Thomas Friedman Wishes Young People Were More Radical

by Rosa Luxembourgeoise

The testicular-supersized bestselling author of such valuable contributions to Marxist theory as The Lexus and The Olive Tree, and The World Is Flat, Thomas Friedman, continues to agitate the masses in the pages of the New York Times, which has inexplicably provided him space to call on youth to carry out revolutionary struggle. “Our kids should be so much more radical than they are today”, writes Friedman , to which we here, at Wordsmoker, respond, “Huh?”, because we are unfamiliar with Leninist slogans, seeing how we are largely Generation X losers, which is why Friedman’s article, titled, intriguingly, “The Real Generation X” has us Googling sites in Hanoi, flat-earthishly, trying to figure out what in the world the word “radical” could possibly mean!

So, for your edification, we’ll share with you the results of our little search. So there’s this Karl Marx dude telling this Hegel guy that he’s got everything right but backwards, and he explains what radical means!, and basically supports formulating ad hominem attacks on Thomas Friedman, whee!

“The weapon of criticism cannot, of course, replace criticism of the weapon, material force must be overthrown by material force; but theory also becomes a material force as soon as it has gripped the masses. Theory is capable of gripping the masses as soon as it demonstrates ad hominem, and it demonstrates ad hominem as soon as it becomes radical. To be radical is to grasp the root of the matter. But, for man, the root is man himself. The evident proof of the radicalism of German theory, and hence of its practical energy, is that is proceeds from a resolute positive abolition of religion. The criticism of religion ends with the teaching that man is the highest essence for man – hence, with the categoric imperative to overthrow all relations in which man is a debased, enslaved, abandoned, despicable essence, relations which cannot be better described than by the cry of a Frenchman when it was planned to introduce a tax on dogs: Poor dogs! They want to treat you as human beings!”.
[Introduction to A Contribution to the Critique of Hegel’s Philosophy of Right,
Karl Marx in Deutsch-Französische Jahrbücher, February, 1844]

What now, Thomas Friedman, should the youth of today rise up against grotesque labor practices that result from the globalization you’ve been shilling, for profit, for years? Or are you trying to tell us that endentured laborers forced to toil in crap conditions should rise up and take control of their means of production? What next? Are you planning to admit that the USA bombed countries with McDonalds, you crazy commie?