Marxism For Dummies (3)

There’s far more kinds of Lefty than just one.

There’s Marx and Morris, Blanc, Bakunin, Blum,

the Comintern, the Spartakists, the POUM,

St-Just, Zinoviev and Saint-Simon.

 

The working class may ask how this lot failed it:

so many brands, but nobody is buying.

So why’s the Trot from Trier death-defying?

Well, Marx explained it, ascertained it, nailed it.

 

The Gradgrinds have their Hueys and Husqvarnas.

A self-sufficient paradise is nice,

(if beri-beri lets you live on rice),

but who will bring bikinis and bananas?

 

We’re trapped inside the capital machine,

and drip-fed baseball, bingo, Benzedrine.

 

Author's Note

Morris -- William Morris, the English victorian socialist and craftsman
Blanc -- Louis Blanc, French politician
Bakunin -- Michael Bakunin, Russian founder of the Anarchist movement
Blum -- Leon Blum, moderate French socialist of the interwar years
Comintern -- The Communist International
Spartakists -- German Communist movement of the 1920s
POUM -- Catalunyan political party which opposed Stalinism
St-Just -- extremist Jacobin of the French Revolution
Zinoviev -- leading Old Bolshevik who was eventually ousted by Stalin
Saint-Simon -- French alternative socialist of the early 19th century
Trot from Trier -- Marx came before Trotsky, so couldn't have been a "Trot", but I couldn't resist the alliteration
Gradgrinds -- Gradgrind is a character in the Dickens novel, "Hard Times". He represents capitalism in its cruellest form
Hueys -- The Bell Iroquois helicopter, nicknamed the "huey", was the characteristic military machine of the Vietnam War
Husqvarnas -- Husqvarna is a Swedish arms manufacturer
beri-beri -- this illness is caused by protein deficiency and used to be common in countries where rice formed the staple diet