MAJOR U.S. UNIVERSITY
PUBLISHES 'COMMUNISM FOR KIDS', Book
teaches children to 'yearn to be free of misery of capitalism', 4/14/17, WND
“Once upon a time, people yearned to be free
of the misery of capitalism. How could their dreams come true?”
That’s how the
promotion for a new book for kids about the wonders of communism starts out.
The book, “Communism for Kids,” has been published by a major U.S.
university publisher, MIT Press, and is now available in paperback or Kindle on Amazon.
The book,
penned by German author Bini Adamczak and translated by Jacob Blumenfeld and
Sophie Lewis, teaches children the tenets of Karl Marx through a series of
fairy tales. Adamczak reportedly specializes in political theory and “queer
politics.”
His thesis is that communism is “not
that hard” but has not been implemented in the right way. “This little book
proposes a different kind of communism, one that is true to its ideals and free
from authoritarianism,” according to the jacket description. The book uses
cartoon drawings of “lovable little revolutionaries” to help convince kids of
the “evils” of capitalism.
“Offering relief for many who have been
numbed by Marxist exegesis and given headaches by the earnest pompousness of
socialist politics, it presents political theory in the simple terms of a
children’s story, accompanied by illustrations of lovable little
revolutionaries experiencing their political awakening,” MIT Press states.
“It all unfolds like a story, with
jealous princesses, fancy swords, displaced peasants, mean bosses, and tired
workers – not to mention a Ouija board, a talking chair, and a big pot called
‘the state,'” the jacket description continues. “Before they know it, readers are
learning about the economic history of feudalism, class struggles in
capitalism, different ideas of communism, and more,” MIT Press states.
The Washington Free Beacon notes that the book lays out various
approaches to communism, all of which fail. However, “Communism for Kids” ends
with the message that class warfare could still lead to a “better world.”
“Finally, competition between two
factories leads to a crisis that the workers attempt to solve in six different
ways (most of them borrowed from historic models of communist or socialist
change),” the description states. “Each attempt fails, since true communism is
not so easy after all. But it’s also not that hard.”
“At last, the people take everything
into their own hands and decide for themselves how to continue,” MIT Press
concludes. “Happy ending? Only the future will tell. With an epilogue that goes
deeper into the theoretical issues behind the story, this book is perfect for
all ages and all who desire a better world.” The book sells for $12.95.
With 58 customer reviews on Amazon, the
book has an overall rating of two stars, with five being the highest and one
the lowest.
Amazingly, the book ranks among Amazon’s
top-five bestsellers in the categories of “government,” No. 5, and “communism
and socialism,” No. 2. Some reviewers have noted the book is poorly written,
but others say it “makes Marxism cool again!”
According to Salon.com, the book has
received rave reviews from Rachel Kushner, a novelist who uses revolutionary
themes and “scares male critics.” Kushner says the book is especially needed
now, since Donald Trump won the presidency.
“Communism for Kids, by Bini Adamczak,
is in fact for everyone, an inspired and necessary book especially now, a
moment when people feel that we are on the verge of the destruction of the
world, and without any new world to hope for, or believe in,” Kushner says.
“Have two hundred years of capitalism brought us freedom? Or just more
inequality than has ever been experienced by humans on earth?”
“Global capitalism is not human destiny,
it merely is,” Kushner adds. “To think beyond it, with the help of Adamczak’s
primer, is to take a first step toward freedom, at least the freedom to imagine
other worlds.”
Fredric R. Jameson, a professor of
romance studies at Duke University who has “done more than any contemporary
intellectual to rethink and renew the tradition of Marxist cultural theory,”
also praised the book as great for kids.
“This delightful little book may be
helpful in showing youngsters there are other forms of life and living than the
one we currently ‘enjoy’; and even some adults might learn from it as well,”
Jameson says. “At a time when our younger generations are not only dissatisfied
but active enough to have some new thoughts of their own and to look around
seriously for alternatives, political pedagogy has a real function and might
well, as here, be reinvented in new ways.”
Chapter titles for the 101-page book are
as follows: “What is communism?” “What is capitalism?” “How did capitalism
arise?” “What is work?” “What is the market?” “What is crisis?” and “What is to
be done?”
http://www.wnd.com/2017/04/major-u-s-university-publishes-communism-for-kids/
No comments:
Post a Comment