Gareth Southwell - What would Marx do?

Gareth Southwell

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It feels as if the world is becoming more political. Or maybe its just that, through social media and the internet, we are all now more exposed to political issues. If we want to, we can now find news updates 24 hours a day, on almost any topic and from anywhere on the planet. So, whether its the growing threat to Southeast Asias coral reefs, the heart-rending plight of Syrian refugees, the extravagant excesses of Wall Street traders, or some more local issue, its now much easier to stay informed, get involved, share and comment, promote or condemn. This also makes it much harder to escape from it all, as perhaps more so than ever we are exposed to the political opinions of friends and casual acquaintances, work colleagues and even complete strangers.

Of course, its not just in reading or discussion, online or in the media, that we are faced with political issues, but also, as we go about our daily lives, in the form of common practical dilemmas. Should you buy fair-trade coffee? Do you have a moral duty to give to charity? Is there any good reason to get married, and is it a good idea to have children? Is it OK to want a better job or a bigger house? Even whether you should wear a bicycle helmet, or look after a friends pet. These might not seem like political questions at first, but, when you look deep enough and in the right way, you will find that political philosophers have had lots to say about such questions. So, Plato might not have explicitly addressed the question of Facebook-addiction, but he had lots to say on the role of government in helping us to be rational and free from destructive passions. John Stuart Mill never saw a tweet in his life, but would have argued that your right to say what you want on social media should be limited as little as possible. Therefore, when we ask what would Marx do?, and consider how the great political minds would have dealt with everyday situations in the 21st century, it is not some frivolous exercise, but a serious attempt to understand how the insights of some of historys great political thinkers might be applied to our everyday lives which, after all, is what politics is about, isnt it? How we live our lives?

Underlying most common dilemmas that we face are various unquestioned assumptions: ethical attitudes about the nature of good and duty; beliefs about the freedom and power of the individual in relation to the state; views concerning justice and fairness; or regarding the distribution of wealth and poverty; and so on. In analysing these mundane problems, we can therefore unearth and explore these issues, and find out what a wide spectrum of political philosophers have had to say about them. As you might expect, they didnt always agree, and so in considering their different views you will not always end up with a simple piece of advice that you can follow and apply thats not really the point of philosophy. Rather, what youll get is a deeper understanding of whythe issue in question has been so contentious, and why many of them continue to be the subject of vigorous disagreement. By the end of it, youll know what Marx would have done, and Plato, and Mill, and Aristotle and Hegel, and many others besides. Some youll agree with, and others you wont, and youll probably be left with many more questions than you had before but thats just the nature of philosophy. However, with that understanding, youll also be in a better position to make up your own mind, and to answer the most important question: What would Ido?

At first, you think youve just forgotten where you parked.