David’s Reviews > De voorwaarden tot het socialisme en de taak der sociaal-democratie > Status Update

"The occupation of the tropics by Europeans need not harm the wellbeing of the indigenous, which thus far has indeed not been the case. Moreover, savages can only be awarded a restricted respect of their right to the land. The higher culture has the higher right. Not the conquest but the cultivation of the soil justifies its use."

Wonder when social democracy turned away from colonialism. After decolonization?

Liking this a lot so far damn. Contrasting positions of politicians to their context and available options is so illuminating.

Like Michael Heinrich for our times, Bernstein starts by separating historical materialism as a general logic of development from its practical applications as passed down by Marx. The first is a matter of science, ie it can be argued and proven, while the second are contingent value judgements and don't necessarily hold true outside their concrete situation.

According to the introduction, Bernstein's faith in orthodox interpretations of marxism (if not of Marx per se) was shattered by 2 factors: 1) the publiciation of Capital Vol 3, which to him failed completely due to the Transformation Problem, and 2) the "apocalyptic" outlook presented by most marxists, which could be summarized as "après le deluge, nous".

Very hyped to get into this.

"We should put all theoreticians in a room and let them devour each other"

Fine proposal