Has anyone ever read a book about Carl Marx does it make you a communist to read one?

Question

I heard he understood capitalism better than anyone

I heard someone on the radio who wrote a book about him, his life seemed very interesting. Didnt get a book about him yet, but I bet a lot of people dont like him but dont know anything about him

Answer 1

I read Marx in college -- it was assigned, along with works by free-market economists, including Adam Smith, Joseph Schumpeter, and Friedrich Hayek, in my first year social sciences survey class. It does not turn you into a communist. I did not think that he understood capitalism any better than the other economists whose books we were reading, although several of them were writing after Marx did, so they were in part responding to Marx and Marxist thought.

I suggest that reading some of Marx's writings is a legitimate way to advance your understanding of economic thought, but I also suggest that you have a copy of Hayek's The Road To Serfdom at hand to read afterwards, to provide you with the counter-arguments.

Answer 2

I've read several books by Marx... and now I'm a communist by choice. While his conclusions can be argued, and usually are, his understanding of the inner workings of capitalism are unparalleled. Read the Communist Manifesto first, it's short and concise. Das Capital is much longer, and a bit tedious at times, but very informative. Basically, Das Capital will tell you how capitalism works, while the Communist Manifesto explains why it is evil. Another thing to note is that no one has built a government following the guidelines set by Marx... Lenin had his own brand of marxism, as did Stalin, Castro, etc. People try to use these as proof that Marx was wrong, but these intimations are wrong. If Lenin had followed Marx more fully, the Soviet Empire would be a lot different.

Answer 3

Marx was a reactionary dude who shaped communist thinking for a very long time. If the communists had a Jesus then Marx would be the most logical shoe in.

Answer 4

I read the Communist Manifesto in college. I was a Marxist for 4 years. Then I stopped smoking dope and got into the real world. I learned what it was like to live on my own and realized I liked money more than I disliked it.

Reading Communist literature doesn't make you a Communist anymore than going to church makes you a Jesus Freak.

Answer 5

A book about Marx? Like a biography? I'm pretty sure that wouldn't make you a communist...

If you're talking about the Communist Manifesto, the book that he wrote, then yes, it has this magicial ability to turn anyone who reads it into a communist. Stay away from it.

Answer 6

You can read whatever you want. My graduate degree is in American Politics and I have read Marx. I did not agree with many if his ideas, and reading him certainly did not make me a Communist. You are only a Communist if you agree with him. But it was interesting reading!

Answer 7

No more than reading a book about Groucho Marx will make you a Marx brother.

Answer 8

I have read work by Karl Marx and I don't seem to be a communist yes..but then I have read works by Voltaire and they haven't made me French so maybe it doesn't work like that.

Answer 9

Whenever any person says "I heard" , I block them out of my mind . The phrase "I heard" is the work of gossip and not facts .

Reading a book does not make one a product of that book .

But not being able to spell or even correctly COPY the author's name DOES mean that you have alot to learn .

Example - Karl Marx

Answer 10

I doubt that very seriously. If he understood it, he would have supported it. But, reading Marx, or about Marx, doesn't make you anything, except a reader.