A Fan of Grandmaster Flash Meets Karl Marx

 

My name is Gerome Baldwin, but people call me G. I happen to be Black. I have a job, but don’t make much money. It seems to be almost impossible to pay all my bills from the little bit of money I get from the boss. 

Aside from my problems, I’m aware of some of the history of how Black people haven’t been treated very well during the history of this country. Yet I’m also aware of how there have been a lot of people who became wealthy because Black people worked under unimaginably horrendous conditions. So, my condition has given me reason to think about how things might change. 

I’m a fan of the artist known as Grandmaster Flash. About 40 years ago he performed a song titled The Message. The words to that song connected with me as well as fans all over the world. These are some of the words. 

“It’s like a jungle sometimes.

It makes me wonder how I keep from goin’ under.

Don’t push me cause I’m close to the edge.

I’m trying not to lose my head.”

Well, one day I was talking to my friend James, and this is how that conversation went.

Gerome. “James I was thinking about Grandmaster Flash’s song The Message that was released about 40 years ago. In many ways nothing has changed since that time. So, I can relate to those words, Don’t push me cause I’m close to the edge, I’m trying not to lose my head.” 

James: “Well G., if you feel you are having personal problems, there are psychiatrists who have been trained to deal with problems like yours. Seeing a good one might make your life a bit better.”

“Well, thanks for that advice, and I’m going to make an appointment.”

So, G went to see the psychiatrist and had the following discussion.

Psychiatrist: “Mr. Baldwin welcome to my office. I’m sure I can help you deal with any of the personal problems you have. By the way, how would you like me call you?”

Gerome: “You can call me G.

Psychiatrist: “Ok G, first tell me what is bothering you and we can take it from there.”

Gerome: “Well, the song The Message by Grandmaster Flash puts into words what many of my problems are.”

“Broken glass everywhere

People pissn’ on the stairs, you know they just don’t care

I can’t take the smell, can’t take the noise

Got no money to move out, I guess I got no choice

Rats in the front room, roaches in the back

Junkies in the alley with a baseball bat

I tried to get away, but I couldn’t get far

Cause a man with a tow truck repossessed my car.”

Psychiatrist: “Well G, unfortunately I can’t change those circumstances, but perhaps I can help you deal with your personal relationships. So, tell me about the people you care about.”

Gerome: “Wait a second. How am I supposed to deal with my personal relationships when I live in an atmosphere that pushes me close to the edge?” 

Psychiatrist: “Unfortunately those conditions are part of the world we live in. Perhaps you might get a better job. But for now, allow me to help you to deal with your personal relationships.”

Gerome: “This is crazy. I’m not the only one who lives like this. Everyone in my neighborhood lives in the same atmosphere. You are telling me that my life might be better if I talk to people in a more considerate way. That won’t change the reality I face every minute of every day. This session is over. I won’t be coming back” 

So, G commiserated about his experience with another of his friends that he called T.

Gerome: “T I just went to this guy who calls himself a psychiatrist who said he could help me with my problems. Well, all he did was talk to me about how I could talk to people in a better way. T, we both know that our problems aren’t with people, but with the conditions we face every day. I’m not going back to that guy.”

 

T: “I hear you G. Well, there is someone else you might want to talk to. His name is Karl Marx. I don’t know how he did it, but he is over 200 years old. He has a lot of experience and I think he will talk to you. For all those years, he’s been looking at the conditions we face and what we can do to change our situation. Unlike that psychiatrist, Mr. Marx thinks we can only change our reality by using collective action.”

G: “Thanks T, I guess I have nothing to lose by talking to this Karl Marx.”

So, Karl Marx and Gerome Baldwin had their meeting at Marx’s apartment.

Karl Marx: “Welcome to my apartment Mr. Baldwin. I listened to the song The Message. The words to that song give us a completely different picture to the one some academics and politicians talk about. Many argue that the United States is the greatest country that ever existed. Please have a seat. We have a lot to talk about.”

Gerome: “Thanks Mr. Marx. You can call me G. Yea, I know what you’re talking about. I don’t like to listen to politicians who pontificate about the wonderful job they think they are doing. It’s as if they live in a completely different world from where I live.” 

Karl Marx: “You can call me Karl, G. Back in 1848, I wrote the Communist Manifesto with my friend Freddy Engels. Ever since that time, there have been a lot of people who think that our ideas are crazy. That song, for me, is clear evidence that what we were saying then continues to be true today.

“Freddy also wrote a book about the condition of the working class in Britain during those years. That book and the song The Message have a lot in common, in spite of the fact that Grandmaster Flash wrote that song over 150 after Freddy wrote his book.” 

Gerome: “Wow, yea I think we have a lot to talk about. So, where do you want to begin?”

 

Karl Marx: “Ok G. Since you plan to stay here a while, we might begin at the beginning. Sit back and relax because I’m going to give you a history that you didn’t learn in school.

“Initially humanity started out as groups of tribal people. In this part of the world, they called the first inhabitants Indians or Native Americans. People who had similar cultures lived in all the different areas of the world.

“In those cultures, people worked collectively farming the land, hunting for food, building their homes, and providing medical care. At that time, people worked collectively to provide for the things they needed.

“However, those societies didn’t have the technology we have today, and life expectancy might have been 40 years at best. In that environment, due to a combination of circumstances, some people had more than others. So rather than allow someone’s family to starve, some of those who didn’t have adequate resources agreed to work for those who had more resources. At times, this wasn’t voluntary, and people worked for others because they became prisoners of war. This is how slavery started. 

“Then, the system of slavery in Greece and Rome went into decline for hundreds of years. Eventually the feudal system emerged where kings and queens ruled. As that system went into decline, merchants worked with owners of factories and bankers in an effort to bring about the capitalist system we have today.

Gerome: “Well Karl, all of that is interesting, but what does that history have to do with the reality I face today?” 

Karl Marx: “Yes G. That is the ultimate question. We are all products of our history and in order to find solutions to our problems now, we need to look at the past. There is one aspect to that history that you are no doubt familiar with.

“As I mentioned, humanity experienced an era of slavery in the Greek, Roman, as well as in many other societies. After slavery humanity experienced feudalism or the rule of kings and queens. In that system people who worked the land were called peasants and they gave a large portion of their crops to the feudal lords. But these peasants could not be sold off as slaves. So that system was different from slavery.

Then when capitalism emerged a new capitalist class organized things differently. The capitalist system needs to grow continuously. When we look at the history, the people who have power in this system continuously worked to break through all barriers that hampered economic growth.

“First, they stole the land from the Native Americans. They not only stole their land, they sent Native American children to schools that demanded that the children forget everything about their culture. 

“Then because settlers needed people to farm the land under horrendous conditions, they kidnapped millions of people in Africa and forced them to come to the Americas to become slaves. Then, when the British hampered economic growth, they had a revolution to break away from British rule. When the slave owners hampered the industrialization of this country, they organized a Civil War against them.” 

Gerome: “Yea, I don’t even like to think about how my ancestors were treated. If they didn’t do exactly what the enslaver demanded, they would be tortured. The entire system was geared around making money off their labor and giving the slave absolutely nothing in return.”

Karl Marx: “Exactly. Back in those days, I was living in Britain, but I supported the Union Army in the Civil War in this country. I even wrote to President Abraham Lincoln in support of his battle to defeat the slave owners. At that time, most British workers understood that the system of slavery was wrong. They prevented the British government from supporting the slave owners in the Civil War. 

“I think that the battle to end slavery was a clear advance. However, I didn’t fully expect what happened after the Civil War. For a few years known as reconstruction Black people in the former slave states made real progress. However, capitalism is a nasty system that is obsessed with gouging out maximum profits. 

“So, while black people were given citizenship rights in the Constitution, the federal government effectively gave power to vicious racists in the former slave states. Only when back people mobilized in the civil rights movement, did they begin to get some of the rights the Constitution claimed they were supposed to have after the Civil War. Today we are living with the legacy of that history.”

Gerome: “Yea Karl, I’m aware of that history and how it affects me today. But how do we change things from the way they are?”

Karl Marx: “Well G, before we talk about how to change things, I think we need to look at a bit more of the past. With the emergence of capitalism things changed in a profound way. In feudalism peasants worked for the lord. In capitalism mass production industries emerged. Those production industries produced increasing quantities of commodities.

“While labor produced every commodity, capitalists profited from the sale of literally all those commodities. So now you might be thinking about a question. If capitalists have these enormous profits, why don’t they give workers a larger share of the wealth they have?”

Gerome: “Yea Karl. That is something that always bothered me. While I struggle to survive, there were others who seemed to be swimming in oceans of money. I never found a good answer as to why.” 

Karl Marx: “There is a good reason why you have found it difficult to deal with that question. When we give an adequate answer to that question, the answer questions the very essence of what capitalism is. People who support capitalism don’t like to do that.

“The economics courses at universities aren’t very good, but they get one thing right. In capitalism the system needs to continually grow. If a corporation isn’t growing, another will come along and put that one out of business. Corporations also need to continually increase investments. While their profits increase, the percentage of profit on investments declines. This means that while more and more commodities are being produced and sold, corporations are continually driven to cut costs. That is why poverty has always existed in the capitalist world. That is also why the system goes into periodic and catastrophic crisis.”

Gerome: “So, what you’re saying is that the poverty I experience isn’t only about rich people being greedy. It’s more about that is how the system works.” 

Karl Marx: “Now you’re getting it G. You experience discrimination because you happen to be Black. Capitalists are driven to cut costs. So, the capitalist might argue that he or she isn’t racist. However, when they pay people less for what they do, and make it difficult for Black people to move into many neighborhoods, they are actively supporting the institutionalized racist discrimination you are well aware of.”

Gerome: “Wow! So, what you are saying is that while politicians claim they support our interests, they are supporting a system that is the root cause of the conditions I experience every day.”

Karl Marx: “Exactly G. Now let’s talk about the words to that song. ‘Don’t push me because I’m close to the edge. I’m trying not to lose my head.”

“G I’m sure that everyone you know has these feelings to one extent or another. Back in the day, I argued that these feelings of alienation are at the heart of the capitalist system. Clearly some people are more alienated than others. Clearly there are some people who live relatively comfortable lives in the capitalist system.

“However, literally everyone goes to work so a tiny minority of the population can profit. At times, there have been people who were living relatively comfortable lives and then they lose jobs that they thought were theirs. Capitalists control the work environment, and they have the power to eliminate jobs. When this happens, people who had been living comfortable lives suddenly discover that they are no different from people who struggle to survive every day. 

Gerome: “Karl, Harold Melvin had a song called ‘Bad Luck’ that is exactly what you’re talking about. Here are some of the words.

‘Look down hearted and confused

Because lately you’ve been startin to lose

Losin’ out on everything you might try to do

Bad lucks there, its got a hold on you’

“Then Harold Melvin sang about how President Nixon resigned from office.

‘Early one morning I got me a paper. huh

I sat down on my living room floor 

Opened it up (opened it up), Opened it up (opened it up)

Guess what I saw, huh?

Saw the President of the United States, huh

The man said he was gonna give it up

He’s giving us high hopes

But he still turned around and left all us poor folks behind

They say they got another man to take his place

But I don’t think they need to satisfy the human race’

“From what you’re saying Karl, Harold Melvin’s song isn’t about bad luck, but about the fact that this is the way the capitalist system works. This is why they leave ‘all us poor folks behind.’”

Karl Marx: “G we’re making progress here. That song tells a story in words I couldn’t improve upon. Now let’s talk about those dollar bills in your pocket. 

“As I said before, every commodity was produced by human labor and capitalists profited from the sale of all those commodities. So, how do capitalists profit from labor? The one-word answer is, money. 

“Because capitalists need to continually grow and cut costs, they are continually driven to drive down the value of money. Back in the 1970s the price of gasoline was thirty cents per gallon and tuition at Rutgers University was $200 per semester. Now the price of gasoline is close to $4.00 per gallon and the price of tuition at Rutgers is $10,000.

“So, the capitalist isn’t completely stupid. He or she understands that if they tell workers that their wages will be cut so the affluent might continue to live in opulence, they will have a serious problem. So, they raise prices without giving workers an equivalent wage increase. They don’t say that this inflation effectively cuts wages, but that is exactly what is happening.”

“So, the value of money is in effect constantly in motion. It has its ebbs and flows based on the corporate drive to continually maximize profits. When corporate managers give their reports to the stockholders, they never talk about the living conditions of the poorest people in this country and the world. Because of the natural functioning of capitalism, they are effectively indifferent to the profound horrors of the world.”

Gerome: “Karl, as I’m sure you know, everyone complains about inflation. We all know that there are a few people who have hundreds of billions of dollars. While we all know that these are enormous problems, most people are trying to figure out ways of making a living. That is getting a lot harder today. But how do we change this? 

Karl Marx: “G we need to review a piece of history and then we can get to what needs to be done. Back in the day when the royal families of kings and queens ruled, a class of capitalists began to emerge. They began to see that the feudal epoch was becoming an obstacle to the development of humanity. Why only rely of craft guilds and peasants, when there could be mass production of commodities that could improve many people’s lives?

“The revolution that gave birth to the United States was a revolution against both colonialism and feudalism. The only way for that revolution to succeed was to defeat the British on the battlefield. Most of the old feudal monarchies also were pushed aside by revolution or by merely usurping power.

“However, while capitalism was a real advance over feudalism, throughout its history capitalism has also been an unimaginable horror story. In this country, the beginnings of capitalism were marked by the suppression of Shay’s rebellion. This was a rebellion of veterans of the Revolution who faced conditions of starvation. Then there was the legalization of chattel slavery and the genocide against Native Americans.” 

Gerome: “From what you’re saying Karl, it is difficult for me to see how the revolution that gave birth to this country was in any way an advance. There was absolutely nothing advanced about slavery.”

Karl Marx: “Exactly G but let us not forget that there was also a Civil War where 350,000 soldiers died in a war against slave owners. Yes, many of the gains of reconstruction were reversed by the government, but then the labor and civil rights movements both worked to reverse what had been lost in the past. None of this could have happened in the feudal epoch.

“So now let’s finally get to the question you came here to talk about. How can we work towards transforming the present capitalist reality?

“Just as the capitalists transformed the world back in the day, today the working class has the potential to transform the world again.”

Gerome: “Wait a second Karl. There are a lot of ignorant workers out there. The Temptations had their song Ball of Confusion. Some of the words to that song are ‘People moving out. People moving in. Why? Because of the color of their skin.’ So, if working people moved out of neighborhoods merely because Black people moved in, how are those working people going to transform the world?”

Karl Marx: “That is an excellent question G. The Temptations performed that song at a time when capitalism was in a period of upturn. There is no denying that large numbers of white people moved out of neighborhoods because Black people moved in.

“The capitalist system is continually looking for scapegoats. President William Jefferson Clinton was good at deflecting the justifiable anger people felt away from the capitalists who were the root cause of our problems.

“Up until Clinton, the U.S. government encouraged immigrants to come to this country. Both Presidents Reagan and Bush made statements friendly to immigrants. Then capitalists worked to maximize their profits by automating jobs and sending millions of those jobs overseas. 

“Rather than blaming the capitalists for causing the loss of millions of jobs, Clinton deported millions of immigrants. He cut payments to people who were on welfare. He also adopted a Crime Bill that made the prison population skyrocket. So instead of blaming capitalists, Clinton blamed immigrants, recipients of welfare, and those who were addicted to drugs for our problems. This need of the capitalists to find scapegoats is the root cause of the vicious racist discrimination you have experienced.”

Gerome: “So, if that is the case, how and why do you think this will ever change?”

Karl Marx: “G, we are beginning to see this change today. Throughout the entire history of the United States there has been resistance to slavery and institutionalized racist discrimination. For most of that history, Black people were in the vanguard of those struggles.

“Back in 2020, there were massive demonstrations all over the world protesting the murder of George Floyd and many others by the police. Large numbers of those demonstrators were not Black. Clearly the police in this country have been murdering people for a long time. Why are large numbers of people protesting this now?

“Today young people have a basic choice. They can go into astronomical debt with a college education and hope to get a job that will enable them to pay off that debt. Or they can get a pathetically low paying job. Young people don’t like that choice and people like you are looking for basic changes. So, they are more likely to protest the profound injustices we see today.

Gerome: “All right Karl. I see your point. While it is difficult for me to see how the working class can transform the world, perhaps you might explain what this transformed world would look like.”

Karl Marx: “Well G, capitalism gives us visual aids for us to see how things might be profoundly different. Whenever you buy any commodity there is always profit, or at least the idea that there might be profit. However, when we examine the system there is also what I call surplus value. 

“So, there are the profits that come from the production and transport of commodities. Then there are profits from the sale of commodities. Then there is interest to banks, insurance, advertising, corporate law, rents, and let us not forget money for the maintenance of thousands of atomic bombs. None of these enterprises add any value to the goods and services we need and want.

“When we look at the skyscrapers in the large cities all over the world, what are we seeing? We see office buildings that house those enterprises that add no value to the goods and services we need and want. What does this mean?

“Today there are about 34 million people in the United States who do not have enough food to eat. Yet everyone knows that there are ample amounts of food to feed everyone well. 

“So, imagine what things would look like if people who worked in the enterprises that in no way benefit people suddenly started working to make this a better world for everyone. 

“Those skyscrapers could be used to give quality housing to people who don’t have decent homes today. Those who work in the enterprises housed in skyscrapers would work in enterprises dedicated to giving people better lives. Instead of sitting in traffic jams attempting to get to where you want to go, there could be efficient mass transit systems that would cost less, be more efficient, and safer for all of us.

“Now people work their whole lives so capitalists can profit. In a socialist world, we would all be working to improve the standard of living for workers all over the world. I would imagine that this would mean that workers might only need to work for ten years and then they would be free to pursue whatever endeavors they choose to.

“Supporters of capitalism argue that we all have choices. We can choose what school to go to, what job we work at, what insurance we have, what car we ride in, what home we live in. But in order to have any of these things, we need to adopt to a system where capitalists profit from the labor of workers who produce all wealth.

“What capitalists never say is that workers deserve a lifetime right to any of the things we need and want. Our cars, homes, health care, and jobs can be taken away. A workers or socialist government would make human needs and not profits the top priority. This would mean that a central goal would be to give every human being a lifetime right to all those things.”

Gerome: “Wow Karl. The kind of world you’re arguing for is so different from the reality I face, it is difficult for me to even imagine what it might look like, or how that kind of world is possible.”

Karl Marx: “Yes G, if things do not change, it would be almost impossible for that kind of world to come about. However, remember that today capitalism in in a profound crisis and an all-out depression is indeed possible. When large numbers of people lose jobs and the large banks close, the working class of the world will need to demand fundamental change. 

“In the meantime, we need to support the struggles workers all over the world because capitalism is an international system. 

“I’ve been around for over 200 years, and I’ve seen a lot. However, the world as it exists today is different in many ways from the past. I need to learn how the interests of workers need to be advanced today. In the past workers faced unimaginable obstacles but managed to engage in struggles that were partially successful.

“The problem has been that once concessions were won from the capitalists, the system immediately worked to reverse those concessions. That is one of the reasons why we are in the mess we are in today. So, we have a lot of history we can learn from

Gerome: “Well Karl, you’ve given me a lot to think about. This information gives me a new way of looking at reality, not only of my neighborhood, but also of the world. You didn’t give me any specific way to immediately improve my condition. But now I have the perspective of becoming a part of the movement to transform the world.”

Karl Marx: “This talk has been a pleasure for me also G. Perhaps we might continue this at another time.”

Gerome: Sounds good Karl.