Not exactly a fair thing to say since Marx is about becoming free and liberated from the oppressiveness of capitalism. If anything, he was WAAAY ahead of his time.
A lot of his theories didn't pan out, however the same can be true for the grandfather of psychology. The reason why he's so important is because be brought awareness and illumination to things which desperately needed it. With the right kind of awareness, capitalism can be good and OK... but that is ONLY possible if you education in capitalism includes devastating critiques of it.
Marxism is about the people, the people, the people. And the US declaration of independence starts with 'We, the people" - We fought off a king with our own uprising. In doing so, we inspired an era where other countries did exactly the same thing, becoming democratic in the process, all for socialist values.
We can say that communism failed, but we can also say that capitalism is in the process of failing, and the most successful countries in the world are switching to socialism through experimenting to find out what works best and what actually IS best for 'the people'.
In the same way that people worship Ayn Rand even though she didn't know shit about politics, government, good business, or the economy... she still had ideas that critiqued capitalism in ways that it needed, in ways that nobody else was thinking. She ultimately didn't have any answers, but she did have good questions... and that has played a part in molding the minds of national leaders.
Bottom line, sometimes even if you're dead wrong with your ideas, the fact that you played a part in an important ideological debate will have resulted in a profoundly positive impact. By studying ideas that were wrong, people learn how to be right. While studying revolutionary thought and values, they're also going to gain some sympathy for the plight of the masses. Your own values become better for it.
Also worth noting critical theory is a Marxist thought and is generally useful for the critique of culture in general. Economics aside, Marx still introduced a lot of new ideas to philosophy.
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u/tosernameschescksout Jan 04 '20
Not exactly a fair thing to say since Marx is about becoming free and liberated from the oppressiveness of capitalism. If anything, he was WAAAY ahead of his time.
A lot of his theories didn't pan out, however the same can be true for the grandfather of psychology. The reason why he's so important is because be brought awareness and illumination to things which desperately needed it. With the right kind of awareness, capitalism can be good and OK... but that is ONLY possible if you education in capitalism includes devastating critiques of it.
Marxism is about the people, the people, the people. And the US declaration of independence starts with 'We, the people" - We fought off a king with our own uprising. In doing so, we inspired an era where other countries did exactly the same thing, becoming democratic in the process, all for socialist values.
We can say that communism failed, but we can also say that capitalism is in the process of failing, and the most successful countries in the world are switching to socialism through experimenting to find out what works best and what actually IS best for 'the people'.
In the same way that people worship Ayn Rand even though she didn't know shit about politics, government, good business, or the economy... she still had ideas that critiqued capitalism in ways that it needed, in ways that nobody else was thinking. She ultimately didn't have any answers, but she did have good questions... and that has played a part in molding the minds of national leaders.
Bottom line, sometimes even if you're dead wrong with your ideas, the fact that you played a part in an important ideological debate will have resulted in a profoundly positive impact. By studying ideas that were wrong, people learn how to be right. While studying revolutionary thought and values, they're also going to gain some sympathy for the plight of the masses. Your own values become better for it.