...Whether or not you think it's accurate to call Obama a Marxist, his perspective on how the economy works is Marxian through and through. More specifically, it is a reflection of what's referred to as Marx's "labor theory of value."
.....A belief in the labor theory of value is what explains the hostility toward profits that is so prevalent on the left. If labor is 100 percent responsible for the creation of value, profit is theft. Profits are only possible if labor is exploited and only if capitalists get what's not rightfully theirs. Likewise, property is theft, as are various forms of capital. Marx is the inventor of the word "capitalism." His turgid three volume magnum opus is titled Das Kapital.
In countless ways Marxism is an intellectual mess. Theoretically it makes no sense. In practice it has led not to utopia, but to dystopia. The most horrific and repressive regimes in the world today -- North Korea, Cuba, and Zimbabwe, for example -- are Marxian in theory and practice.
...Obama's speech reflects his deeply held belief that business owners do not deserve the share of income and wealth they receive. All value ought to go to the workers. Any other outcome is the result of "the exploitation of humans by humans." According to Marx, that's what happens under capitalism and will continue to happen until private property rights are abolished. Only then can true equality be achieved.
.....Whether or not Barack Obama is a Marxist depends on how you define Marxist. Most everyone who acts like a Marxist reacts strongly if called a Marxist. There are probably a hundred Marxists for every one who admits to being one. The birth certificate I would like to see is one that would show where Obama's ideology was born.
(Excerpt) Read more at spectator.org ...
