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Requiem for Marx
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After the fall of communism, and certainly after this wide-ranging demolition of Marxism by Austrian scholars, who can possibly defend Marxism? Plenty of people, many of them smart otherwise but uneducated in economics. This book is the antidote, covering the whole history of this nutty and dangerous system of thought. It begins by an alternately hilarious and tragic introduction by the editor Yuri Maltsev. He describes in vivid detail life in the Soviet Union, which, he points out contrary to myth, was indeed an attempt to realize Marx's vision. Of course the system moved away from the strict doctrine, lest everyone in the country be reduced to the most primitive possible economic conditions. He describes a society in which nothing works, ethics and morals collapse, and absurdities abound in every aspect of daily life. It is a priceless first-hand account. Next come sweeping essays by David Gordon and Hans-Hermann Hoppe that get into the guts of the Marxian system and show where it went wrong from both a philosophical and economic perspective. Hoppe in particular here shows how Marx took classical liberal doctrine on the state and misapplied it in ways that contradicted all logic and experience. Gary North provides a devastating look at Marx the man, while Ralph Raico zeros in on the Marxian doctrine of class. Finally, and as a triumphant finish, Rothbard offers a wholesale revision of the basis of Marxism. It was not economics, he says. It was the longing for a universal upheaval to overthrow all things we know about the world and replace it with a crazed fantasy based secular/religious longings. Rothbard finds all this in the unknown writings of Marx and his post-millennial predecessors in the history of ideas.
After the fall of communism, and certainly after this wide-ranging demolition of Marxism by Austrian scholars, who can possibly defend Marxism? Plenty of people, many of them smart otherwise but uneducated in economics. This book is the antidote, covering the whole history of this nutty and dangerous system of thought. It begins by an alternately hilarious and tragic introduction by the editor Yuri Maltsev. He describes in vivid detail life in the Soviet Union, which, he points out contrary to myth, was indeed an attempt to realize Marx's vision. Of course the system moved away from the strict doctrine, lest everyone in the country be reduced to the most primitive possible economic conditions. He describes a society in which nothing works, ethics and morals collapse, and absurdities abound in every aspect of daily life. It is a priceless first-hand account. Next come sweeping essays by David Gordon and Hans-Hermann Hoppe that get into the guts of the Marxian system and show where it went wrong from both a philosophical and economic perspective. Hoppe in particular here shows how Marx took classical liberal doctrine on the state and misapplied it in ways that contradicted all logic and experience. Gary North provides a devastating look at Marx the man, while Ralph Raico zeros in on the Marxian doctrine of class. Finally, and as a triumphant finish, Rothbard offers a wholesale revision of the basis of Marxism. It was not economics, he says. It was the longing for a universal upheaval to overthrow all things we know about the world and replace it with a crazed fantasy based secular/religious longings. Rothbard finds all this in the unknown writings of Marx and his post-millennial predecessors in the history of ideas.
304 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1993
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Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews
April 27, 2017
I read the editor's main essay on the fall of the Soviet Union a couple years ago. I have skimmed some of the other essays but not found time to finish them.
Yuri Maltsev's essay was very good, quite perceptive, as well as full of first hand data and analysis from his unique perspective of being "the last defector" before the lifting of the Iron Curtain.
Yuri Maltsev's essay was very good, quite perceptive, as well as full of first hand data and analysis from his unique perspective of being "the last defector" before the lifting of the Iron Curtain.
August 1, 2016
If there's one philosopher in the history of modern civilization whose work is both obscenely overrated and rife with demonstrably bad ideas, shoddy logic and contempt for everything decent in the world, it is surely the work of Karl Marx.
Edited by a former Soviet economist and featuring essays written by legends of Austrian economics, Requiem for Marx is perhaps the definitive demolition of a philosophy that's been walking through the campuses of the West like a maggot ridden zombie corpse and spreading the mental plague of socialism everywhere it goes.
Marxism is a toxic cesspool of idiotic nonsense that's wrought misery in every circumstance it's been attempted. This funeral is long overdue.
full review here:
http://wp.me/p6lj8t-al
Edited by a former Soviet economist and featuring essays written by legends of Austrian economics, Requiem for Marx is perhaps the definitive demolition of a philosophy that's been walking through the campuses of the West like a maggot ridden zombie corpse and spreading the mental plague of socialism everywhere it goes.
Marxism is a toxic cesspool of idiotic nonsense that's wrought misery in every circumstance it's been attempted. This funeral is long overdue.
full review here:
http://wp.me/p6lj8t-al
July 8, 2018
When you boil it all down Marx was a bum. He lived off the charity of others his whole life - never willing to work. His scholarship was lazy and incomplete; words that were central to his historical and economic analysis like "class" were never even defined by him. His main contributions were in polemics and regurgitating other people's ideas. And central to his theory of class struggle was an easily debunked theoretical framework: labor theory of value. It really is amazing how many people are smitten by the religiosity of his utopian and nonsensical ideas.
January 7, 2010
I am really enjoying this compilation.
Yuri Maltsev was an ex-soviet economic planner. His story is amazing, born in Russia, becomes a economic planner and later on stumbles across western economic theory in the vaulted basement in the library of Moscow.
Under penalty of a harsh prison sentence secretly studied until the wall came down. He then moved to America becoming an anti-socialist pro free market economist.
Yuri Maltsev was an ex-soviet economic planner. His story is amazing, born in Russia, becomes a economic planner and later on stumbles across western economic theory in the vaulted basement in the library of Moscow.
Under penalty of a harsh prison sentence secretly studied until the wall came down. He then moved to America becoming an anti-socialist pro free market economist.
April 8, 2010
It's common for supporters of free markets to attack Marxism on the basis of what has been done by followers of Marx. "Marxism is wrong because Lenin did X." This book (a series of essays) shows what is wrong with Marxism in and of itself, and thus enables the reader to become a more effective advocate of freedom. One comes away from this book with an understanding of the logical fallacies, inconsistencies, and hypocrisies of both Marxism and Marx himself.
August 10, 2013
If you think that government, socialism, or communism is a good thing, read this book. The author himself defected from the Soviet Union during the height of the Cold War and has been all over the world, trying to teach people about the nastiness and brutality of communism. His lectures on YouTube are fantastic and you won't be disappointed by listening to them or by reading this book, a scathing criticism of the man who propagated the murder of millions in the 20th century alone.
March 21, 2015
This is an excellent collection of essays critiquing and documenting the history, philosophy, and biography of Karl Marx from various free market perspectives. Though scholarly, the essays make for a lively and engaging read.
July 24, 2022
Excellent book! Thankful for having the chance to read it.
May 25, 2015
Fascinating! I learned a good deal about Marx, the man and his philosophy. There are several different perspectives on why his philosophy had the impact it did, which is an interesting question in and of itself, but also an important question.
Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews