"Paranoia; Everybody's Comin' to Get Me..."

Steve,

I have known you since we were kids, I will always admire your idealism and furthermore I appreciate your admiration for Marx and his socialist ideals. I'm impressed with your pragmatic source of politics and identity. Even though the buck doesn't stop with me at Marxist teachings and philosophies, I still value these values as part of a contribution to the theories and lessons passed down to us from the worldly philosophers, those that came before him and those who came after him. They each provided us a basis and to each there is good and bad in them for us to decide, and as such their powerful instruction based on human observations were upgraded every so often.

In order for any of us to interpret their ideals and apply them to our own rightly inherited principles handed down to us from experience, one needs a coherent understanding about where they came from to understand how they got where they saw only so far into the progression of manknd socially and economically. To benefit our mind's with wisdom and transform idle time in positive fashion, a composition of biographical data, including their upbringings, their families, their religions, and their educational backgrounds (be them formal or otherwise) is helpful. As such it is necessary to examine whom their students were and/or those these teachings inspired. To appreciate the distance further which provided insight into visions that exceeded, what in this case is a "Marxist" ideology. This, I am not saying to provoke you to switch party lines, but in order for you to defend yourself, your principles and ideals in circles which you would like persuade others to identify with your own ideologies, be prepared to refute the concepts you encounter and consider to be misnomers. Otherwise your message will fall upon deaf ears.

Do you think that Marx was oblivious to Smith? Do you think Marx and Ricardo put down Smith and felt satisfied? God bless those people who read the Wealth of Nations and don't reach their fill. What is so enlightening about the "invisible hand", and why give up hope in seeking further enlightnement? Likewise should we all pick up Das Kapital and believe all has been said, and nothing remains? If so that's an extreme position we'll need to disagree on. When nothing remains life dies. We both know that Marx, who was a student for the better part of his life, he'd be rolling in his grave if it were believed that his legacy was dead. Marx transcended thought and inspired others not rest, but instead pursue happiness not just for yourself but also for others as well.

The truest of thinkers of political economy, they all proivided insights into blueprints meant to advance the socio-economio-political breathing beating the hearts of human benefit -in the literal sense, first and foremost our children and children's children. Must one really corner himself into the belief that there were agent provocateurs intentionally sent out amongst us to propogate the destruction of man and his progression against history? Nay! Why go through all of that when all we have to do is just stop having babies!?

And as I started this as a friend who has known you for the better part of your life, cast your judgement upon me based on my intentions; the default: love, sharing and someone who would watch your back today as I would before, not your paranoia. I have given you nothing for you to try my trust. The same way as you have to me.