tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10166090.post115669793298516279..comments2024-02-17T07:59:18.705-08:00Comments on Grad Student Madness: On Your Marx...Rufushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17762279210783841414noreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10166090.post-1156770894519026012006-08-28T06:14:00.000-07:002006-08-28T06:14:00.000-07:00That's the strange thing about the dialectic. The ...That's the strange thing about the dialectic. The withering away of the state is just assumed as the last stage in history. History is teleological. Why exactly something as random as human behavior can be predicted, much less seen as operating according to historical laws is never exactly explained.<BR/><BR/>In most Marxist countries, it was assumed that the withering away of the state would follow after a brief dictatorship of the proletariat to get everything organized. This is why even people like Castro promised that they would only be in power a short time. Of course, it still hasn't happened. If anything, the state grew stronger in Marxist countries. This is one of the reasons that I don't trust people who claim to have discovered the 'direction' of history.Rufushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17762279210783841414noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10166090.post-1156738016885587722006-08-27T21:06:00.000-07:002006-08-27T21:06:00.000-07:00Don't forget, according to true marxist theory (un...Don't forget, according to true marxist theory (unless I've been lied to) is that under socialism, the state will eventually "wither away". Everyone will be recognized as being of equal importance in the grand scheme of things, and a kind of evolutionary advancement will take place, making any kind of state not only unnecessary, but useless.<BR/><BR/>If that is what he really believed, that's enough to show you he was smoking something real strong. <BR/><BR/>First, in order for it to begin to work, the entire world would have to become firmly entrenched in Marxism. Upon that occurring, it wouldn't wither away, it would eventually collapse in an agonizing upheaval. For a brief period, chaos would reign supreme, and eventually the world would once again revert to it's tribal roots, beginning the process all over again.<BR/><BR/>This would probably be true of any type governemnt that became totally predominate over the world, marxist or any other. It would eventually just collapse and/or be thrown into worldwide anarchy.SecondComingOfBasthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03336586430250490679noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10166090.post-1156715445191361562006-08-27T14:50:00.000-07:002006-08-27T14:50:00.000-07:00Yeah, we have people in our department who attempt...Yeah, we have people in our department who attempt to reconcile theory, with its distrust of 'grand narratives' with Marxism, and all of its grand narratives. It always strikes me as an odd brew.Rufushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17762279210783841414noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10166090.post-1156709824004924942006-08-27T13:17:00.000-07:002006-08-27T13:17:00.000-07:00“I'm not a Marxist either, but I understand why pe...“I'm not a Marxist either, but I understand why people return time and again to Capital to explain those aspects of our post-industrial world that are most bewildering and confusing.”<BR/><BR/>I was certainly conditioned to Marxism. Only my opinion, but this was typical of Sociology departments in the 90s. In my fourth year I was introduced to post-modernism, courtesy of one of the PhD candidates exploring the realm. We examined the history of critical thought, and subsequently moved into Foucault, Butler and the like.<BR/><BR/>Out of curiosity, I checked the university website to see if he is still affiliated with the department. He is (still) teaching the course. The description reads “We have not, after all, escaped the ‘problematic of society’ associated with the classical analyses of capitalism, the will to power, rationalization, normalization, or technology.” <BR/><BR/>This said, the course is clearly a departure from Marxism; instead a study of the emergent. Foucault, Caputo, Baudrillard and Virno are among the theorists to be examined.<BR/><BR/>While I can hardly assert that this one example is demonstrative of current sociological teaching in Canada, it is an indication of the tendency to cling to Marxism.sock monkeyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00079390998688740197noreply@blogger.com