I work in a daycare and I love my job and the kids I care for, but I can't afford to send my own son to the fancy daycare where I work EVEN AT THE HALF PRICE EMPLOYEE DISCOUNT.

When I first read Marx as a student I didn't really understand alienation... now, after working for years in shit minimum wage jobs with no end in sight, I completely get it.

I know this is four years old but a correction: Marx said that the contradictions of capital would result in workers' revolution and the establishment of socialism, not that the safety net would eventually collapse and capitalism would be replaced by socialism (in Marx's view, if the safety net collapsed before workers' revolution, we would have barbarism and not socialism -- hence the slogan "Socialism or Barbarism"

Oh oh! I got a joke for you guys, you gonna love it. “Dad, why the house is so cold and we don’t have coal to burn?” Asked the son. “ because dad is unemployed, we don’t have money to buy coal” answer the dad. “Why are you unemployed dad?” Asked the son again. “Dad was a coal miner, because we produced too much coals and the price go low, the coal mine I work at bankrupt and I’m fired”

Capitalism was born of an effort to overturn feudalism. Unfortunately, we replaced the Lord and Serf pair, charming as it was, with the Capitalist/Employee dyad

Ah so there's words for this. I used to film weddings for a company that I could not possibly hire myself to film my own wedding, nor could I possibly have a wedding as extravagant as the ones at which I worked (admittedly I didn't want something to expensive but if I were pulled into the trap of aspiring to be another class that capitalism sells us as a usually unrealistic goal then it would've pained me with longing).

I really want you to do marx but with your new, awesome theatrical style

Knitting a sock while I watch this in a desperate attempt to own my labor

"workers of the world, unite" is a bad translation. It should be "workers of every land, unite". Its an important difference because internationalism and nationalism aren't opposed, they actually require one another.

The little part on the use of machines to make our lives better (ideally, anyway) reminds me of Oscar Wilde's "The Soul of Man Under Socialism," where he embraces such an idea and runs with it, imagining a future where all the tedious tasks are done by machines and we are then free to become the individuals we have so long been unable to be.

DUDE.....thank you for this little series!! I am reading Marx now, and, as someone who graduated high school by the skin of his teeth, then went to work immediately (in the labor force) and hardly has read a book in the past 15 years, IT'S A F**King DIFFICULT READ. Your explanation is helping me along to understand the clusterf*ck that is his writings, as I'm sure you know.

I remember Sargon of Akkad saying something along the lines of "When you live in a modest lifestyle, in a house 'built' by Capitalism, you start thinking 'Oh wouldn't it be nice to have Socialism/Communism" Its a total lie...

"But because those mechines were being used to maximise profit rather than reduce labour, people were actually working harder than ever"

Your "Gattungswesen" really sounds funny to a German language native ;-) besides that: Great series!

Can I request a remake of these. You have much better production quality now.

I'm trying to learn about Marxism and this introduction of his ideas shows how insightful he was. His theory of alienation is scarily accurate even to this day.

Loving

this marx guy is making a lot of sense

I'm two videos into the series, and I'm already sold. I feel like this is what I want myself but Marx, as explained by you, outlined it in detail.

I live for these old Abigail videos