Marx on BBC2
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Shows the amount of study involved. If Marx indeed claimed capitalism would collapse, why did he say, the emancipation of the working class, must be the work of the working class themselves?Why did he not say, Sit back and wait for the inevitable, it will all come crashing down?He said the former, the rest Steph made up!
Ed wrote:Well what about the people literally dying from poverty not just in the third world but in the UK and the US as well.Not going all moralistic on us by any chance, Ed?
steve colborn wrote: Anyone want to make a contribution to our ideas read the letter posted on spgbmedia and answer this person. Look forward to your input comrades. The last post I made. The Sunderland echo will probably publish your responses! http://groups.yahoo.com/group/spgbmedia/message/240Some home truths about MarxismI PRESUME from what Steve Colborn wrote (Letters, September 11) he wants me toexplain why he is wrong in being some kind of Marxist.Well, Steve, if you were to put the estimated number of those who were shottrying to escape from Marxist East Berlin in one column and make another columnwith the number of people trying to escape from the capitalist West Berlin,although I don't know the exact numbers myself, I think you will find thegreater number will be from East Berlin and that pattern from one divided cityyou will find the world over – from Cuba to China.Anyone who talks about the equal distribution of wealth is either a fraud or afathead. There is no such thing. There never has been nor ever will be. You canonly have an equal distribution of poverty, not wealth. In a population of50million, £1million divides into 2p each, which means you will need £50millionto provide everyone with £1. So Steve, for your enlightenment, multiply by£50million to get the sum which you think everyone should have.Then, in your philosophy, how will you solve the problem of those workers whothink they are worth more than somebody else? In football, for example, everyteam plays by the same rules and risks yet I doubt if the players and manager ofHartlepool will get the same as Sunderland's manager and players and, in thedays when Sunderland had shipyards, one group of workers would go on strike forparity of pay with another group and when they were given parity of pay theother group would then go on strike demanding the restoration of thedifferential.There is more sense and science in astrology than Marxism, for Marxism is acreed of those who mislead the credulous with a lot of sophistry.In recent months I've read quotes of Mao Zedong in which he said he wasperfectly justified in causing the deaths of some 35million Chinese by famine inorder to pursue his economic policy. I've also read an interview by a Russianwoman who moved in the same circles as Bulganin and Khrushchev in which shestated that some 40million died in the USSR.I've no idea as to the truth of those views so, Steve, you can take a census ofthe corpses in all communist states and you can publish what you discover to bethe actual figures and, if you are still a Marxist after that, it means you areeither a sadist or a masochist.J. Young, Alexander Terrace, Fulwell, SunderlandAnyone fancy helping educating our fellow worker?Email address, echo.letters@…Has anyone, will anyone step in and answer this person. Really relevant when one has seen the BBC's show on Marx.
gnome wrote:Ed wrote:Well what about the people literally dying from poverty not just in the third world but in the UK and the US as well.Not going all moralistic on us by any chance, Ed?
No not at all just pointing out that the BBC used imagery to reinforce their class interests. Also they were using the Camelot idea of 1950's and 1960's capitalism, like it was some golden age. Pretty sure there were plenty of people living in poverty then too. But then the BBC always do that and it really gets up my nose.
Noticed how the first 3 images were, Marx, Lenin and Uncle Joe, sums it up really. They really were taking the PISS!
I have made a complaint to the BBC as an individual member based on some comments in this thread by 'the socialist party' at; http://www.bbc.co.uk/complaints/However on reflection I feel I was a bit rushed and not sure if I could have made a better job of it : Full Complaint: As a Marxist and a member of the oldest Marxist party in the UK I found the program was absolute rubbish. Why did you not consult the oldest Marxist party? The program wrongly claimed Marx didn't really have an alternative to capitalism (it was fair enough to say he didn't have a blueprint, but that's not the same thing of course). There was also no critical examination of Marx and the so-called 'Communist' countries, the link between the two being taken pretty much for granted, with a couple of very minor caveats. Bizarrely, she also put forward the workers 'can't buy back' theory of crises at great length, though in fairness explaining Marxian economics in less than an hour for the uninitiated isn't the easiest of tasks! It got 5 out of 10 at best though. The level of scholarship wasn't great – she repeatedly claimed without any evidence that Marx thought capitalism would collapse, but I honestly don't think she understood what she meant by this claim herself (conflating collapse with the abolition of capitalism). Marx NEVER claimed capitalism would collapse.I will let you know if I receive a reply. I suggest the part makes a complaint. How can the BBC ignore the oldest party calling itself Marxist, unless it is deliberate.
For anyone who has not seen the programme it can still be seen here:- http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b01n6z4s/Masters_of_Money_Marx/ Incidentally and as a matter of interest, Stephanie Flanders is the grand-daughter of the radical journalist Claud Cockburn who was closely associated with the old CPGB. Under the name Frank Pitcairn, Cockburn contributed to the Daily Worker. In 1936, Harry Pollitt, then General Secretary of the CPGB, asked him to cover the Spanish Civil War.
Interesting. I see her father was Michael Flanders of the Flanders and Swann singing duo. Donald Swann was a conscientious objector in WW2, which would have been a better pedigree.More useless information from her wikipedia entry: "She previously dated Ed Balls and Ed Miliband." It's a small world.
ALB wrote:More useless information from her wikipedia entry: "She previously dated Ed Balls and Ed Miliband."So she has been tickled 'pink' …
Well, well. Everybody's heard of the revolving door between top civil servants and big business. Now it applies to the BBC economics "experts" and big business:http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-24288088Not surprising really when you consider that the BBC and other TV news always employ people working for City financial firms to comment on the economy. In the (now distant) past they at least tried to be seen to be neutral by interviewing academics.
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