Okay, I know Marxism is still a dirty word in America, though not quite the dirty word it was from the 50’s through the 80’s, but there are still a few of us out there who have seen through the brainwashing techniques of school films, commercials, television and theatrical propaganda that turned Marxism into the dirty word it used to be. Take some time to consider who are most opposed to Marxist socialism: big business owners. And when have big business owners ever had your best interest at heart? Ipso facto, Marxist socialism probably is IN your best interest. Ah well, how can I expect to undo sixty years of commercial propaganda?
Let’s assume that any familiarity you might possibly have with Marxism stems from the propaganda techniques noted above. If that is the case, then Marxist.org is definitely a web site you should head on over to. And even if you know something about Marxism that hasn’t been filtered through Elia Kazan types who ran with their tails between that rat bastard legs, you should still check it out. The breadth of writing offered there by the biggest names in Marxist cultural studies is breathtaking.
Although Marxism has come to be seen on roughly the same par as Satanism in America, it wasn’t also so. The Great Depression of the 30’s offered Marxists the perfect opportunity to showcase the weak underbelly that capitalism goes to such great lengths to hide: if people have no money to buy things, everything falls apart. After making some impressive inroads into society throughout the Great Depression-which only ended by virtue an attack on Pearl Harbor, an attack that may or may not have been as big as a surprise to the FDA as 9/11 was to Bush, Marxism’s status as a perfectly viable alternative to capitalistic indulgence was brutally murdered by Joseph McCarthy and his HUAC thugs. Joseph McCarthy and the other Red-Baiters wrote the handbook on climbing to power by demonizing and perverting the fears of society. That handbook was obviously read to Bush by one of his daughters when she was elementary school.
Marxism.Org might very well be subtitled Marxism for Slightly More Educated People Than Those Who Would Read Marxism of Dummies. Almost every pertinent document relating to Marxism, as well as almost every single writer associated with Marxist critique can be found on this site. It provides simple navigational techniques designed to introduce you to Marxism via both authors and subjects.
MARXIST WRITERS
As I indicated previously, every important Marxist mover and shaker, as well as almost all not-as-important ones, who ever wrote anything even remotely associated with Marxist thought can be uncovered here-with the noticeable exclusion of Louis Althusser. Among the giants of Marxist thought whose work has been included: Bukharin, Gramsci, John Reed and, of course, Marx, Engels and Lenin. Not just actual text is included, however. Several writers are also represented via images and sound files. Here is the chance to see actual images of Che Guevara apart from that one that you see on T-shirts everywhere. Unfortunately, not every single work ever written by these great thinkers is available, but most of the representational works that made these Marxist writers famous are here, including Marx and Engels’ entire text of The Communist Manifesto. In fact, an audio version of that seminal piece of literature is even available, produced by the Victorian Labor College. And to answer your question, it is not Karl Marx doing the reading. Unfortunately, Karl Marx passed away before the he ever had the chance to record his voice for posterity.
SUBJECT ARCHIVE
Marxism is about more than just economics and politics and destroying the soul of the individual (as Joseph McCarthy, Ronald Reagan and Jerry Falwell would have you believe). Under the umbrella of Marxist subjects one can find writing on just about any topic that could ever be approached from the perspective of Marxist thought. While you will certainly find an extensive collection of material that takes on art and literature from a Marxist point of view, you can also expect to come across archives overflowing with literature that covers such disparate Marxist subjects as the historical relationship between workers movement and the Jewish religion, the history of May Day celebrations of workers’ rights, Marxism and natural sciences, women and Marxism, alienation, the Frankfurt School, among multitudes of other subjects. Of particular note is the philosophy section which is, to put it bluntly, awe-inspiring. I lay down this gauntlet to you: If you can track down one major philosopher, or two minor philosophers whose writings or theories is not either represented or alluded to anywhere on Marxism.org, then you obviously have no life, because why else would you spend all that time doing that searching?
HISTORY ARCHIVE
In other words, the whole history of Marxism in the form of literature written about people who didn’t just sit around theorizing about workers’ rights. In the Marxism. Org history archive, you will locate links that will take you web sites around the world covering information related to the multitudes of international workers organizations that sprouted up around the world, starting with The Communist League in 1847 through the Fourth (Trotskyist) International of 1938. There is even a link to an encyclopedia of Trotskyism online section. The history archive is also interesting in the way it devotes space to individual pages covering Marxist activity throughout history by country, including France, the Soviet Union, Cuba, Algeria, Afghanistan, Canada, Great Britain and even the USA.
REFERENCE
A fascinating section containing a compendium of writers whose thoughts and ideas provide a framework for a deeper understanding of where Karl Marx drew his ideas, as well as how his ideas have gone on to influence those who have followed in his footsteps. Here you can read, in its entirety, the bible of capitalism, Adam Smith’s The Wealth of Nations. The next time you hear someone say that socialism is a pipe dream built on wishes for what humans are, you can respond with your own criticism of Smith’s theory that rampant, unregulated capitalism is ultimately good for everyone. This section is also great for uncovering some history lessons. The section on the French Revolution alone is better than any other site I’ve come across devoted specifically to that uprising against autocratic rule. In this section you will also find some surprising names that you might not immediately associate with Marxism, including Helen Keller, Jack London and HG Wells.
ENCYLOPEDIA OF MARXISM
Well, you probably know what an encyclopedia is and so you can probably guess what an encyclopedia of Marxism is. Simply click a letter of the alphabet and you will be rewarded with more information about people, events and things directly and tangentially related to Marxism that you ever thought possible. Click on P and you’ll what Physiocrats are. Click M and you’ll learn what the Maximalists were.
Marxism.Org is the single most impressive site on the web for finding out what Marxism is really about, free from the filtration of the American corpocracy.
