> You're attacking the messenger, but you fail to address his core argument
I'm not attacking him. His message places a lot of blame externally. That leads to not looking for solutions and building a better life.
Marxism isn't the solution. I've been to a lot of the Marxist/ex-Marxist countries, and they're all worse off than similar neighbors who didn't endure Marxism.
But that's not the big point. The big point is that placing the blame externally kills off your ability to solve problems yourself.
> I'm not attacking him. His message places a lot of blame externally.
True. It's probably a matter of seeing where form ends and where meaning begins (which is of course based on a false dichotomy :-).
> The big point is that placing the blame externally kills off your ability to solve problems yourself.
That's your big point (and I agree with you on that).
His point is a reformulation of a key facet of Marx's analytical economic theory, with which I agree. I wouldn't however ever think of advocating any of Marx's proposed solutions, which took out the human nature out of the equation, for great disaster.
> But that's not the big point. The big point is that placing the blame externally kills off your ability to solve problems yourself.
If all you think about is solving your own problems, in the self-help sense, then placing blame externally is bad and non-productive indeed (as it makes you passive).
But if you think about how society as a whole impacts the lives of most people, then it is an empirical issue, and I'd guess most peoples lives are rather much impacted by external factors... So considering them is sensible there (as it focuses attention on the most important factors).
I'm not attacking him. His message places a lot of blame externally. That leads to not looking for solutions and building a better life.
Marxism isn't the solution. I've been to a lot of the Marxist/ex-Marxist countries, and they're all worse off than similar neighbors who didn't endure Marxism.
But that's not the big point. The big point is that placing the blame externally kills off your ability to solve problems yourself.