[Peace-discuss] Mort regarding Obama

[David Green]

Here's an Amazon review of Eric Fromm's book Marx's Concept of Man (1975):
   
  "Marx's Concept of Man" is essentially a pamphlet establishing the humanist, philosophical side of Marx as against the orthodox, Soviet view of Marx as tyrannical and economistic, and against the degree to which this view has seeped into academic literature in the West also. Famous Freudian Marxist Erich Fromm uses the "Economic and Philosophical Manuscripts" as well as "The German Ideology" to stress the importance of humanist concepts such as alienation, freedom, and creativity for Marx, and in so doing explains what these and similar terms mean in Marx' work. Fromm has clearly paid careful attention to Marx' philosophy, and this part of the book is quite good as a simple overview. 

The second half of the book covers the English translation of the aforementioned "Economic and Philosophical Manuscripts" by Tom Bottomore, as well as excerpts from various other works by and about Marx meaning to show his humanism, his good nature, and his sensitivity to culture. Of special interest are the excerpts from the memoirs of those who knew Marx, like his daughter Eleanor as well as Paul Lafargue. These works are often quoted, but rarely does one find a larger part in English, not even in McLellan's biography. 

Fromm goes a bit overboard here and there in stressing Marx' 'spiritual' nature. Although nothing Fromm writes is of itself incorrect, it may unwittingly reinforce the old canard of Marxism 'really' being a religion, and Marx a millennarian prophet, and so on. Fromm obviously rejects this old refrain, but should have made that clearer. In other aspects this collection is an interesting primer on Marx as thinker on human action and human nature, and sheds good light on this side of Marxist thought for those not familiar with it. 

Bob Illyes <illyes at uiuc.edu> wrote:
  It's Marxist analysis, filtered through Chomsky, Mort. I'll give Carl the 
benefit of the doubt, and assume that he doesn't know this. The relevant 
Marxist analysis is simple- liberals say the right things but do not do 
them, and therefore delay the Revolution perhaps indefinitely by confusing 
the people.

The Revolution is utopian fiction, of course, and is just as disconnected 
from reality as is Friedman's claim of a necessary ink between the free 
market and democracy. The truth is somewhat less savory- there is no simple 
and permanent solution to the evils visited on us by unrestrained greed. We 
will be in damage control mode indefinitely, I fear.

My issue with the extremes of the left and right, as represented by Marx 
and Friedman, is that they believe that their ideas are so important that 
they transcend the value of the individual person, i.e., that the ends 
justify the means. I don't really think that such approaches can work, and 
that we are stuck with liberalism, inadequate though it may be.

Bob

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