Is anyone really a Marxist anymore?

I was chatting with someone the other day and in the conversation, she mentioned that her husband is a Marxist. I didn't want to get into it with her, as we don't know each other well, but I wanted to say, really? A really, truly Marxist? I mean, a socialist, sure, I know plenty of them, and while I don't necessarily think it's the best style of government, I think it's certainly a workable style of government. But Marxism? Is there anyone left alive who thinks this is a system that can work? Or are they really just socialists who think calling themselves Marxists is cooler somehow, or gives them more cred of some kind? And what kind would that be? Any thoughts?

Snotty, overprivileged philosophy majors?

Um. I don't know the guy, but based on his wife...entirely possible.

That was my experience in college. The avowed Marxists, to a man (and they were all guys, for some reason), were of the class that had never in all their lives had to work for a living. I suspect that there may be a connection between appreciating the ideal, and not really needing to understand how money works.

I enjoy classic Marxist-Leninist rhetoric. Does that count?

When I was a teenager I knew a fellow who considered himself to be a Marxist. He was also seventeen and the son of a wealthy New England family, so I don't think his political views were really based on his own serious thought so much as rebellion.

The most liberal, socialist, leftist people I know are the ones who have worked the least. After them comes the folks who hate their jobs.

Yeah, an actual Marxist, especially in the U.S., in 2010 seems pretty unlikely.

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Originally posted by Oliveloaf

The most liberal, socialist, leftist people I know are the ones who have worked the least. After them comes the folks who hate their jobs.

Yeah, an actual Marxist, especially in the U.S., in 2010 seems pretty unlikely.

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But note, everyone I work with at the moment is a self-described liberal. Not a Marxist among them.

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Originally posted by Oliveloaf

The most liberal, socialist, leftist people I know are the ones who have worked the least. After them comes the folks who hate their jobs.

Yeah, an actual Marxist, especially in the U.S., in 2010 seems pretty unlikely.

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When you say "worked the least," what do you mean? Why don't they work?

Some of you may remember the GQ thread back around '04 or so, which asked about a video clip which attacked the Florida electoral debacle in '00 that was done by Eric Blumrich (I'm not go to bother digging for links to the thread on the malware'd Dope.) and myself and another Doper got into a heated discussion about the clip.

As I pointed out in the thread, Blumrich and I were roommates for a couple of years, so I knew him fairly well. What I didn't mention in the thread, since it wasn't really germane to the discussion at hand, was that Eric was, at the time we were roommates, (and probably still is) an avowed Marxist. (This was from '89 to about '91, and I knew Eric from '88 to '95 or so.)

Eric, at the time, worked a variety of low-paying menial jobs.

Huh. That's an interesting bit of information, Tuckerfan. Thanks.

So, Tuckerfan, do you think the menial jobs caused the Marxism, or the Marxism caused the menial jobs?

Arise all victims of oppression!!!!!!!!!

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Originally posted by Sarahfeena

So, Tuckerfan, do you think the menial jobs caused the Marxism, or the Marxism caused the menial jobs?

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I think the fact that he grew up in the middle of redneck central and had parents who were college graduates probably had more to do with it than anything else. (Meaning that he figured since he couldn't beat the crap out of the red necks around him, he call himself a Marxist so he could piss them off more than anything else.)

There is still a definite Marxist movement in Britain and people who believe these ideals are correct and true and will come to pass. The current leader of the Labour party is the son of a noted Marxist intellectual and has political leanings in that direction.