The Dirty "S" Word

The dirty S word is back, and gaining popularity. Young Americans (ages 18 -29) are growing disillusioned with the capitalist system post 2008 crash, and look more favorably upon... socialism. The ideas put forward by Karl Marx are back in mainstream. Listen to podcast: http://www.cbc.ca/thesundayedition/shows/2013/02/24/is-marxism-facing-a-rebirth/

The survey by Pew Research indicates shift in perception on social policies, despite decades long propaganda war of vilification:

"powerful and wealthy private interests and special interest groups have taken almost full control of most democracies, their money and influence increasingly dictating the political and social agendas for these nations, agendas beneficial to them alone.

All democratic governments to some extent, but again primarily the US, have essentially abandoned their responsibility as “managers” of their nations and societies, have lost the thread of “management for the people”, and instead have relegated their nations to a condition of “management for the benefit of private interests”. ...

The management of these nations for the benefit of special interest groups has become so embedded that 'socialism', which is nothing more than a concern for the overall welfare of the nation and its people, has become a dirty word.

As evidence, most Americans are energetically, and sometimes almost violently, opposed to socialism though few appear to have any understanding of the term's actual meaning.

Socialism – caring about the people of a nation and about their welfare, is equated in the American mind to a hateful dictatorship with no rights or freedoms – in fact, to the precise opposite of the term's real meaning. Such is the power of propaganda." From: http://www.spyghana.com/democracy-and-income-inequality-america-the-worlds-richest-banana-republic/

300% rise in booksales

Here is proof that one needs to write just the right books for the times:

German media have reported that bookstores nationwide have seen a 300% increase in sales of the book in recent months.

The book: Das Kapital, by Karl Marx.

Quite an achievement considering that at the same time:

* E-book sales rose 73% to $5.2 million.
* Adult mass market rose 6.3% to $65.3 million.
* Children's/YA hardcover rose 0.8% to $86.4 million.
* Professional and scholarly sales slipped 4.4% to $46.3 million.
* Audiobook sales dropped 9.1% to $18.4 million.
* University press paperbacks fell 13.9% to $4.2 million
* Children's/YA paperback fell 14.8% to $43.8 million.
* University press hardcovers dropped 20.4% to $6 million.
* Adult paperback dropped 23% to $95 million.
* Adult hardcover fell 25% to $246.2 million.
* Religious books fell 25.6% to $57.1 million.

Publisher of Das Kapital attributes the huge rise in the book's popularity to:

"The financial crisis brought us a huge bump."

He suggested that it was younger Germans who were buying the book unhappy with the direction their elders had led the country.

"There's a younger generation of academics tackling hard questions and looking to Marx for answers," Mr Schuetrumpf said.

The Capital by Karl Marx is available as a free download (pdf).