Genius of the Modern World Ep. 1: Marx

Biography and ideas of Karl Marx, from the BBC documentary series "Genius of the Modern World."

[@billscannell93]

Nice, an upload of this without the audio all distorted. Thanks!

[@SagesseNoir]

This is interesting: Bettany doing her take on Marx, perhaps later Freud and Nietzsche. I've been seeing her discuss antiquity, especially ancient classical Greek antiquity. Yet Marx was himself deeply rooted in classical culture, was literate in Latin and Greek, and wrote his doctoral philosophical thesis on Democritus. It wasn't just Hegel, nor even German idealism and the Enlightenment, which deeply shaped Marx. It was the classical Greek culture and philosophy without which one's understanding of Marx must be severely limited. Nietzsche and Freud were also deeply grounded in classical Greek and Roman antiquity. So maybe Bettany Hughes, as a classicist, is still in her element while exploring those three great Germans: Marx, Nietzsche and Freud.

[@andikadimasprasetyo5758]

Also Heidegger was influenced by classical greek.

[@onmichonramrar3788]

Freud is Austrian.

[@ShaunKang69]

I thought Marx & Freud were Jewish?

[@SagesseNoir]

@@ShaunKang69 So what?

[@SagesseNoir]

@@andikadimasprasetyo5758 Definitely. I don't know if she does any lecture on Heidegger

[@SagesseNoir]

Hegel, Marx, Nietzsche were the German thinkers who interested me the most when I was a student. But I was also very interested in Feuerbach and Freud. I'm glad to see and hear Bettanny is doing these invigorating discussion of some of them

[@giancarlocerza9159]

many others Kant, Stolypin,Locke,Hume,Keynes and many many more:

[@SagesseNoir]

@@giancarlocerza9159 Stolypin I'm not so sure about. But the others you mention are important thinkers

[@giancarlocerza9159]

@@SagesseNoir you are right about Stolypin. must have confused one for another.

[@shakespearaamina9117]

Fascinating!

[@QAAFIR]

Thank you so much ❤

[@nayabnayabmanzoorahmed9019]

Good one

[@TheBlackDogChronicles]

Every documentary that Bettany Hughes has presented, I have loved. I am only a few minutes into this one and already feeling the same confidence in what I am going to absorb.

[@mattverville9227]

the movie young karl marx is great if you guys havent had a chance to see it. Love him or hate him its worth a watch

[@Gar96229]

“Everything they taught us about communism was a lie, everything they taught us about capitalism was the truth” - a Russian Citizen

[@PlaylistGeneral]

Which Russian? Never heard that one, lotta different ways to take it :P

[@dikdynasty234]

Sounds like a propaganda quote

[@SagesseNoir]

There's not much that Marx taught about communism. But he has a great deal to say about capitalism

[@dikdynasty234]

@@SagesseNoir Ah yes, the good ol' finding problems without any solutions. Works every time.

[@SagesseNoir]

@@dikdynasty234 It isn't until a problem is recognized and understood as well as possible that a solution is even possible.

[@williamparker1085]

interesting and a reminder that little or nothing has changed

[@natalie9402]

it’s really incredible how much economic criticism written over 100 years ago is still dead on now

[@anmolvyas1913]

This was lit

[@romeocarter2474]

😆🤣

[@haimbenavraham1502]

A natural and charismatic teacher..

[@geomac650]

But what about Grubby Davis ?

[@andrewohler2902]

Holy shit this comment section. I dont even think they watched the video

[@Alaskan-Armadillo]

Of course they didn't. Honestly you don't have to like Marx but constantly making up these things he said or did is just beyond childish. Honestly I feel like reactionaries just say that they don't like Marx because they'd rather have politicians tell them who Marx is then find out for themselves.

[@masonthorpe7327]

B. Hughes REALLY needs her own KZbin channel. F! TV channels! Make your own mark Bettany!!!

[@clarkewi]

While working as a journalist, Marx had a correspondence with Abraham Lincoln regarding the slavery issue pushing America into civil war.

[@jvcyt298]

So it's no wonder that white nationalists are always calling their enemies communists. workers of the world unite.

[@operaguy1]

2:00 perhaps they will sing in tune after the revolution.

[@szilveszterforgo8776]

Lol

[@jamesbarry1673]

LOVE YOU

[@SagesseNoir]

Interesting that Marx began as a journalist writing for newspapers owned by the liberal bourgeoisie who were favoring a constitution. He would later turn against the bourgeoisie.

[@mattverville9227]

i dont think the proletariat could afford to run their own newspaper and they didnt have twitter. options were limited

[@SagesseNoir]

@@mattverville9227 The conditions of the proletariat was pretty bad in 19th Century Europe. And not very good in the USA. Not only great poverty crippled them. But they would not have much by way of education. How many could even read and write? Some could, and a few may have been very literate. But it would have been very difficult to sustain a working class press among a destitute proletariat that was barely literate. What working class press there were would have been limited by the limitations imposed on the working class

[@foucault8964]

I love Bettany

[@SagesseNoir]

I wonder what would have become of Marx if England hadn't allowed him to enter?

[@JAMWITCH666]

The information as presented is a little shallow and misleading. Especially on Hegel's influence. Beautiful women though.

[@jamespotts8197]

Marx, an economists, philosopher, social theorist as well as an historian, his writing's has changed the world's future in such a dramatic fashion, that it's almost ineffable to truly be measured, and in how many different terms would the full scope of his contributions be needed to fully encompass his change to the world.

[@indigohammer5732]

An economist who never had a job, was constantly broke, borrowing money from everyone. A “philosopher” who concluded that the murder of whole parts of society, mass murder is fine. Scum, as are his followers.

[@AynManRand]

Yes. It's too bad all of his ideas were useless.

[@matthewtackittsr1420]

His writings were also used to justify murdering millions of people. That wasn't his intent, but that was their use.

[@SagesseNoir]

@@AynManRand Even those that are true?

[@Alaskan-Armadillo]

@@AynManRand You aren't really making an argument other than just making the statement that you don't like Marx. I mean I understand you want to be a reactionary but like all reactionaries you're just recycling the same statements and calling yourself an individual.

[@pritamsah535]

44:53

[@theroldan8013]

nice a smart brit

[@sirdouglas2010]

Karl Marx was not "responsible for the deaths of millions." he was never in charge of anything besides a trade union. He was an economic philosopher who believed that workers should actually benefit from their labor instead of being exploited. Marx never met Chairman Mao or Stalin, nor was what was referred to as 'communism' actually in line with what Marx wrote about or wished for.

[@daan260]

Mao and Stalin made his idea's a reality though. He's not responsible in the sense that he didn't foresee the problems his idea's would inevitably lead to. But he did come up with these flawed and unethical idea's, so he's at least a little bit to blame for it.

[@DipayanPyne94]

​@@daan260 Flawed and Unethical ? How so ? The ideas make sense. All humans deserve freedom. Capitalism has taken it away. In fact, in it's current unregulated form, capitalism is just nightmarish. A few billionaires own more wealth than the bottom half of the world's population. This is what deregulation has done ...

[@daan260]

@@DipayanPyne94 for the same reasons unregulated capitalism is flawed and unethical. There needs to be a proper wealth balance in a country and around the world. People who are more valuable should be rewarded accordingly and earn more money. Hard work should pay off if you want a functioning society. However we can't have a large percentage of people dying from poverty related causes while other people own 6 luxurious mansions. Regulations need to be in place so natural inequality doesn't spiral out of control. Marx's ideas were also flawed, because he failed to recognise that inequality is just part of the fabric of reality. Hierarchies exist everywhere and are not caused by capitalism.

[@DipayanPyne94]

@@daan260 No. That's a wrong way to look at it. Saying that inequality is just a part of society is like saying that racism is just a part of society. The point is that it is BAD and something should be done about it. Isn't that exactly why we have more acceptance of black people today ? Less racism than ever before ? Obviously ! Likewise, inequality should not be justified. Moreover, capitalism increases inequality, at least in it's current unregulated form. It is the best producer of inequality. It certainly needs to be controlled. Next, what about socialism then ? Well, it should be possible in the future. How so ? With a more informed public. That's all ...

[@daan260]

@@DipayanPyne94 It's not just part of society, not just part of human nature nor the animal kingdom, it is present throughout the entire universe. The alpha male gets al the ladies, the biggest tree in the forest catches all the light and the largest planet catches all the small rocks. Those are examples of inequality or hierarchies. Racism has nothing to do with this except that it is also part of human nature. I just acknowledged that too much inequality is bad. That's why social democracy is the answer; capitalism with social regulations is the answer. Socialism will never work though, because it completely goes against the entire fabric of reality. And like I said unregulated capitalism doesn't create inequality, it just takes away any existing barriers that might prevent inequality. capitalism is basically a free market economy protected by law.

[@orwellsgoatatemyradishes4358]

So long as one person is held under the boot of another Marx will be relevant.

[@sym9266]

Right, and it will be his ideas that sent all those people to the gulag.

[@SagesseNoir]

@@sym9266 Marx's ideas sent no one to the Gulag. Indeed, Ideas do not send people to gulags. A nut may send people to the gulag, but that's another issue.

[@daan260]

​@@SagesseNoir Sorry, but that's an incredibly naive statement. what do you mean "idea's do not send people to gulags"?? Basically every conflict between human beings starts at the level of idea's and can eventually evolve into death and destruction. You don't create something like the gulags if you're just a bit of a nut. You create something like the gulags if you're motivated by a dangerous ideology. Regular people are capable of terrible things under the right circumstances. Marx's intentions were probably good, but his idea's killed millions of people all over the world. History proves this and it also makes total sense if you think about it.

[@NothingHumanisAlientoMe]

Edward, Marx is a Chad mate

[@NothingHumanisAlientoMe]

@Leonhard Euler I don't use the Alpha/Omega/SIGMA paradigm of personality differentials, it is a faulty theory of dialectic. Chad is the prime conceptual manifest conduit of *Chadology*

[@matthewtackittsr1420]

A Chad can support themselves.

[@DavidHuber63]

Science will always try to undermine God.

[@dellwright1407]

Interesting to see how any documentary on Marx or Nietzsche these days raises people ire and adds fuel to the culture wars... The Nietzsche doc in this series seemed to wind up American evangelicals and this one seems to wind up Trump conspiracy theorists.

[@dikdynasty234]

Interesting how shitty of a take that is.

[@ShaunKang69]

What exactly is the distinction between "American evangelicals & Trump conspiracy theorist" as you say? Because from where I sit, it seems like they are one in the same. Which would make me believe that you just want to shit on people you don't agree with, while using a BBC documentary as your shield.

[@SagesseNoir]

Naturally. What Trump conspiracy theorists and evangelicals have in common is a stubborn unwillingness to THINK. Wherein they enter, reason departs. Thinking people can examine the ideas of Marx, Nietzsche or any other philosopher to discern what might be of value, and put aside what is not. The idea that Marx or Nietzsche may actually be RIGHT, even brilliant about somethings (though off the mark on others) is incomprehensible to ankle biting nincompoops.

[@williamparker1085]

nice hair Olive Oil

[@LinusE]

I will never understand people who take Marx's work as pure works of "ideology", as in political ideology. That is one part of his work. Marx influenced things such as economics, literary criticism, historiography, sociology, philosophy, etc. To lump him in as a political ideologies is a very reductionist way of describing him, unless that's your goal of course.

[@fred6907]

Well he is known for his insane take on Capitalism, so no wonder.

[@clarkewi]

Interesting that 2 of the 3 greatest genius were Jewish.

[@jimwilliams4532]

What's your point? Access to education and financial opportunity?

[@fred6907]

On average they have higher IQ than the general population, so not really a surprise. Same with Nobel Prize winners, mostly Jews. How many Africans can claim that.....I'll wait.

[@yingyang1008]

Two Jewish guys and a guy who hated Christianity

[@minded8929]

Jesus was Jewish too. You hate him too RETARD!!!!

[@vinaykunisetty8179]

Hats off Karl Marx, long live Marxism....💪💪💪

[@zsedcftglkjh]

Fun fact: if you took a time machine to assassinate Marx, you wouldn't need to worry about a Hitler.

[@Dani-Ami]

Repeating stupid things you’ve read in the stupidest corners of the Internet? Hopefully when you grow up and finish school you’ll be embarrassed by the things, like the above comment, you mindlessly regurgitated.

[@SagesseNoir]

A dubious speculation on your part. Wouldn't there have been WWI anyway? Wouldn't there have been a Great Depression? There might even still be a socialist or Communist movement since these ideas existed before Marx. And anti-Semitism was around for centuries in Germany. Without Marx or Marxism, a Hitler might still have blamed the Jews for German's troubles.

[@gizmotv9320]

Well seeing as Hitler despised communism, called it judao bolshevism and threw thousands of communists into jail I fail to see how what you are saying is a "fact"

[@andrewohler2902]

This is so wrong. Hitler hated communism. What created Hitler was facism. The philosopher that inspired hitler was Nietzsche definitely not Marx. You can blame Marx on Stalin though. I’m curious if you even watched the video.

[@gizmotv9320]

@@andrewohler2902 and he greatly misunderstood nietzsche who hated authority. How can you blame marx on stalin when he didn't follow marxs theories at all?

[@TheWhitehiker]

Marx got most things wrong, end of story.

[@PlaylistGeneral]

How articulate XD

[@TheWhitehiker]

@@PlaylistGeneral thanks.

[@vijayvijay4123]

He ignored basic human nature or inherent human flaws , I think he is a product of flaw in western system of thought

[@PlaylistGeneral]

@@vijayvijay4123 capitalism isn't basic human nature. No system is really.

[@vijayvijay4123]

@@PlaylistGeneral Humans have some darker nature like stealing, jealousy, addiction , master slave relationship, masochism,sadism etc. It is through education and culture we can mitigate these but Marx neglected the individual and thought only of the tribal good and thought every aspect of human comes from his relationship to capital and labour . Capitalism is the result of the ugliness in us and communism is just our ideal that can never be actualised.

[@oobrocks]

A couple of countries have figured out the balance of capitalism vs communism = Scandinavia

[@fractalnomics]

kzbin.info/www/bejne/oKKWp4mYmcyAq7M

[@jimwilliams4532]

Of course they don't have 350 million diverse people or the 4th largest land area in the world and 3rd in population.

[@fred6907]

Except they do a REALLY bad job with immigration and globalism. I would know, I live there. Foreigners tend to glorify Scandinavia, while completely ignoring the fact we are destroying ourselves with unchecked immigration policies. Sweden is a prime example, nothing but rampant crime. Ethnic Swedes will be a minority in 40 years, let that sink in for a bit.

[@mickcox8603]

Marx was wrong about most things he wrote but with the exception that most common people hate being a cog in a machine

[@realitymatters8720]

I would say he is correct in most things, but wrong on what to do about it ! The man believed in a system that was so idealistic, essentially Christianity as a political system, ofcause it had to crash and burn !

[@TheWhitehiker]

Cogs have been much more obvious in communist countries than in democratic capitalism. This is obvious.

[@avidodd26]

Marx was at best a sheltered rich fool, at worst a total sociopath.

[@SagesseNoir]

There is precious little (or no) evidence that he was either.

[@avidodd26]

@@SagesseNoir evidence? try reading him.

[@SagesseNoir]

@@avidodd26 And what in his writing offers evidence that he was a sociopath, a fool or even rich? Is it his theory of alienation? His conception of human nature as free conscious activity? His labor theory of value? His conception of class struggle? What in his writings proves what you say about him? And how does his writings prove it?

[@SagesseNoir]

Actually, Marx was NEITHER. He came from a middle class family, not a rich one like Engles. He was a brilliant thinker who revolutionized our understanding of the world. And though by no means a saint, neither was he a devil or sociopath

[@SagesseNoir]

@@avidodd26 A reading of Marx (and I've read Marx as I've read other philosophers) shows a powerful mind. An innovative mind which has revolutionized modern thinking. Not unlike Freud and Darwin. He has been described by one philosopher as the "Galileo of the social sciences". And nothing in any biographical reading that I've done about Marx indicates a sociopathic personality

[@josephmorgan2738]

I think all these men were satanic..not necessarily worshipping but the message was demonic and had very negative effects on humanity.

[@andrewohler2902]

How so?

[@CrazyAl1991]

I think you are most definitely an idiot.

[@andi8343]

Calling that Paul mason guy an economist is rich