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| Bini Adamczak |
I have already reported that MIT Press has recently published Communism for Kids.
I ordered a copy and have finally found time to read the book. It is mostly a book for children. I say mostly because there is an epilogue that is decidedly not for children.
The book was originally published in 2010 in Germany with the title Kommunismus.
The author is Bini Adamczak. She is a Berlin-based social theorist, author, performer and visual artist. She writes on political theory, queer politics, and the "past future of revolutions."
The book's Amazon Kindle edition is ranked number 1 in Children's eBooks, Education & Reference, Government. The paperback edition is ranked at Amazon at #20,307 overall. This means it is getting purchased. In comparison, Peter and Andrew Schiff's book, How an Economy Grows and Why It Crashes is ranked only #42,015.
As I say and as the English title indicates, it is a book for children, There is through most of the book, for example, a
talking factory.
The talking factory itself is not the problem, It is how the factory is positioned to represent capitalists and the alleged abuse of labor. We learn for example that after a specific crisis in capitalism that factory workers are only able to go to the movies once a week instead of two times a week.
Then there are lines like these in the book:
The Ouija board illustrates pretty well how life works under capitalism.---
Some are trying to turn their irons into stew but that is pretty pointless. "We're in a real mess now," the people say. "If only we hadn't listened to these factories!"---
Everybody sits down around the irons to think long and hard about capitalism, because they've realized that the mess is really all capitalism's fault.---
The people now know two things. First, they know that capitalism doesn't make them happy, and second, they know communism does.----
{After communism was adopted] People can now try everything on the planet because they want to understand everything...If anything seems bad or harmful, they just change it....Everyone is now having meetings about everything...They don't want to leave any decision to some pot person---even though pot people don't exist anymore.The people are now changing everything themselves, as often as they want...Finally, the people stop shaking their heads, and instead of saying "no," they start to say--HELLO--!As you may sense the book is a bit weak in the deductive reasoning category. That said, this is a children's book but I counted basic errors concerning:
capital theory
labor theory
entrepreneurship
competition
business cycle theory
In other words, there is a message here to kids via fantasy object lessons, such as talking factories, and overbearing pots, to show that capitalism is bad and communism is good. It is providing a hate capitalism framework that is instilled at an early age---to be filled in at a later age with details. But it is this anti-capitalist framework, that is introduced to the children, which is what makes the book so dangerous.
As for the epilogue, it is a discussion of the current state of communism with critiques of past views of communism and failed attempts at communism. "In its world-historical attempt to abolish domination, socialism disgraced itself, painfully and poignantly." Yes, you read that correctly. Adamczak seems to be aware that in practice socialism/communism has been a disaster.
And although she promotes communism in the part of the book aimed at kids, she still doesn't know how to bring "good" communism about even though she thinks revolution is in the air.
She writes that we are in "current revolutionary moments" and that "the 'eternal presence' of capitalism has ended, for now....For the first time in ages, history is open once again---for suggestions."
My suggestion is, of course, that Adamczak needs to understand what capitalism and free markets truly are in the first place before writing books for kids advocating moving in the direction of central planning that flies in the face of human nature.
And to also keep kids away from this damn book.
Robert Wenzel is Editor & Publisher of EconomicPolicyJournal.com and Target Liberty. He also writes EPJ Daily Alert and is author of The Fed Flunks: My Speech at the New York Federal Reserve Bank. Follow him on twitter:@wenzeleconomics, on LinkedIn and Facebook. The Robert Wenzel podcast is on iphone and stitcher.
Thank you for the review.
ReplyDelete"The author is Bini Adamczak. She is a Berlin-based social theorist..."
ReplyDeleteDid you just assume "her" gender!?
Seriously though, that looks like a dude.
I'd say it's definitely a dude. You tell me:
Deletehttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vjd3X2HybJk
"The Ouija board illustrates pretty well how life works under capitalism."
ReplyDeleteThe Kalashnikov illustrates pretty well how life works under communism.
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteAhem. She is selling the book! How capitalistic! And in Amazon no less, where they, OMG, pay employees.
ReplyDeleteAnd how else is she supposed to publish books in capitalist totality?
DeleteEver heard of self-publishing. She can give it away for free and ask for a donations.
DeleteIn a Communist totality, no one would hear of her. Not in the gulag we, in this web site, where we will be getting free room and board, and free physical exercising.
Just started reading "The Harvest of Sorrow" from Robert Conquest. Maybe when I'm done with it I can send that lady a copy to so she can read for herself what really happens under communism- millions of deaths!
ReplyDeleteHow is it possible to understand such a small and simple book so wrongly?
ReplyDeleteAnd to also keep kids away from this damn book.
ReplyDeleteAn alternate strategy would be to introduce the book to kids and explain how its recommendations always lead to poverty and abuse. Parents may be able to hide this particular work from their children, but they can't hide the idea that government is the source of all that is good in the world. That pervasive and massively destructive idea must be confronted head-on.
Are you trying to teach her a lesson about capitalism? Surely she wouldn't lay claim to any ownership the book. Or is this an example of private vs personal property?
ReplyDelete─ The people now know two things. First, they know that capitalism doesn't make them happy, and second, they know communism does. ─
ReplyDeleteJust like a junkie knows that reality sucks but his heroin fix is the greatest!
The author takes capitalism personally, as if it is a relative that he needs to defend. This is silly. It is important to know the good and bad sides of any system. Marx acknowledged the historical advances of capitalism. And what he called communism may come as a logical result of where the world is going. Therefor, it is important to educate oneself. If bad times come, many of you may become "communists" (or how ever it will be called in the future) out of sheer necessity, e.g. in a radicalized political environment due to crisis, wars etc. Who knows? You never know.
ReplyDeleteYou're probably correct that, in the event of a crisis (and we all know that our government's efforts economic meddling makes that all but inevitable) many people will try to justify stealing from their neighbor.
DeleteHowever, I doubt that many readers of this blog will be among them.
nice
ReplyDelete