Tag Archives: Karl Marx

William Butler Yeats on the Experience of Modernity

I have always invoked Marshall Berman invoking Karl Marx invoking Shakespeare (Prospero in “The Temptest”) to describe the experience of modernity: “All that is solid melts into air, all that is holy is profaned.” But I could equally well use Irish poet William Butler Yeats from “The Second Coming” (1919) via African novelist Chinua Achebe:Continue reading “William Butler Yeats on the Experience of Modernity”

Chris Rock’s Neo-Marxist View of Minimum Wage

In my classical theory class we just finished reading excerpts from three of Karl Marx’s most (in)famous works: the Paris Manuscripts, Capital, and the Communist Manifesto. Marx confidently predicted that the contradictions inherent in the capitalist system would lead to its downfall, as economic crises would get progressively worse over time, making clear to workersContinue reading “Chris Rock’s Neo-Marxist View of Minimum Wage”