Grasping Reality on TypePad, by Brad DeLong

Chris Bertram has not yet learned that a lecture about Marx that does not mention Pol Pot or Joe Stalin shouts their names out more loudly than would otherwise be possible:

Explaining Marx to newbies: Suppose I were lecturing about Karl Marx.... I’d probably start by discussing some of the ideas in the Manifesto about the revolutionary nature of the bourgeoisie, about their transformation of technology, social relations, and their creation of a global economy. Then I’d say something about Marx’s belief that, despite the appearance of freedom and equality, we live in a society where some people end up living off the toil of other people. How some people have little choice but to spend their whole lives working for the benefit of others, and how this compulsion stops them from living truly truly human lives. And then I’d talk about Marx’s belief that a capitalist society would eventually be replaced by a classless society run by all for the benefit of all. Naturally, I’d say something about the difficulties of that idea. I don’t think I’d go on about Pol Pot or Stalin...