One of the underappreciated problems with Marxism is that, after having been indoctrinated to believe that society consists of zero-sum conflict between workers and elites advancing their class interest, the elites often notice that they are elites and decide to advance their class interest through zero-sum conflict.
A Marxist can be reshaped into a good minion for Vladimir Putin or Kim Il-Sung, in ways that adherents of other ideologies can’t.
My problem with Marxism is that beliefs in “first things get much worse, then <revolution>, then <paradise>” in general—if you take them literally and follow the logic—imply that worse is better. Any worsening makes the paradise closer, any improvement delays it. You don’t want people who believe this to make decisions that have an impact on your quality of life.
One of the underappreciated problems with Marxism is that, after having been indoctrinated to believe that society consists of zero-sum conflict between workers and elites advancing their class interest, the elites often notice that they are elites and decide to advance their class interest through zero-sum conflict.
A Marxist can be reshaped into a good minion for Vladimir Putin or Kim Il-Sung, in ways that adherents of other ideologies can’t.
My problem with Marxism is that beliefs in “first things get much worse, then <revolution>, then <paradise>” in general—if you take them literally and follow the logic—imply that worse is better. Any worsening makes the paradise closer, any improvement delays it. You don’t want people who believe this to make decisions that have an impact on your quality of life.