Introduction<\/em>:\u00a0 The Revolutionary Dream of Communism<\/p>\n In this session, I will introduce you to the topics and pathways of the study of communism.\u00a0 I will also call your attention to three concepts that I look for when thinking about politics:\u00a0 ideas, rules, and incentives.<\/p>\n A. James McAdams,\u00a0Vanguard of the Revolution<\/em>, Chapter 1: READ<\/p>\n Discussion<\/em>: \u00a0What are revolutionary dreamers like, what do they want, and how do they propose to get it?<\/p>\n Let’s talk about about a revolutionary experiment we already know.<\/p>\n What were the foundations of the vast, complex, and vibrant organization known Selections from Paul the Apostle:<\/p>\n 3. Tuesday, January 21<\/strong><\/p>\n Discussion<\/em>: \u00a0Imagining a Better World in 19th Century England. The challenge for this discussion is to: 1) put yourself into the streets of London (Engels\u2019 description), and 2) unravel Engels\u2019 agenda.\u00a0 Once you have done this, I’d like you to think a little bit about the theme of “class in America.”<\/p>\n Are there any meaningful similarities between Engels\u2019 world and ours?<\/p>\n 4. Thursday, January 23<\/strong><\/p>\n Discussion<\/em>: \u00a0Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels,\u00a0Communist Manifesto\u00a0<\/em>(1) What is Marx’s argument about the coming revolution? How do he justify his claims? Does the argument make sense?\u00a0 Could it make sense today?<\/p>\n The\u00a0Communist Manifesto\u00a0<\/em>was written by an educated European in a rapidly industrializing society. Ironically, it emerged from the same meld of western European cultures and ways of thinking that produced liberal democracy and capitalism. \u00a0It was only later that the idea of communist revolution spread to other parts of the world. Hence, the origins of the communist movement are not a matter of \u201cus versus them,\u201d but instead \u201cus, them, and some other guys.\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n The Origins of Marxism: \u00a0Part II<\/strong><\/p>\n 5. Tuesday, January 28<\/strong><\/p>\n Discussion<\/em>: \u00a0Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels,\u00a0Communist Manifesto<\/em> (2)<\/p>\n What role do the communists play in making the revolution? \u00a0Why would you want to join their club?\u00a0 What should those who are going to be “revolutionized” know about the consequences of this idea?<\/p>\n 6. Thursday, January 30<\/strong><\/p>\n The First Great Debate!<\/p>\n A critical view from the 1850s: \u201cEverything that Marx says in the Communist Manifesto<\/em> sounds great, but his program is destined to lead to even more miserable conditions for everyone.”<\/strong><\/p>\n I will provide instructions about our format.<\/p>\n Prepare for your debate by identifying the structure of this particular exchange:\u00a0 Should NFL Prospects be required to play in college bowl games? READ PRO\u00a0<\/a>and\u00a0CON<\/a><\/p>\n <\/p>\n Paragraph assignment<\/em>: \u00a0\u201cIf Marx was an\u00a0archaeopteryx<\/a>, would that make Lenin his bird?\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n NOTE: Please leave your technology at home. This includes electronic devices of any kind, such as laptops, Kindles, i-Pads, I-phones, video cameras, video games, dog fences, or other personal digital devices.<\/p>\n My class is a no-tweet zone. Some things are just not dignified!<\/em><\/p>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The founders of the global communist movement were revolutionary dreamers.\u00a0 They wanted to overthrow the old regimes that had governed Europe for centuries and they had a dream that they could replace the old order with something better. In this first part of this seminar, I challenge you to get into the heads of the … Continue reading “Revolutionary Dreamers”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":114,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-12","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.nd.edu\/communism-spring-2020\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/12","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.nd.edu\/communism-spring-2020\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.nd.edu\/communism-spring-2020\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.nd.edu\/communism-spring-2020\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/114"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.nd.edu\/communism-spring-2020\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=12"}],"version-history":[{"count":35,"href":"https:\/\/sites.nd.edu\/communism-spring-2020\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/12\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":309,"href":"https:\/\/sites.nd.edu\/communism-spring-2020\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/12\/revisions\/309"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.nd.edu\/communism-spring-2020\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=12"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}\n
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as the Christian church? \u00a0Somehow, the Apostle Paul began the movement. Listen to him deeply when you hear him speak in thes following segments of the Bible.\u00a0 Try to envision them as components of a bold project in which everything is up for grabs.\u00a0 Paul is a leader. Two thousand years ago, you might have been a follower.\u00a0\u00a0In short, I am asking you to insert yourselves into a situation rather than just relying on the words alone.<\/p>\n\n
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\nTreat my argument about the Communist Manifesto<\/em> as one person’s interpretation and not as ‘God-given truth’ (though I would be flattered otherwise).\u00a0 I provide one account of this world-historical treatise.\u00a0 What is your account?<\/li>\n\n
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\nAnd what is a “class anyway”?\u00a0READ<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n