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Quote by Allen W. Wood

“Capitalism now seems more likely a swamp, a bog, a quicksand in which humanity is presently flailing about, unable to extricate itself, perhaps doomed to perish within a few generations from the long term effects of the technology which seemed to Marx its greatest gift to humanity.”

Quote by Allen W. Wood

Author

Allen W. Wood, born in 1942, is a renowned professor in the field of philosophy. He has made significant contributions to ethics and political philosophy, with a rich academic career that spans several decades. Wood's research has influenced scholars worldwide, and his works have provided new insights into moral and political theories. more

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“Capitalism has proven to be a far more terrible system than Marx could ever bring himself to imagine. Those who are so deluded as to find something good in it, or even feel loyalty toward it, are its most pitiful victims.”

Feels Imagine Terrible Capitalism Victim Loyalty Proven Deluded Pitiful

Author:Allen W. Wood

“What Smith and Marx have in common is that they were both philosophers of great vision and perceptiveness, deep humanity, and a sense of social reality that has been lost in the abstractly formalistic economic theories that have dominated the field since the last third of the nineteenth century.”

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Author:Allen W. Wood

“Those who see Smith as a defender of capitalism - as it existed in Marx's day, or as it exists today - show above all that they are not living in the real world. They are behaving as though the undeveloped form of capitalism Smith studied is still with us.”

World Stills Real Shows Today Form Capitalism Real World Defenders

Author:Allen W. Wood

“In general, those who defend capitalism are basically out of touch with reality.”

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Author:Allen W. Wood

“Smith could not be expected to have anticipated the horrors that were to come. But even in his own time, he was a defender of certain state actions that he thought necessary in order to safeguard the good effects of commercial society (Smith did not speak of 'capitalism' and was acquainted only with an early undeveloped form of it). Among these state actions the chief was general public education.”

States Action Form Certain Order Speak Effects Horror Capitalism Expected Chiefs Defenders Public Education General Public

Author:Allen W. Wood

“Adam Smith was aware of the way that economic interests could have a distorting and destructive effect both on the market and on politics.”

Way Interest Economic Effects Destructive Adam

Author:Allen W. Wood

“Adam Smith saw the greed of modern capitalism for what it was - a form of destructive ambition that may have favorable effects on the productive capacities of society, but which is of no direct benefit to anyone - not even to the greedy themselves, whose illusory chase after a will-o-the-wisp leaves them morally bankrupt and unhappy.”

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“There is a lot in Adam Smith that reflects the insights of Rousseau and anticipates those of Marx.”

Insight Adam Anticipate

Author:Allen W. Wood

“The Russian revolution did not occur until a generation after Marx's death. He was not involved with it, or with what came after it. His works do not describe post-capitalist society, and a fortiori they do not recommend any part of what the Soviet Union did.”

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Author:Allen W. Wood

“It is absurd for anyone to think that Soviet "Marxism" is a correct application of the thought of Karl Marx. No doubt Soviet propaganda represented it this way. But who believes Soviet propaganda? It is remarkable (but maybe not so remarkable after all, when you consider their motives) that apologists for capitalism, who would not accept Soviet propaganda on any other point, are eager to agree with it on this point.”

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Author:Allen W. Wood