thanks, comrade, that’s a lot of mods!
Looks like this adds in a lot of nuance that isn’t in the vanilla game. I have enjoyed the vanilla version and never used mods . i should have a bit more time in 2025 and plan to play a bit more civ vi . I’ll give some of these mods a whirl
if i were to start with one or two mods, which of your list give the most oomf to a game? (If it helps, I don’t always have time for super long games .)
I read the Ben Fowkes penguin edition. It’s good. Some of the footnotes are a bit… meta - where you have footnotes from Marx, BF and Engels. This version is my preference , as I like to hold the book, especially if I have to study something carefully.
IMO it’s better than the Marxists.org copy because the online version contains errors. only minor typos, formatting issues and unclear footnotes but they are there. I do refer to that version and have skim read most of it because it’s handy to have an online, always-accessible, searchable version.
but for closely studying, i would go with the physical penguin version if you can afford it and can get along with handwriting notes, etc (if you work better online, the Marxists.org version will be fine.)
As for the reading order, you don’t have to read it from start to finish. Pick a later chapter that looks interesting and think about the general concepts that you already know about while you read it. . Once you see how Marx deploys his concepts in one of the…juicier chapters, you might find chapters 1-4 a lot more engaging. because you will know where Marx is going with them.
(I would suggest then eventually re-reading the later chapter when you read from chapter 1 chronologically - you’ll be able to re-evaluate it knowing Marx’s notion of commodities in more depth and things will start to make a lot of sense).
volume I penguin edition isn’t as long as it looks. the first 100, maybe 150 pages are an introduction by, iirc, Ernest Mandel.
The very last ‘chapter’ is a summary of the whole book intended to prepare readers for volume II but not really ‘part’ of capital vol I; it’s also about 100 pages.
If you focus on Marx’ s words, it’s still long but much more approachable. I would recommend reading the Marx and Engels front matter carefully, though - there’s a lot of important and concise detail in those (the postfaces, prefaces, afterwords to different editions, etc). that said, these might be better to read at the end.
ooh what mods and how do they make it interesting?
considering the nature of an encyclopedia - short, knowledgeable articles on practically every topic - what’s the difference except to invite errors and snazz things up ?
that’s not completely fair ; they could have done their research (using ai)
this might all explain macron’s actions. he’s the safe pair of hands and the scapegoat rolled into one if things don’t go to plan in sahel .
still not a great environmental impact but this is a better way of using ammo to keep the MIC happy
hmmm i have to admit i used to read more fantasy than sci fi and watch and play a little more sci fi than fantasy . not much time to do either now 😔
I enjoyed ‘the gods themselves’ by Asimov. i did read and enjoy a lot of kids sci do books but I can’t remember the names, except Halo . I only ever played a few matches at my friend’s place as I never had an Xbox but I read the first three books of that series and loved them. tried to read them as an adult and did not get very far into the first one. Maybe they pick up a bit. I might have time over Christmas to read a bit more of them if things go to plan (they won’t go to plan, though, lol, i already know it! )
what about you? Any recommendations?
thanks for clarifying
at the cash machine
casa de papel 2 : Japan
but it’s a miniseries because they break into the bank on the second try - 1234bank (but in Japanese, obviously)
save up all your revolution monies and cash in when you want to retire . your pension will only be stolen anyway
In sum , when it’s social murder?
what’s a civil crime? I saw those concepts as separate . As civil wrongs and crimes.
hello Oppo. Have a good week!
the first is harry cleaver. he calls himself an Autonomous Marxist. He’s not an ML (Marxist-Leninist). See his website - https://la.utexas.edu/users/hcleaver/
Cleaver wrote a book called 33 Lessons. each lesson explains the corresponding chapter in capital, volume I and what we can learn from it. He wrote the book based on his teaching. he published an updated version in 2019 with Pluto. I’m new to Cleaver so I can tell you he wrote this book but I can’t recommend it as such as I’ve not finished it yet .
The second is david Harvey. he’s also an academic marxist. Not an ML. He also taught capital for years. his lecture series is available on YouTube. he published a written version of his lectures with Verso. There’s a volume one and volume two, corresponding to capital, volume I and II. the one that kind of corresponds more to Capital, volume III is different - it’s called The Limits to Capital.
His website is https://davidharvey.org/about/ . I can recommend Harvey. his work really helped me to learn about marx .
these aren’t the only two who have written guidebooks to Capital but they’ll give you a flavour of what is available
when you read sci fi and fantasy they say you have to suspend your disbelief, pretending that the world is real so the speculative elements don’t put you off. otherwise the character gets to the other planet and you turn off the show because humans haven’t visited other planets yet
I was thinking about how that idea might apply to marx .
Marxists imo have the most accurate explanation for reality. but most people come to marx with very different ideas, based on a bourgeois framework
to get the most out of Marx, we have to make sure of two things. 1. that we don’t let our previous knowledge put us off or send us down too many dead ends. 2. that we do not turn off our critical thinking
To achieve this, we have to suspend our pre-reading-marx beliefs, for example about how the economy works and what it means to say something is ‘good for the economy’. let the new knowledge in with an open mind. and suspend our beliefs about what is wrong with marx - marx made mistakes and his work has some holes that others had to fill in . We each need to think of our own criticisms - the ruthless criticism of all that exists is part of the marxist method. we need to apply that method to marx etc themselves. to achieve that, we need to kind of ‘start again’ by forgetting some of what we know (or think we know).
you’re welcome. I’m thinking of taking a look at the reitter translation. if I can find the time, I’ll read it this year (assuming I’m not the only one who is treating 2025 basically to have started already-i don’t think I’ll get around to it in '24). I’ll make a post about it if I do
likewise , let me know what you think if you go with that version or read it later ; there’s a strong chance that you’ll read it before me lol (my reading list is always far too ambitious).