Marxist thought and teaching certainly left a mark on history. And the core of it all was ostensibly the welfare of common people whose lot in life has never been particularly bright. Or was it? Almost any set of tenets may be distorted for gain of one sort or another. The examples are legion, so I won't belabor them here. We might, indeed, laud his political positions AND his contributions to said political history. Some have done so. Others still do. I wonder if this should go deeper though. I tend to wonder about origins before further examining the effects of one thing or another. What if we could know what Marx' true intentions were? Suppose, for example, that his system was intended, not to benefit the common man, but to afford advantage to repressive government? A transfusion for tyrants and despots? A means for repressing average Joe that average Joe never saw coming, because he bought the notion that Marx and his purported doctrine was for Joe and against repression? Would such awareness still witness the sorts of respect often accorded Mr. Marx? Or might we say: What an act! Worthy of P.T. Barnum himself!

Charlatans have always been skilled at slight-of-hand. Honest men, who pull it off, are still more gifted.