But I disagree with your statement that "In the case of Karl Marx, this is no tragedy. Thanks to the colorful antics of history (many of them sticky and sanguinary), anyone can see that the bewhiskered dreamer was full of crap."
If all Marx had written was the Communist Manifesto, I could endorse this critique. But Das Kapital is a serious, important work of economic history and the first really thorough analysis of why Locke's labor theory of value became so problematical in a modern industrial context. It's really worth reading. You'll learn a lot!
I tried reading the Wealth of Nations. It was on my ereader and somehow - whether through an accidental reset or that time my reader screen cracked, I cannot remember - my public domain downloads got lost, and I lost my place in them. But I'd gotten far enough into it to be peeved by Smith - not for the reasons those who oppose capitalism on principle are generally peeved at him - I had gotten that far. I just found he made a lot of assumptions about how others should operate in the way armchair philosophers generally do - he went on at length, for example, about how pin making would be so much more efficient if each step was broken down and allotted to different labourers, giving a prototype of the factory line in fact, and how it would increase production and decrease cost. All I could think was, what if the pin maker wanted to make the whole pin themselves? I've since learned that pin makers were among the poorest paid of artisanal craftsmen in the late 18th/early 19th century England.
Good job, Joel. Speaking of PJ — or to PJ — I had my fun with him in both the last century and this one. I reviewed a couple of his earlier books and always thought his Parliament of Whores was a great example for journalists of how to write an informative book that was both entertaining and persuasive. I didn’t have the time to actually read his Adam Smith book, but I did interview him about it. https://clips.substack.com/p/pj-orourke-rip?r=5mhtq&utm_medium=ios
Very illuminating!
But I disagree with your statement that "In the case of Karl Marx, this is no tragedy. Thanks to the colorful antics of history (many of them sticky and sanguinary), anyone can see that the bewhiskered dreamer was full of crap."
If all Marx had written was the Communist Manifesto, I could endorse this critique. But Das Kapital is a serious, important work of economic history and the first really thorough analysis of why Locke's labor theory of value became so problematical in a modern industrial context. It's really worth reading. You'll learn a lot!
You’re undoubtedly right. This was me writing 20 years ago almost and for a conservative publication. I was too dismissive.
I wouldn't be too hard on yourself. Marx was pretty bad, both stylistically and philosophically.
I tried reading the Wealth of Nations. It was on my ereader and somehow - whether through an accidental reset or that time my reader screen cracked, I cannot remember - my public domain downloads got lost, and I lost my place in them. But I'd gotten far enough into it to be peeved by Smith - not for the reasons those who oppose capitalism on principle are generally peeved at him - I had gotten that far. I just found he made a lot of assumptions about how others should operate in the way armchair philosophers generally do - he went on at length, for example, about how pin making would be so much more efficient if each step was broken down and allotted to different labourers, giving a prototype of the factory line in fact, and how it would increase production and decrease cost. All I could think was, what if the pin maker wanted to make the whole pin themselves? I've since learned that pin makers were among the poorest paid of artisanal craftsmen in the late 18th/early 19th century England.
Picked up a used copy of Wealth of Nations earlier this year. I might go at it next year.
Good job, Joel. Speaking of PJ — or to PJ — I had my fun with him in both the last century and this one. I reviewed a couple of his earlier books and always thought his Parliament of Whores was a great example for journalists of how to write an informative book that was both entertaining and persuasive. I didn’t have the time to actually read his Adam Smith book, but I did interview him about it. https://clips.substack.com/p/pj-orourke-rip?r=5mhtq&utm_medium=ios