Views of Karl Marx on Jews
The views of Karl Marx on Jews are by far the most popular topic of discussion among anti-Marxists and anti-communists. Implications that Karl Marx, whose Jewish father converted to Christianity, was an antisemite or a self-hating Jew are ubiquitous in both right-wing and liberal attacks on Marxism,[1][2] either in the form of ad hominem or by directly connecting antisemitism with his critique of capitalism.[a] Many Marxists and leftists argue that he held views typical of the antisemitism of the 19th century, while others claim that his views have been misrepresented.[3][4][5] Some leftists argue that Marx's views, especially his private letters with his lifelong friend Friedrich Engels, constitute ironic racism.[citation needed]
Writings
Marx almost never referenced Jews in his critique of capitalist society, only mentioning them in passing when describing their role in the history of mercantile trade in Europe and the origin of antisemitism as a form of nascent anti-capitalism.
On the Jewish Question
"On the Jewish Question" is an important Marxist text for the historical study of Marx's ideas. However, the work is often interpreted as containing latent or overt antisemitic rhetoric. Critics sometimes anachronistically connect the work's title to the 20th century Nazi "Final Solution to the Jewish Question"[instances needed], but the 19th century use of the phrase referred to the specific issues caused by the Napoleonic emancipation of the Jews and the rise of liberal Jewish thought.
Capital
Private correspondence
Analysis
Antisemitism
Other interpretations
In "Marx and the Economic-Jew Stereotype", Marxist Hal Draper argued that Marx's views constituted a typical form of antisemitism for his time and cited peers of Marx, including Stirner and Hegel, who used the term Jew to refer to usurers.[6]
Leftist commentator Ben Burgis argued in Jacobin magazine that while Marx's infamous letter about Lassalle constituted a "stain on his character", the language in "On the Jewish Question" uses "some casually antisemitic language and metaphors" in order to create "essentially an extended pun on the word 'Judentum' with its colloquial double meanings as 'Judaism' and 'commerce.' His overall point, though, was to argue against Bauer and for equal rights for German Jews."[5]
Notes
- ↑ "Marxism, arguably, is little more than a conspiracy theory in which the ruling classes – i.e., “the Jews” – control and manipulate the economy to enrich themselves at the expense of poor workers."[1]
"It was Marx’s sinister achievement to marry the economic anti-Semitism of the French socialists to the philosophical anti-Semitism of the German idealists and so to construct a new kind of anti-Semitic conspiracy theory which was to be an intellectual rehearsal for his general theory of capital."[2]
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Singer, Saul Jay (8 May 2019). "Karl Marx: A Self-Hating Jew". JewishPress.com. Retrieved 14 Oct 2023.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 Johnson, Paul (1 Apr 1984). "Marxism vs. the Jews". Commentary Magazine. Retrieved 14 Oct 2023.
- ↑ Leon, Abram (29 Jun 2020). "The Jewish Question (1. Scientific study of Jewish history)". Marxists Internet Archive. Retrieved 14 Oct 2023.
- ↑ Rose, John (2008). "Karl Marx, Abram Leon, and the Jewish Question: A reappraisal". Marxists Internet Archive. Retrieved 14 Oct 2023.
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 Burgis, Ben (4 May 2022). "No, Karl Marx Wasn't a Hideous Racist". Jacobin. Retrieved 14 Oct 2023.
- ↑ Draper, Hal. "Marx Myths and Legends". Marxists Internet Archive. Retrieved 14 Oct 2023.
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