[Tolik]

Very Interesting!

This ping list is not author-specific for articles I'd like to share. Some for the perfect moral clarity, some for provocative thoughts; or simply interesting articles I'd hate to miss myself. (I don't have to agree with the author all 100% to feel the need to share an article.) I will try not to abuse the ping list and not to annoy you too much, but on some days there is more of the good stuff that is worthy of attention. You can see the list of articles I pinged to lately  on  my page.
You are welcome in or out, just freepmail me (and note which PING list you are talking about). Besides this one, I keep 2 separate PING lists for my favorite authors Victor Davis Hanson and Orson Scott Card.  

[DBrow]

Good find, very interesting.

[ahayes]

Under folk Marxism, the oppressed class has inherent moral superiority to the oppressor class -- recall the quote which opens this essay. Class membership trumps individual character in determining moral standing. It should be no surprise that this belief could lead to tyranny and wanton murder by government. It should be no surprise that this belief has failed to improve the lot of those regarded as "oppressed." It inverts Martin Luther King's call to judge people by the content of their character.

Interesting. I just finished Tale of Two Cities a little bit ago, and the oppressed peasantry certainly used their "moral superiority" to do their share of butchery.

[PioneerDrive]

Great post, thanks.

[Billthedrill]

Thanks for the ping, and a new term for my vocabulary. "Folk Marxism" is precisely the case - most of the people spouting it (1) haven't read Marx, and (2) use Marxian class analysis in only the vaguest of terms with little awareness of its built-in limitations.

Nor is Dowd's application of this pop politics correct - it is not the parents of people who have moral authority to pronounce on the war, but the people themselves. Even that authority is limited by only such activities as those individuals have personally taken part in, a thing John Kerry disregarded, to cite only one example, when he provided "testimony" to war crimes he had never witnessed.

It isn't actually Marxian theory that is behind this so much as Marxian technique, specifically with respect to political agitation. It is from there that the "politics of envy," "identity politics," or whatever class-oppression-based term of the day happens to be, stems.

[HopefulPatriot]

Excellent post. Mr. King did, in fact, nail it!.

[LowCountryJoe]

There are some folk-Marxists that post here in this very FoRum though they will swear up, down, backward, forward, inside and out that they are the real true Conservatives. In folk-Lockean regard, they are more correct than they can possibly know. I doubt any of them will actually post to this particular thread but they will secretly despise you for digging it up and posting it...reading about folk-Marxism forces them come to the realization that they romanticize about many of Marx's beliefs.

[el_texicano]

Marking for later reflection. Thanks for the article.

[Yardstick]

Good stuff.

[FreedomFarmer]

[GOPJ]

The contrast between the results of following Locke and those of following Marx could not be sharper. Marxist countries have murdered millions, imposed a regime of fear and repression on their citizens, and impeded economic development. Where the "natural experiment" was performed of splitting one culture into Communist and non-Communist regions (North and South Korea, East and West Germany), well-being in the non-Communist country ended up several times higher than in the Communist country. People fled Communist countries by the millions, while barely a trickle of individuals chose to emigrate in the other direction.

And what are the philosophical roots of Middle Eastern countries? The "Muslim" part is the obvious, but it's not the underlying myth structure...

[clyde asbury]

bttt

[humint]

I would consider it a great step forward for liberals in the academic community to acknowledge the existence of folk Locke-ism and folk Marxism. If my liberal friends want to express support for folk Marxism, that is fine. If they want to criticize folk Locke-ism, that is all right, too. If they would like to give a less loaded name than "folk Marxism" to the oppressed/oppressor paradigm, I have no problem using a different label.

This is outstanding work! BTTT, I usually pick and paste an outstanding sentence or paragraph from a freeped article I like, italicize it and make a brief comment or add a bit of further research. The paragraph above does not shine above the rest of the article. The entire work shines brightly. I believe this is the first time an entire article has struck me as “all good!” Great Post, BUMP!