Do You Feel Lucky?

(and feel free to comment! My older posts are certainly no less relevant to the burning concerns of the day.)

Thursday, August 13, 2009

Isn't the World Described by the Marxist Historical Dialectic an Implicitly Teleological One?

It was a Marxist-Leninist article of faith that the totalitarian state (indeed, the State itself) would pass away once its goals were achieved and the proletariat was capable of direct rule. The totalitarian "dictatorship on behalf of the proletariat" was a phase on the way to true communism, which has never been achieved. True communism was to be regarded as "the fulfillment of history." True communism is basically sugarcandy mountain, akin to the christian heaven - but conveniently located here on earth!

In the future, of course, where one can never get at it.

One thing I never understood: Marxism dictates that any status quo ("thesis") automatically generates its own antithesis, and that the two inevitably come into conflict, clash, struggle, merge into synthesis - which in turn is a thesis of its own, which in turn will generate its own antithesis.

So I've always wondered: if once true communism were achieved, what antithesis would it generate? Or would true communism be somehow stable - somehow inexplicably exempt from the inexorable laws of the historical dialectic? An uncausing effect, to answer once and for all the uncaused cause?

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

Wow. Impressive!

Add some feminist theory and this post will bring all the boys to the yard.

It even contains the word "dialectic"

Nice.

(Mind if I borrow it?)

Mel...

dogimo said...

Come the revolution, the boys to the yard will be the first up against the wall, Mel.

I'm not sure what you mean by "borrow it"? I'd assume the usual fair use provisions apply for quotes and citations.

See how the hypocrite segues so effortlessly between tough-talk pie-in-the-sky neomarxist rhetoric on the one hand, and a plaintive appeal to the mechanisms used by the oppressor to keep information trapped under lock and key strictures that ensure a fat capitalist fee will be paid to those who own and control the channels of content on the other!

Come the revolution, pigs like me will be the first up against the wall, Mel.

Anonymous said...

I'm hearing a remix potential for Kelis in your response.

"Come the revolution, there will be no milkshakes"


It could work...

Mel.

dogimo said...

I'm a purist. Remixes should limit themselves to moving and changing the music around - there's no place in a remix for redoing the lyrics.