September 3rd, 2010 / 11:50 am
Power Quote

The more things change the more they stay the same

“Whether it was a question of the right of petition or the tax on wine, freedom of the press or free trade, the clubs or the municipal charter, protection of personal liberty or regulation of the state budget, the watchword constantly recurs, the theme remains always the same, the verdict is ever ready and invariably reads: “Socialism!” Even bourgeois liberalism is declared socialistic, bourgeois enlightenment socialistic, bourgeois financial reform socialistic. It was socialistic to build a railway, where a canal already existed, and it was socialistic to defend oneself with a cane when one was attacked with a rapier.” – Karl Marx, The 18th Brumaire of Louis Bonaparte (1852)

(Thanks to Jeremy Schmall, who is presently reading Marx so that the rest of us don’t have to.)

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34 Comments

  1. stephen
  2. marshall

      “in my day, i quoted marx a bit / when i was a young gun, practicing my marksmanship.” -sole

  3. Lincoln

      Beck is clearly the farce version, but of who’s tragedy?

  4. Jordan

      He reminds me of the ape in The Last Battle.

  5. Owen Kaelin

      Wow. A grotesque photo totally befitting the creature it depicts.

      No sunbeam elevator for him, I’m sure, no matter how much he might pray for it.

      Lincoln: We’re the tragedy, of course. Perhaps he’s the cancer on our own ass?

  6. Lincoln

      Also, Justin, is it true that all poetry repeats itself twice: the first time as tragedy, the second time as flarf?

  7. Owen Kaelin

      Are you suggesting that Glenn Beck is flarf?

  8. Justin Taylor

      Game, set, match–Lincoln.

  9. zusya

      “it does not matter what color a cat is as long as it hunts mice” – deng xiaoping

  10. B. R. Smith

      One of my favorite essays . . . I taught this to a bunch of nurses and had them watch Back to the Future and write an essay on the uses of history in the film using this and Hayden White . . . So. Much. Fun. Need a better movie though . . .

  11. Tim

      I thought your wrote Beck to the Future. Which made me think that Glenn Beck is missing his opportunity for a two-hour Fox special science fiction Jeremiad about the consequences of our liberal shenanigans.

  12. stephen
  13. Guest

      “in my day, i quoted marx a bit / when i was a young gun, practicing my marksmanship.” -sole

  14. Lincoln

      Beck is clearly the farce version, but of who’s tragedy?

  15. B. R. Smith

      That would have much smarter than I had been when I wrote that . . . am now at work on script “Beck to the Future.”

  16. B. R. Smith

      have been* much

  17. Jordan

      He reminds me of the ape in The Last Battle.

  18. Owen Kaelin

      Wow. A grotesque photo totally befitting the creature it depicts.

      No sunbeam elevator for him, I’m sure, no matter how much he might pray for it.

      Lincoln: We’re the tragedy, of course. Perhaps he’s the cancer on our own ass?

  19. Lincoln

      Also, Justin, is it true that all poetry repeats itself twice: the first time as tragedy, the second time as flarf?

  20. Owen Kaelin

      Are you suggesting that Glenn Beck is flarf?

  21. Justin Taylor

      Game, set, match–Lincoln.

  22. B. R. Smith

      One of my favorite essays . . . I taught this to a bunch of nurses and had them watch Back to the Future and write an essay on the uses of history in the film using this and Hayden White . . . So. Much. Fun. Need a better movie though . . .

  23. Janey Smith

      I love socialism. I love getting close to people.

  24. deadgod

      Cats easily seen by raptors catch fewer mice.

      –Dung Shallsting

  25. deadgod

      all poetry repeats itself twice

      The third occurrence (second repeat) in an anthology or bathroom stall.

  26. Tim

      I thought your wrote Beck to the Future. Which made me think that Glenn Beck is missing his opportunity for a two-hour Fox special science fiction Jeremiad about the consequences of our liberal shenanigans.

  27. B. R. Smith

      That would have much smarter than I had been when I wrote that . . . am now at work on script “Beck to the Future.”

  28. B. R. Smith

      have been* much

  29. Janey Smith

      I love socialism. I love getting close to people.

  30. deadgod

      Cats easily seen by raptors catch fewer mice.

      –Dung Shallsting

  31. deadgod

      all poetry repeats itself twice

      The third occurrence (second repeat) in an anthology or bathroom stall.

  32. zusya

      i am so confused right now.

  33. Khakjaan Wessington

      Nah, we all know Adolph Obama wrote that.

  34. Khakjaan Wessington

      Nah, we all know Adolph Obama wrote that.