Thanks for a thoughtful piece. One thought is that you see a split when the Marxists abandoned the working classes, essentially because they were more interested in leveraging the life and wealth that capitalism created than in destroying it. I would argue that that has been the case virtually everywhere since the socialist movement started in earnest in the 1840's. A good example is the Going To The People movement in 1870 in Russia. Students went to the people, but the peasants of the time laughed and rejected them and their ideas. So in Russia and other countries, Marxism became a belief system championed by students and the passionate few. This led to the emergence of Vanguardism, and the imposition of socialism by force for the good of the people.
I see a parallel in the environmental movement, especially with climate politics. While everyone will tell a pollster they care, their everyday actions do not reflect this..so the eco-passionate then seek to impose measures.
I am not saying this is right or wrong, and I certainly see a reaction now that is also imposing it's views from the top. Bith claim to speak for the bulk of Humanity and promise to avoid catastrophe. But they cannot get around the fact that most people will consistently choose to focus on their own lives and to make them as good as they believe they can, in both material and moral ways.
Thanks for a thoughtful piece. One thought is that you see a split when the Marxists abandoned the working classes, essentially because they were more interested in leveraging the life and wealth that capitalism created than in destroying it. I would argue that that has been the case virtually everywhere since the socialist movement started in earnest in the 1840's. A good example is the Going To The People movement in 1870 in Russia. Students went to the people, but the peasants of the time laughed and rejected them and their ideas. So in Russia and other countries, Marxism became a belief system championed by students and the passionate few. This led to the emergence of Vanguardism, and the imposition of socialism by force for the good of the people.
I see a parallel in the environmental movement, especially with climate politics. While everyone will tell a pollster they care, their everyday actions do not reflect this..so the eco-passionate then seek to impose measures.
I am not saying this is right or wrong, and I certainly see a reaction now that is also imposing it's views from the top. Bith claim to speak for the bulk of Humanity and promise to avoid catastrophe. But they cannot get around the fact that most people will consistently choose to focus on their own lives and to make them as good as they believe they can, in both material and moral ways.