22.3.25

Marx's concept of man


It is one of the peculiar ironies fo history that there are no limits to the misunderstanding and distortion of theories, even in an age when there is unlimites acess to the sources; there is no more drastic example of this phenomenon than what has happened to the theory of Karl Marx in the last few decades. There is continuous reference to Marx and Marxism in the press, in the speeches of politicians, in books ans articles written by respectable social scientists and philosophers; yet with few exceptions, it seems that the politicians and newspapermen have never as much as glanced at a line written by Marx, and that the social scientists are satisfied with a minimal knowledge of Marx. Apparently they feel safe in acting as experts in this field, since nobody with power and status in the social-research empire challenges their ignorant statements.

Eric Fromm
1900 - 1980