NationStates Jolt Archive

I'd like to do personal research. I was told that Marx's idealogy of Communism was based on Lenin's research or something. Thus, I search for their books on such idealogy. ANyone happen to have the titles I seek?

*crosses fingers tha'd he finds such books in his middle-school library, for some reason, people dont think that 13 yr olds know a thing about anything but the U.S.*

okay, actually Lenin wrote well after Marx, and if anything Lenin borrowed heavily from Marx. I haven't read much Lennin wrote, but I reccomend Marx's Capital, Communist Manifesto (not that good, but everyone reads it), Alienated Labour (I believe that's the name of the text) and On the Jewish Problem. Kind of heavy though, you might want to actually skip it and read books written ON Marx rather than reading the actual texts. German doesn't usually translate that well and when it comes to philosophical text it can be very intimidating.

lenin was based on marx, marx was influenced by hegel

for marx start with "the communist manifesto", its short and simple. stay away from "das kapital" its long and boring and most people who claim to have read it are liars.

for lenin start with "state and revolution"

Yeah. Marx definitely came first.

As far as I can tell, Lenin was based on Marxism, but with a lot of differences...I'm pretty sure the communism of Stalin was very very different from marxism.

But, i haven't read the books. And probably wont', so good luck with that.

Yeah. Marx definitely came first.

As far as I can tell, Lenin was based on Marxism, but with a lot of differences...I'm pretty sure the communism of Stalin was very very different from marxism.

But, i haven't read the books. And probably wont', so good luck with that.


stalin was sorta influenced by lenin but his own works aren't generally read, mao might be more interesting, as is trotsky(try the revolution betrayed and/or permanent revolution)

Go to www.marxists.org they have most of the major Communist and Socialist writings on there.

I'd like to do personal research. I was told that Marx's idealogy of Communism was based on Lenin's research or something. Thus, I search for their books on such idealogy. ANyone happen to have the titles I seek?

*crosses fingers tha'd he finds such books in his middle-school library, for some reason, people dont think that 13 yr olds know a thing about anything but the U.S.*

Lemmie see:

For Marx, his major works would be The German Ideology, The Communist Manifesto, The Civil War in France, Capital, Economic and Philosphical Manuscripts of 1844, Wage Labour and Capital and Wages Prices and profit.

Engles' Major Works would be Conditions of the Working Class in England, Socialism: Utopian and Scientific, Origins Of Family, Private Property and The State and Revolution and Counter Revolution In Germany

Lenin's works include Imperialism: The Highest State Of Capitalism, What is To Be Done? (which has had a major impact on far left parties world wide and one of his most influential works), State and Revolution (aforementioned) Left Wing Communism, an Infantile Disorder, Party Work In The Masses and The State and Will The Bolsheviks Maintain Power?

okay, actually Lenin wrote well after Marx, and if anything Lenin borrowed heavily from Marx. I haven't read much Lennin wrote, but I reccomend Marx's Capital, Communist Manifesto (not that good, but everyone reads it), Alienated Labour (I believe that's the name of the text) and On the Jewish Problem. Kind of heavy though, you might want to actually skip it and read books written ON Marx rather than reading the actual texts. German doesn't usually translate that well and when it comes to philosophical text it can be very intimidating.

On that note, Chris Harman's How Marxism Works is worth tracking down if there are any copies floating around on the net, as is Alex Callinicos The Revolutionary Ideas of Karl Marx. Terry Eagleton wrote a short pamphlet simply entitled Marx, which is excellent, if a little more academic than the other two books. Hal Draper writes well on both Marx and Lenin. Francis Wheen's Karl Marx is the best biography I've read on him. Tony Cliff Wrote a 3 Volume biography of Lenin but it is heavily distorted by Cliff's own politcs. Apart from that, Malberta gives pretty good advice. Not familiar with the 'Alienated Labour text', but then I haven't read every last word Marx read, so it may well exist.

read Marx's capital; its good.

Kisarazu....long time pal! What happened? Wha'd you do?

The books Marx and Lenin wrote? Hmmm. "How To Encourage People To Kill Millions Of Other People With Phony Statistics And Ludicrous Dialectical Theories." Yes, I remember that one very well.

The books Marx and Lenin wrote? Hmmm. "How To Encourage People To Kill Millions Of Other People With Phony Statistics And Ludicrous Dialectical Theories." Yes, I remember that one very well.

Hey, I'm no communist, but I'm willing to admit that Marx's (I don't know about Lenin) theories are generally sound; he's certainly one of the more brilliant economists of his time. I think historical materialism is pretty sound, generally speaking, and I think you really should read some of it before judging. Marx has a lot of valuable things to say, regardless of your political affiliation.

personally i prefer Adam Smith's Wealth of Nations. Capitalism is a more effective system then Communism.

personally i prefer Adam Smith's Wealth of Nations. Capitalism is a more effective system then Communism.

Actually Marx has a lot of valuable insights into capitalism. I believe he actually coined the term. Ironically, most of his work is actually focused on capitalism, albeit from a critical perspective, and is fairly useful for anyone interested in how politics and economics work together. Seriously, even if you just get a quick book giving an overview of his work I don't think you'd be disapointed.

umm, i read Marx's Capital and Communist Manifesto. i really did not enjoy the manifesto, but Capital was good.

how about Rousseau's The Social Contract? that is a great book.

Hey, I'm no communist, but I'm willing to admit that Marx's (I don't know about Lenin) theories are generally sound; he's certainly one of the more brilliant economists of his time. I think historical materialism is pretty sound, generally speaking, and I think you really should read some of it before judging. Marx has a lot of valuable things to say, regardless of your political affiliation.

I read Capital at college, I didn't have much choice about it, but recommending that book to anyone without an economics background is largely a waste of time. Leftists might find some interest and support for their views in the social aspects, but the whole point of the book was to show economics driving social change, not the other way round. It was supposed to be a materialist view of past and present, a way of predicting and changing the future. But Marx's economic statistics were compiled by his friend Engels, and history has shown that Engels largely fabricated the stats to suit Marx. This completely invalidates the book, taken as a whole.

The best I can say about Capital is that is interesting reading, a relic of a bygone age. The worst, that it inspired the greatest mass murder of all time.

umm, i read Marx's Capital and Communist Manifesto. i really did not enjoy the manifesto, but Capital was good.

how about Rousseau's The Social Contract? that is a great book.

yeah, it's good. If you like that you should read Discourse on the Origin of Inequalities. I personally found more relavense there, but I'm not really that big a fan of rousseau.

I FEAR the panopticon.

I read Capital at college, I didn't have much choice about it, but recommending that book to anyone without an economics background is largely a waste of time. Leftists might find some interest and support for their views in the social aspects, but the whole point of the book was to show economics driving social change, not the other way round. It was supposed to be a materialist view of past and present, a way of predicting and changing the future. But Marx's economic statistics were compiled by his friend Engels, and history has shown that Engels largely fabricated the stats to suit Marx. This completely invalidates the book, taken as a whole.

The best I can say about Capital is that is interesting reading, a relic of a bygone age. The worst, that it inspired the greatest mass murder of all time.

As much as the statistics may be wrong, the underlying principles are, IMO, fundementally sound. I think economics, in terms of the mode of production, does have a tremendous impact upon social structures. I think the mode of production does indeed inform and shape society, and this needs to be taken into account. I also think most, if not all, of marx's criticism are fairly accurate, especially in terms of the time, and continue to be relevant today. While I can appreciate, and I would encourage, scepticism of his work as a whole, I think it's really wasteful to condemn his work into history because we don't always agree with it.

The Theory of Physical Economy is what Economics used to be called.

this web sight may help:

http://www.marx2mao.org/

it has the complete works of lenin in it.

I digress from the topic, but:
Adam Smith is good, but flawed; and is better understood when read with his work on moral philosophy (the Theory of Moral Sentiments). He recognized the difference between free enterprise and what marx later coined as capitalism. He tended to side with free enterprise and saw capitalism as dangerous.

Personally i would recommend the writings of Alexander Hamilton, Roger Sherman, and F. Bastiat (when they touch on economic issues), Ludwig Von Mises, J.B. Clark, and F.A. Hayek. (and would recomend visiting
http://www.econlib.org/
and
http://www.mises.org/
but then i am one of those who falls somewhere between Jefferson and Henry in political thought.

I'd just like to add that although I own quite a few of Lenin's books and pamphlets, I'm not actually a Leninist. Yeah, that's off topic, but so are most of these posts (poor Colodia)

marx's "critique of the gotha programme" is worth reading as well