tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10166090.post113899427123434086..comments2024-02-17T07:59:18.705-08:00Comments on Grad Student Madness: Michel HouellebecqRufushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17762279210783841414noreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10166090.post-1139112470627215582006-02-04T20:07:00.000-08:002006-02-04T20:07:00.000-08:00I think he's being a bit satirical. But, some of t...I think he's being a bit satirical. But, some of this is in Marx too. Marx was what I would call a cultural conservative. He bemoaned the loss of the traditional culture, whose morals are supposedly torn assunder by the rise of the bourgeoisie, who just don't care about anything. Believe it or not, the one big row Marx and Engels had was over Engles's refusal to marry his long-time lover, which Marx found shameful.<BR/><BR/>What Houellebecq is making light of is Marx's arguement that a capitalist economy allows producers to treat workers as expendable by alienating them from their labor. I think he's being a bit funny in replacing women for the factory owners and men for the proletariat. The idea is that now that women have a free and mobile labor force, they can fire the workers at will! So, I think it's pretty amusing, even if Houellebecq seems to be missing the point a bit.Rufushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17762279210783841414noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10166090.post-1139073441447309242006-02-04T09:17:00.000-08:002006-02-04T09:17:00.000-08:00Or is he being satirical? 'Cause what you excerpte...Or is he being satirical? <BR/><BR/>'Cause what you excerpted just sounds nuts.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10166090.post-1139027130368934262006-02-03T20:25:00.000-08:002006-02-03T20:25:00.000-08:00It can be almost pure abstraction, which has a cer...It can be almost pure abstraction, which has a certain appeal I think.Rufushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17762279210783841414noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10166090.post-1139017989722913642006-02-03T17:53:00.000-08:002006-02-03T17:53:00.000-08:00What is it in the human psyche that makes people w...What is it in the human psyche that makes people want to extend economic theories to, well, just about everything? Is it because they're the most easy to understand? I just don't get it.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com