Archiv der Kategorie: Political Theory

Political Theory

Is the bottom line really chapter 32, in part VIII of volume one?

Oxford’s Niall Ferguson thinks that Marx’s thoughts about crisis prone capitalism should be given more attention in light of the not so recently past days of “CEOcracy” and increased income inequality in the US.

But today, Ferguson claims, the class struggle is not waged between workers and owners but between ordinary shareholders and their CEO and controlling oligarchs, so the Marxian acculmulation theory could have a point. In the end, he somewhat loses track and the article becomes more of a summary of recent estimates of American growth prospects. And he never tells us what the consequences could be if the analogy were correct.

But anyway. Could it be true? Could Marx be headed for big comeback in the digital age? I am very sceptical. Altough I do think that he has created a scary seductive beast whose feared return will likely scare this planet for some decades to come.

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cinema, Political Theory

Sexy beast.

Sexy BeastOk, just another headline. But this is actually an addendum to the last entry and also a reminder to myself.

At some point I have to tell you why I believe the “new left” is not sexy in most countries. As a teaser – it’s about the victory of Oliver Williamson over Karl Marx (or at a more fundamental level about the behavioral assumptions both made).

Williamson is right in many aspects but his theory is complex, difficult to apply and assuming things about ourselves we don’t like. Entirely unsexy. Marx is wrong in many aspects, but his assumptions and his theory are appealing to what we want to think about ourselves. Communism is a Sexy Beast. And beware, it probably still bites.

(Note: No need to see “Sexy Beast“. It is only an average film and the only reason I can think of for Ben Kingsley’s Oskar nomination is that the eternal Gandhi continuously shouts entirely incomprehensible English insults. I guess that must have impressed the Academy’s jury.)

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