Thursday, January 29, 2009

Has Gordon Been Reading Marx?

"Owners of capital will stimulate working class to buy more and more of expensive goods, houses and technology, pushing them to take more and more expensive credits, until their debt becomes unbearable. The unpaid debt will lead to bankruptcy of banks, which will have to be nationalized, and State will have to take the road which will eventually lead to communism."

KarlKarletto Marx, Das Capital 1867

UPDATE: It appears the person who sent me this was having me on. I've just noticed on the email it said "Karletto Marx". Ha ha.

19 comments:

Mr Mr said...

If Gordon reads his website, then he is going to be a very unhappy bunny.

Don't mention the recession is his latest wheeze or at least keep it Global.. So he will not be happy with "Latest News UK Recession Brown"

The future of digital Britain

Raedwald said...

How remarkably prescient of old Karl! And he seems to have abandoned his use of the term 'proletariat' and all that stuff about 'means of production' in favour of a prediction about iPods. Pretty smart for a guy from an age when technology meant whittling a fourth prong for the wife's washing tub dolly.

Sixxstring90 said...

It's a fake Iain. A fake quote. Do you believe the working classes could afford to purchase houses during old Marx's time. And ''technology'' wasn't even a widely used word.

Alex said...

Not if he read that quote. It doesn't come from Karl Marx.

ahs benton said...

Odd that no one can find this quote in Das Kapital.

Did Marx ever use the word "nationalization" ?

Wrinkled Weasel said...

On the button, Raedwald.

Gordon Brown understood that to keep the proletariat in a state of consumerist bliss was to neutralise their critical faculties.

As Bill Bailey said,"There won't be a revolution if the Snooker's on".

Tom Powdrill said...

it's a patently false quote

Madasafish said...

It's not Karl Marx. Made up.

(I fell into that trap)

no longer anonymous said...

He needs to read Human Action by Ludwig von Mises.

Anonymous said...

Nevermind Karl Marx, I think Brown has been reading his toilet role after he has used it - given the policy mismash he offers to make things worse.

Time for Brown to be given the Boot!

Labour Labour Labour - Out Out Out!

strapworld said...

Not the Karl Marx I read, more like Groucho!

I caught up, just, with a television programme on the great crash.

It was just quite amazing the similarities between then and now. Indeed frightening. Adding Houses etc to stock and we are just in the same position.

The Term 'Global Market' was used then as well! Plus the Americans had a President, Hoover, who saw it coming but did nothing about it! Whilst we have a Prime Minister that ignored all the warning signs and cannot do anything about it.

Wrinkled Weasel said...

I am going to put my hands up to this one and admit it fooled me, mainly because I wanted to believe it.

Mea Culpa

Mr Mr said...

Looks like No 10 reads your Blog Ian. They have removed the damaging photo on their web site that I linked to, It was also on the home page and they have removed that too.

It Will Come to Me said...

Seems like it fooled Jonathan Russell, editor of the Torygraph's City Diary, as well. He reproduces the quote in his column today, without a hat tip!!

Steve H said...

I can see the influence of Marx in Brown's whole poltical career. Principally "Duck Soup" and "A Night at the Opera".

Wallenstein said...

Mit dem Meisterwerk von Marx hat man zwei Moeglichkeiten...

Entweder "Das Kapital" oder einfach "Capital"... niemals "Das Capital".

Aber du weisst das schon, nicht wahr? ;)

Andy said...

Are you dim? Technology? erm....
This is the problem with blogs - you can write any old shit and get away with it. No self-respecting journalist would ever publish that.

Scary Biscuits said...

'No self-respecting journalist would ever publish that.' Well if you had read the comments before making your own, you'd see that one already has.

'This is the problem with' the dead tree press '- you can write any old shit and get away with it.'

Andy, 'are you dim?'

Anonymous said...

Strapworld: You should also read Galbraith's "The Crash of 1929".