what would they do now?

[MotherCossack]

On Karl Marx and Fredrich Engels.
we dont half spend a lot of time discussing, in staggering depth, the every recorded thought, idea, theory, belief and doctrine that exist pertaining to these two great political Thinkers.
The energy and time spent arguing on the finer points of their invaluable contributions..... well .... it is impressive.

How far it gets us along the road to radicalism and the realization of our hopes and their predictions/aims ... is up for debate.

I had a thought..... if the pair of them were, by some non-specified means, to be transported forward in time, as relatively young men, to now..........

Here and now.... they show up.... their writings exist but are the work of a different marx and engels.........

how would they react to us... to rev-left.... to our preoccupation with these
historical writings......
would they join in... or advocate action... or be converted to the right.... or scientology....
what do you lot reckon....?

[MotherCossack]

oh dear i am worried that all of you will totally ignore my effort.... how sad is that... pull yourself together moother Coss.

[Conscript]

Well if they have no memories they would cease to be M&E and instead become whatever material conditions lead them to be.

[Rooster]

On Karl Marx and Fredrich Engels.
we dont half spend a lot of time discussing, in staggering depth, the every recorded thought, idea, theory, belief and doctrine that exist pertaining to these two great political Thinkers.
The energy and time spent arguing on the finer points of their invaluable contributions..... well .... it is impressive.

It's actually hardly discussed at all.

[Blake's Baby]

They would try and involve themselves in endevours to unite internationally and radicalise the workers' movement. Some sort of new international maybe.

They'd analyse the developments of capitalism and science over the last 150 years and seek to relate them to the Marxist framework.

Then they'd tell everybody around now they were doing it wrong, I expect.

[Per Levy]

id guess they would study history of the last 150(or so) years and then write countless books analyzing he past but also analyzing capitalism nowadays. not to mention that these countless books will make many communist much much poorer since they have to buy them(if they dont want to read it on the monitor screen).

[MotherCossack]

what I was*getting at was....
do you think that there two heros of ours...!? Marx and Engels would approve of how much attention their works still get....or would they say something like....

"hang about guys... the world is different now... we need to evaluate and adapt our theories for our times.....make a few changes....
After all nothing stays the same... that concept is fundemental to my theories regarding dialectical materialism.....
Please... before we go on discussing my theories allow me to bring them into the 21st century and ensure they are as relevant as they must be in order to be any use at all."


Just a thought...

[Blake's Baby]

Well, depends on whether you see Marxism as a doctrine (that might need to be revised substantially) or as a method of enquiry (which probably doesn't).

I see it as a method. You apply the method to new information - that's why Bebel, Luxemburg, Totsky, Lenin, Bordiga and the rest are relevent, because they continued to use Marxism to investigate changing conditions. That's what we have to do too. Not treat it as a Bible and enshrine it as unchanging word, because unchanging words quickly date I find.