Are you a Marxist?

[vanguard96]

How about 'cultural Marxist'?

[vanguard96]

Does anyone here have a Che t-shirt?

[vanguard96]

I think Henry George had better solutions than Karl, and I think Marxist theories of history are basically irrelevant nowadays.

George was definitely an influential figure - that's for certain 3 million copies of his books sold in the 19th century when the population was much smaller than today - and a direct lineage to both progressives and both left and right libertarianism.

I would like to read more before commenting in detail on his positions.

[vanguard96]

I used to be, a genuinely dogmatic left communist. Now I think it's difficult for me to escape the feeling that Marx was...wrong about everything.

Love to see that...

[vanguard96]

No, but Marx is no less valuable a 19th century thinker than Hegel, Mill, or Marshall. Many of his insights into the nature of capitalism remain just as vital today as they were in his day-- perhaps even more so. We are now living in, by far, the longest extended period of wage stagnation since the 1840s.

Obviously he was more influential on the 20th than the 19th century. Of course it is also hard to limit the discussion purely to economics when that is one area that has seen considerable widespread acceptance of the failures of application of Marxian philosophy by socialists in the 20th century which in turn fueled the late-60's / 70's New Left movement.