Marx Lost Does Not = Marx Is An Asshole

My Defense of Something I Don't Buy Into, or, Discussing a Topic Bigger Than The Idea I'm Not Buying Into Which Is Prompted By The Thing I'm Not Buying Into

I cannot say for certain that Marx was an asshole. I can say that some other assholes in history have done some bad things with what Marx was trying to start. The core of Marx and Engel's The Communist Manifesto is the issue of separation, I think.

Whenever we insert dividing lines between human beings we are setting ourselves up for trouble. Humans are a resilient creature. Humans are really good at surviving. Surviving sometimes requires nasty and bloody affairs. (Everyone loves to misquote Hobbes on life being "nasty, brutish and short". Hobbes was a real asshole though. And its easy to quote that without working your way through the rest of the book.)

The separation of one human from another is the root of these types of evil. When we think we are different from someone we eventually conclude that we are better than them. If we did not conclude this we would have to undress ourselves from our idea of self and take on theirs. If we saw each other as human beings and did not quickly draw lines in the sand then I suspect we could actually get along. But we like to competitionize everything. We are too vain.

Marx pointed out a dividing line, examined how unfair it was, and called for revolution. Marx's examination of the bourgeoisie, the proletariat, etc., seems to be mostly accurate. We have created this division and someone like Marx is then necessary to deal with the anxiety human beings as a species has created for itself.

If we didn't start the problem in the first place we wouldn't have to deal with the consequences of it. But hey, that's just my opinion and you are probably more right then me and we should engage in survival battle over imaginary divisions in the sandbox...