We’re All Marxists Now?

Giving us more anthropological analysis of our political divisions, Grant McCracken suggests a “Marxian” rapprochement between right and left:

Another way to begin to close the ideological gap is to see if we can’t fashion a peace treaty for the culture wars. “They just don’t get it” comes in part from the fact that we are unacquainted with the founding ideas and documents of the other party. The problem is not so much that they just don’t get it, as that we don’t get them.

One way to do this is to propose the 20 cultural documents that one side should master in order to “get” what the other side is saying.

A first candidate for those on the Right who would understand the Left is DVD just released by Universal that contains 5 Marx brothers movies: Duck Soup, The Cocoanuts, Animal Crackers, Monkey Business, and Horse Feathers.

This will seems an odd choice, but consider this quote from Duck Soup:

A minister of cabinet of Freedonia: I give all my time and energy to my duties and what do I get?

Groucho: Well, you get awfully tiresome after a while.”

The Marx Brothers were one of the founts of my transformation as an adolescent. It was one of the documents that encouraged me to scorn authority. They were in fact architects of the 1960s and its anti-establishment point of few. Some people on the Right believe that this is the time to restore our respect for authority, and they will find this films not the least bit funny. But others will begin to see that even a deeply conservative soul can take pleasure in ludic play. While we are building bridges, this is one place to start.