thought-out opinions online.
I know people talk about it like reading is boring, but I actually think Marx and Engels are very engaging writers and the works hold up a lot better than some of the classic fiction read in high schools.
You just have to motivate yourself by all of the dunks on political scientists. Here's a cool excerpt from Ch. 15 of Capital, emphasis mine:
Mr Ashworth, an English cotton magnate, imparted the following lesson to Professor Nassau W. Senior: 'When a labourer lays down his spade, he renders useless, for that period, a capital worth eighteen-pence. When one of our people leaves the mill, he renders useless a capital that has cost £100,000'. Just imagine that! Making "useless", if only for a single moment, a piece of capital that has cost £100,000! It is in truth monstrous that a single one of our people should ever leave the factory!
He constantly uses dunks like this to justify his point and I love it.
What did you read from Marx? The issue is that a lot of his texts have a much different purpose from Lenin's and Mao's or even Engels'. He was trying to put a new science on firm and rigorous footing, unlike them who were often trying to appeal to a very wide audience, or face concrete and specific problems. People hear a lot about Das Kapital etc so often they think "wow if it is so important I have to try and read it" and then they see stars or end up misinterpreting stuff because it really isn't an amazing place to start, especially if you are on your own.
Reading is great because you can also go at your own pace, and reread sections until they make sense. YouTube leftists skim the books, and summarize with their own perspectives, which can sometimes be helpful in bringing relevant to the ideas, but mostly they lose the precise wording that authors are putting in the books.
Yes, actually reading Marx is so enlightening and refreshing compared to hearing half thought-out opinions online.
I know people talk about it like reading is boring, but I actually think Marx and Engels are very engaging writers and the works hold up a lot better than some of the classic fiction read in high schools.
I find Engels, Lenin, Mao and others to be great writers. But Marx is a different beast. Like, he's legit tough to read.
deleted by creator
But how many coats is it per yard? He never commits to an answer smh my head.
You just have to motivate yourself by all of the dunks on political scientists. Here's a cool excerpt from Ch. 15 of Capital, emphasis mine:
He constantly uses dunks like this to justify his point and I love it.
What did you read from Marx? The issue is that a lot of his texts have a much different purpose from Lenin's and Mao's or even Engels'. He was trying to put a new science on firm and rigorous footing, unlike them who were often trying to appeal to a very wide audience, or face concrete and specific problems. People hear a lot about Das Kapital etc so often they think "wow if it is so important I have to try and read it" and then they see stars or end up misinterpreting stuff because it really isn't an amazing place to start, especially if you are on your own.
Reading is great because you can also go at your own pace, and reread sections until they make sense. YouTube leftists skim the books, and summarize with their own perspectives, which can sometimes be helpful in bringing relevant to the ideas, but mostly they lose the precise wording that authors are putting in the books.
My copy of Blackshirts & Reds is over 50% highlit lmao