This Week's Marxist IQ on Marx's Views About Socialism and the USA by Norman Markowitz

 

 

1.       In his lifetime Karl Marx supported one U.S. president.  That president was

a.       Andrew Jackson

b.      James K. Polk

c.       Abraham Lincoln

d.      Rutherford B. Hayes

 

2.       Marx believed that  a socialist movement would develop rapidly in the U.S. once

a.       Socialists had taken over the Democratic party

b.      All Western lands had been taken from the native peoples

c.       The Confederacy won the civil war

d.      Slavery had been abolished and the slaveholders destroyed as a class

 

3.       Marx believed that socialism would triumph in the U.S. sooner rather than later than in many other nations because

a.       The U.S. had no history of feudalism to retard capitalist development

b.      The U.S. had already had a revolution establishing a republic

c.       The U.S was developing industry rapidly after the Civil War

d.       All of the above

 

4.       In his optimism about the development of socialism in the U.S., Marx underestimated

a.       The high level of equality that capitalism produced in the U.S.

b.      the function of religious and ethnic  division and, most of all, racism, in dividing the working class

c.       the willingness of the capitalist class to support social reforms

d.      the fact that the workers were happy with capitalism

 

5.       The first Americans who identified with Marx’s developing philosophy, later called Marxism, were

a.       Predominantly German speaking refugees from the Revolutions of 1848

b.      Escaped slaves before the civil war

c.       Irish refugees from the famine of the late 1840s

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  • Again, the present writer commends and dittos brother Sean Mulligan (1.c 2. d 3. d 4. b 5. a).

    Brother Norman Markowitz, question 4 could be better.
    It seems that PA writers, historians, (Thomas Riggins, you, and others have reached some type of consensus, this collective consensus has to be carefully respected)that Marx was too optimistic about socialism in the U. S.
    Can this forcibly and effectively be established? Those who believe it obviously think so, and you and they may well be correct. But, what if not?
    The present writer does not believe it can be.
    Did Marx understand the system or philosophy he created?
    He did.
    Marx always identified it as a guide and not dogma, not magic, not a sure -fire, independent, dependent variable function.
    We do not have socialism in the U. S.-but surely we are at the precipice of an establishment of socialism here, and we all must shall the constructive optimism of Marx, despite serious, obvious(not all are obvious) problems to "bringing it home".
    It seems Marx's optimism about socialism in the U. S. must be rooted a merciless reportage and documentation of facts and direct action. This will lead to a true consciousness of workers, which will speed the establishment of socialism.
    Back to question 4, and its best answer, b, -is it tenable that the Marx of "Labor cannot emancipate itself in its white skin, wherein its black it is branded","..underestimated racism in dividing". It seems not. Perhaps this is the Marx of "Ce qu'il y a de certain c'est que moi je ne suis pas Marxiste"(If anything is certain, it is that I myself am not a Marxist).
    Lastly, of the options of question 4-if anything, Marx may have "underestimated" the material forcefulness with which workers and communists demand, with reasonableness, revolution and socialism-leading the charge-the CPUSA, which was the estimate of both W. E. B. Du Bois, and Marx, in word and deed. We live in a country which is a young, new, nation-state (democratic republic).

    Posted by E.E.W. Clay, 01/14/2013 2:42pm (12 years ago)

  • 1. c
    2. d
    3. d
    4. b
    5. a

    I would like to see the answers to this quiz.... I hope I received a good grade!

    Posted by Mark Huckeby, 01/14/2013 12:54pm (12 years ago)

  • 1. C
    2. D
    3. D
    4. B
    5. A

    I would like to see the answers for this quiz... I hope I get a good Communist grade....

    Posted by Mark Huckeby, 01/14/2013 12:52pm (12 years ago)

  • 1. c

    2. d

    3. d

    4. b

    5. a

    Posted by Sean Mulligan, 01/13/2013 11:21pm (12 years ago)

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