sometimes when I’m in a real ‘shower thoughts’ mood I find it deeply amusing how we needed marxism to understand this, or at least have it defensibly asserted
I don’t think that most people realize that if anything, human nature is inherently selfless, even communistic, in the grand scheme of things.
always funny how anti-communists are always saying “but human nature is inherently selfish, communism never works!” when people who study human nature for a living say “human nature is so extremely complicated and changes based on so many factors that a universal ‘human nature’ doesn’t even exist”
Equally important in dialectical materialism is that humans shape nature as we as are being shaped by it through sensuous activity - I.e. labour, transforming things with our hands, talking to and convincing others of viewpoints etc.
Three examples of oversimplifying things
The Marxist perspective complicates it, by definition
There’s more to us than just the material conditions around us. One example: friends, or lack thereof.
Reducing humanity down to less than what it is, is simplifying it. Even if it’s complicated compared to other perspectives
Explain to me how friends, or lack thereof, changes “human nature”?
Humans are social animals. Social isolation can cause long term brain damage. There’s more to it, as you may have guessed. But the person you fundamentally are can be altered by much more than just the material stuff around you
Good thing we’re not talking about individuals here, but rather the aggregate behavior of humanity.
Ahh, that was not clear from that post! It makes a lot more sense now
Absolutely. I’ve been living alone with no friends and no family for 2 years and I am FEELING IT.
I am sorry to hear that. It sounds like you need to invest some time/energy/money into socializing
Wow I would not expect that sort of reply from someone on Lemmygrad. You know some people are very very poor, and live in public housing in the 'hood, and are surrounded by liberals? There literally is not one adult my age or any age in the area that wishes to hang out with a communist. I feel like telling you to get bent
The Marxist position is quite literally “it depends” and “it’s complicated”
That’s not what this meme presents tho
