Karl Marx Predicted It!

Now, I am not a communist nor socialist (not that there is anything wrong with that). I do feel that private property is as innate to man as eating and drinking. But...elements of Socialism, community, global and social resposibilty could and should be incorporated into our American version of Capitalism and we would all be better off for it (even if it meant a bit more taxes, btw, Americans pay the lowest tax out of all 1st world western nations).

I was at a Greek Fest at my Son's school and a friend handed me this quote that he received via email. I read it and said, "ok, you have just summarized our current situation, so what?" He then proceeded to tell me that the quote was written about 100 years ago, by Karl Marx!

It seems Karl Marx knew a thing or two about the causes of banking crises:

"Owners of capital will stimulate the working class to buy more and more of expensive goods, houses and technology, pushing them to take more and more expensive credits, until their debt becomes unbearable. The unpaid debt will lead to bankruptcy of banks, which will have to be nationalised, and the State will have to take the road which will eventually lead to communism"

Karl Marx, Das Kapital, 1867

Now you tell me if the dude was spot on or what?

For the sake of accuracy, let me say that I have not done any research or verification as to the authenticity of this quote. I did do a google search (Karl Marx debt) and I found another site, with the above quote also attributing it to Karl Marx. There were some comments on the site stating that it is not an exact Marx quote. Either way it's a very clear and concise summary of the malaise we are currently in. I am not sure the road we are now on will lead us to Communism, but certainly, there is a need for much more oversight, and resposibility in our markets. The quote is interesting and if it was spoken 100 years ago, it's all the more impressive.

OSO.