Marx for dummies

Total propagandaReview by Garth Jones

Book | Total Propaganda: Basic Marxist Brainwashing for the Angry and the Young | Helen Razer

Eight rich, old, white men control more wealth than the poorest 50 per cent of people on planet Earth.

That’s a depressingly slight percentage of the vaunted 1 per cent which benefited from the Global Financial Crisis (GFC) and birthed the Occupy movement.

As global inequality has intensified in the decade since the GFC, the shock of the decline of capitalism has given rise to Trumpism, Brexit and the re-emergence of fascist politics.

Helen Razer’s Total Propaganda: Basic Marxist Brainwashing for the Angry and the Young poses the question: surely a better, more equitable alternative exists?

Razer – a Gen X figurehead whose punk ethos defined Triple J radio for a generation of ’90s kids – is today an author, Crikey columnist and cranky public intellectual.

She’s also a proud, self-described Marxist.

With a professorial zeal for clear explanation of dense economic, philosophical and cultural concepts, Total Propaganda zips succinctly from industrial revolution to GFC and beyond.

Razer unpacks automation, neoliberalism, the offshoring of manufacturing and the exploitation of the global south using a curt turn of phrase and direct language. The author also nods to the popularity of Jeremy Corbyn and Bernie Sanders – two woolly-headed old white dudes espousing Marxist ideas – with millennial voters.

Total Propaganda: Basic Marxist Brainwashing for the Angry and the Young is a brisk, often hilarious and, most importantly, educational read for anyone intimidated by the language of class, political theory and economics.

Razer’s book is an excellent starting point for further reading in the field, and includes a comprehensive further reading section including links to all of Marx’ writings, which now live in the public domain and are available online.

Available at: www.allenandunwin.com/

RRP: $22.95 or kindle $9.73

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