Jim,
I cannot really say I am "losing my religion" as I have never been truly religious, though I have tried at times. But nowadays I often think of Marxism in two ways: 1) As a quasi-religion which believers try to warm over, in the desperate hope that it might recapture the glory days of its youth. 2) As a broken car ready for the scrapheap, from which you can salvage some parts and components that are still good and usable. When I say "quasi-religion" I do not mean it, in the sense that many Marxists have a violent hatred of religion. I mean simply a system of metaphysical beliefs and orthodoxy, providing believers with meaning and security in their lives, by defining the structure of the universe and of society for them. The good part contained by Marxism is the collaborative research project which Marx & Engels themselves began, but which they never finished (because it is really endless). However, quite likely PEN-L is not a good forum to discuss these things, since there are quite a few "true believers" on it. Challenging the faith would only cause flame wars, which Michael wants to avoid. All this terminology such as "globalization", "neoliberalism", "financialization" I find exceedingly dubious. It can mean almost anything, and is therefore highly suspect. It is I think an ideological terminology, that hides and confuses more than it reveals. J.
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