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Marx's Birthday


Today is Karl Marx's 203rd birthday, and although Marx died in 1883 at the age of 64, his ideas are still important today and have played a large role in what I believe about politics, economics, and society. I am a socialist and a Communist because of the work and theory that was done by Karl Marx and subsequent interpretations and implementations of his work. On this day, 203 years from when he was born, I have decided to list some of Marx's works that I think are must-reads or are at least important to learn about and understand, and to provide some places to learn about Marxist ideas online. Happy birthday, Marx!


Wage-Labour and Capital


I consider Wage-Labour and Capital to absolutely be a must-read in Communist theory. This is a fairly short work, and it outlines components of capitalism, namely, as the title suggests, how wage labor works. It can be pretty didactic at times, as Marx tends to get, but it is important in understanding how labor is valued under capitalism and how it is commodified. A lot of the ideas in this and the next work on the list are expanded on in Capital, but these are much more condensed explanations.








Value, Price and Profit

Value, Price and Profit has some overlap in ideas with Wage-Labour and Capital, and so they are often sold together as one book, but it is more specifically focused on commodification and where value comes from under capitalism. Marx's analysis of how profit is created has proved to be correct in every era of capitalism since and reading this work from over 150 years ago brings insight into how the system that we live under today still fundamentally operates. 






The Communist Manifesto

Now, the manifesto might seem to be the most obvious pick, but I don't consider this to be as important a read as the other works listed so far. I think that it definitely should be read, especially since it isn't too long, but it isn't as fundamental to the ideas of Marxism as these other works. I enjoy reading the manifesto, however, and think that you should read it at least once if you are interested in Marxism or in socialism in general. 






Capital

This is by far the longest work on this list. My copy of Vol. 1 is around 700 pages long, whereas everything else on this list can be read in around an afternoon. I have not finished Capital yet, and certain sections of it are particularly difficult to get through, but for those with the time and interest, it is important to read this. I have been trying to get through it, and in the parts I have been able to read, I have learned a lot and had a lot of further explanation of the topics introduced by the other works on this list. I'm not taking many of my books with me to college, but my copy of  Vol. 1 of Capital will certainly be one of the books that I do. I will be including a link to this from the Marxist Internet Archive, but I find it very difficult to read anything of this length on a screen, so it might be best to read a physical copy.




All of these works are important contributions to the development of socialist thought and I think that they are important to read.

Next, I will be providing a list of YouTube creators who I think have valuable contributions to learn from concerning Marxism.

Hakim


Please, please, PLEASE watch Hakim's YouTube videos. I've learned so much from watching his stuff, especially about the Soviet Union and the practical realities of socialism. He only uploads about once a month, as he is a doctor and is busier than your average YouTube content creator. Please watch Hakim's videos, he puts in the work to make sure that he knows what he is talking about, and he is an excellent educator.


My Favorite Video from Hakim: Socialism Gives a Better Quality of Life


halim alrah


This channel has some great informative content from a socialist perspective. Even though there are only about ten videos on the channel and no videos for almost a year, the content is very worth watching.






Shaun

While I don't believe Shaun's videos are from an explicitly Marxist perspective, he is certainly a socialist and produces high-quality content. His videos are mostly focused on dissecting lies from the right wing and explaining the issues with ideas that are put forward by conservatives. He also has some great longer videos that are thoroughly researched, like his masterpiece two hour video on the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. 


My Favorite Video from Shaun: How PragerU Lies to You


Viki 1999


The videos from Viki 1999 that I think are the most worth watching are her videos on specific ideologies and how specific current and former socialist countries operate(d). These videos tend to be very informative, going over their general economic and political systems. The videos on ideology cover everything from basic Marxism-Leninism to Titoism, and most other main leftist ideologies. 




Spooky Scary Socialist

There are only three videos on this channel, and I do not have much to say about it, but there's one video on it that I think is important to watch so here it is. 


My Favorite Video from Spooky Scary Socialist: Debunking Every Anti-Communist Argument Ever







I'm sure that I am missing some great creators here, but this is the list that I was able to come up with. Everyone on this list has great videos that are useful to learn about Marxism and are also just fun to watch.

Happy birthday Karl Marx!


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