When I was an undergrad I once wrote a paper using the phrase “late-stage capitalism” (which I’d just learned, was trying it out for the first time) and my Marxist English prof underlined it and wrote “very optimistic!”

Anyway turned out I was right because that very same year Occupy Wall Street came along and abolished capitalism forever

Btw since people have this idea that American universities are Marxist madrasas, I want to say for the record that in fact I had to go out of my way to study Marx, getting special permission from the dean to take a 300-level class outside my major (I was a nerd)

Earlier I’d taken an intro to critical theory class “to make fun of it” but instead found it really interesting. I ended up reading the Manifesto, parts of Capital, Theses on Feuerbach, German Ideology, & I remember my favorite being the 1844 manuscripts?

Then I stopped reading Marx because Marxists are annoying. But since I’ve been on a kick of Reading Theory maybe I’ll give it another try