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Originally Posted by elphenor
it's like comparing Copernicus to Jesus
Marx is chapter 1 of any sociology textbook because he changed the entire model of studying the individual in relation to society
most of what he wrote is not sexy calls to action like the Manifesto it's dry critical examinations of the mechanisms of capitalism such as in Das Capital
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I'm not denying his impact. I just don't think he got everything right. I'm skeptical that capitalism necessarily leads to communism. We seem further away from that reality today than we did a hundred years ago. The unions are largely destroyed. Factory work is less and less prevalent. Wherever there was pressure from class conflict and working conditions, it just leads to mild reforms which only make people more complacent and less susceptible to communist agitators.
Also, Das Kapital is incomplete. That's why the first volume only deals with dry economic theory. It was only supposed to be the first installment of a 6 volume (i think it was 6?) series. The political stuff was supposed to come later.
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Originally Posted by elphenor
the shift from absolute monarchs to feudalism to capitalism are much more macro examinations than the collapse of empires
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tbf the collapse of the empire had a lot to do with the conditions that lead to medieval feudalism
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Originally Posted by OccultHawk
Plus, Rome’s over extension was heavily influenced by maintaining the lifestyles of the citizens and elite at the expense of the less fortunate which is indeed a class conflict.
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Sure but that's the sort of monomaniacal thinking i was referring to. When all you have is a hammer, everything starts to look like a nail.
Is class conflict always present? Absolutely. Is it the main driving force behind all of history? I'm not as convinced. Rome's expansion had as much to do with the geopolitical conditions and the mindset of empire as it did with maintaining some sort of living conditions for the elite. The elite was perfectly wealthy under the Republic and actually had more power in many cases before the empire was created. The main reason they kept conquering barbarians was that they saw them as a threat. Turns out they were sort of right but in the wrong way.