Richard D. Wolff

In response to this AM's Economic Update (1/28) I write this from a life-long socialist perspective: Shouldn't any dialogue about the relevance and validity of Marxism must begin with (1) a defense of the compatibility between Marxist political thought and democracy and human rights especially the right of individual dissent and freedom of speech, and (2) an honest analysis of why no self-declared Marxist government has arisen to power that did not lapse into a totalitarian state resulting in financial ruin, bloodshed, human rights abuses, political suppression, etc. - and that, in contrast, all the improvements in law, human rights, living standards, technology - in general, all the improvement in the human condition, have come from the free market societies of North America and western Europe.