Sparks Commentary: A review of Karl Marx's “Das Kapital” (audiobook)

“A commodity appears, at first sight, a very trivial thing, and easily understood. Its analysis shows that it is, in reality, a very queer thing, abounding in metaphysical subtleties and theological niceties.”

– Karl Marx’s “Das Kapital” (1867), Volume 1, Chapter 1, Section 4

Those who know me would not be surprised to hear that I’m not exactly a fan of Karl Marx. He has long struck me as a nutball who was wrong about virtually everything he said, and who had very little to contribute to economic science. Nonetheless, he is someone that is worth learning about anyway for someone who debates about economic issues. Many a liberal is a disciple of Karl Marx, and does not shy away from making Marxist arguments. Thus, knowing about Marxist arguments is helpful to anyone who wants to debunk them as I do.

Because of this, I have long thought about reading Karl Marx in the original German – reading his short work “The Communist Manifesto” in German, and even his much longer work “Das Kapital” in German. I’ve read “The Communist Manifesto” in English translation, as it turns out, and have even read parts of “Das Kapital” in English as well. But I have never yet spared the time to read all of “Das Kapital” in any language (even English). Thus, on the off-chance that I would never have the German to tackle this in the original, I acquired an audiobook about it some years ago which gives some basic background information about the book, and which helps to place Marxism as he conceived it into the context of the times – one of the best investments I’ve ever made, in my opinion.

Technically I acquired two audiobooks about it, since one was about “The Communist Manifesto” and the other was about “Das Kapital” (the longer of the two works). The one about “Das Kapital” was more helpful to me in some ways, since I may never undertake to read all of that work by myself. It’s a good substitute in many ways to get some background information in the meantime, though, in case I never get to read the whole thing. Both audiobooks were quite good in their own right, and the one about “The Communist Manifesto” likewise gave me some background information that was not available within the work itself. I’m still debating whether to read “Das Kapital” in its entirety someday, as of this moment, but summary audiobooks like this are probably the next best thing in the meantime. I’ll probably be glad I listened to them, even if I never get around to finishing “Das Kapital” in any particular language.

Karl Marx

Incidentally, this book is very critical of both Marx and Marxism. They point out the flaws in his theories – particularly his “labor theory of value,” which does not stand up to empirical evidence. Someone might object that it’s better to get Marxist ideas directly from Marxists, rather than from any opponent of Marxism. I concede the truth of this argument, but I have heard Marxist ideas from other Marxists at other times, so it doesn’t seem very applicable to me personally. If Marx’s critics should listen to Marxist ideas “with an open mind,” then his supporters should likewise listen to the ideas of his critics “with an open mind,” and hear the arguments like those given in this audiobook. Some of them seem to fear opposing ideas too much to listen to them. But the ones who listen to this audiobook will have proved their ability to listen to opposing ideas, even if we still can’t come to an agreement on any substantial point of economic theory.

“Das Kapital: From Capitalist Exploitation to Communist Revolution” audiobook

“Communist Manifesto and Social Contract” audiobook (Communist Manifesto portion)

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