The Owner and I are walking through Highgate Cemetery when we see a Very Grand Tomb.

Whose is that Huge Grave? I ask.

That is the Tomb of Karl Marx, she says.

The same Marx who said Property is Theft? I ask.

That’s the One, says the Owner.

The same Marx who saw Ownership as the source of Control over the Proletariat, used to enforce the Interests of Those With Economic Power even when they are Obviously Opposed to the Interests of Those Without Any? I ask.

That would be him, says the Owner. I do not think any of the other Well-Known Marxes made such comments.

The Marx who saw Capitalism as reliant on Accumulation of the Surplus Value Extracted from the Oppressed Worker? I ask.

Yes, says the Owner, gazing at the Tomb. I think we are on the same Karl Marx page here.

It is a Very Grand Grave for the Champion of the Proletariat, I say. Do you think the Masses were Oppressed in the Building of It?

I Believe they Did it Willingly, says the Owner.

This sounds like Exploitative Extraction of Labour disguised by the Appearance of a Free Contract between Employer and Employee, I say. Such a Contract does not mean they are not Oppressed. Look at Zero Hours and People Delivering Pizza.

The Owner sighs. You are Right, she says, and I do not think Marx would have wanted so Grand a Tomb. Nor do I think he would have Ordered a Pizza to be Delivered by the Oppressed. Often in life, however, we get not what we Should Have, but what Others Choose For Us. I suspect Marx would see this as the Inevitable Consequence of the Power of the Proletariat.

Are you suggesting Marx would approve if the Proletariat made an Inexplicably Capitalist Decision, on this basis that this is Democracy? I ask.

Hm, says the Owner. Where is Jeremy the Beagle? Is he Prompting you from Behind that Tree?

He might be, I say. He is Still Trying to Make Sense of It.

Aren’t we all, says the Owner.

Categories: dignity dog dog philosophy Marx

Hergest the Hound

I am a dog of many thoughts.