The Money with Katie Show Freedom, Capitalism, and America's Missing Revolution
Andrew Hartman, a history professor and author of "Karl Marx in America," dives into the limitations of Enlightenment thinkers and Marx’s insights on freedom and labor. He explores how capitalism creates inequality and speculative markets, while also discussing the unique American context that shaped Marx's views. Hartman argues that corporations inadvertently socialize production and discusses the complexity of class beyond identity. This engaging conversation challenges conventional narratives about capitalism and its impact on society.
01:21:29
Why Marx Eyeed The U.S. For Revolution
- Marx saw the U.S. as rapid capitalist development without an aristocracy, potentially fertile for socialism.
- He later grew skeptical because political democracy protected private property and allowed bourgeois manipulation.
The Gospel Of Success Shaped Worker Culture
- The 'gospel of success' emerged to discipline displaced agrarian workers for factory life.
- Elites promoted virtues like thrift and self-discipline to make industrial labor palatable.
Corporations Socialize Production
- Marx saw corporations as 'socializing production' by concentrating workers and techniques.
- Marxists argued corporations could be appropriated rather than destroyed to socialize ownership.
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Intro
00:00 • 2min
Hartman Frames Marx as a Philosopher of Freedom
01:51 • 3min
Who Was Karl Marx and His Early Life
05:16 • 5min
Marx's Writings for the New York Tribune
10:45 • 2min
Marx's Views on the U.S. as Revolutionary Ground
12:54 • 2min
Why Marx Mattered More Than Enlightenment Thinkers
15:01 • 4min
Ad break
18:57 • 2min
Marx on America's Unique Development
20:55 • 1min
Marx's Early Optimism Then Skepticism About U.S.
22:13 • 4min
The Frontier's Effect on American Radicalism
26:09 • 2min
Industrialization and the 'Gospel of Success'
28:03 • 5min
Corporations Socialize Production, per Marx
33:32 • 3min
Public Corporations vs. Populists' Vision
36:57 • 4min
Marxist Definition of the Working Class
41:00 • 3min
Ad break
44:08 • 5min
The New Deal's Role in Stabilizing Capitalism
49:32 • 1min
Ad break
51:00 • 2min
Professional Managerial Class and Class Complexity
53:25 • 2min
Why Social Democracy Isn't Enough for Socialists
55:32 • 6min
Human Nature, History, and Possibility of Socialism
01:01:14 • 4min
Marx, Keynes, and Production Versus Demand
01:05:44 • 3min
Inequality Spurs Speculation and Market Bubbles
01:09:04 • 4min
Racism and Gender as Barriers to Working-Class Solidarity
01:13:03 • 8min
Marxist Feminism and Engels' Contributions
01:21:28 • 35sec
Outro
01:22:03 • 59sec
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Alexis de Tocqueville
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#12197
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Karl Marx in America
Andrew Hartman
Since I spent last week’s episode detailing the thrilling ins and outs of making your own 2026 financial plan for wealth-maxxing, today I’m taking a hard left turn and interviewing Andrew Hartman, a history professor and the author of Karl Marx in America, a 500-page tome about which he says, and here I quote directly, “My father-in-law told me that he likes the book even though he still doesn’t like Marx.” We talked about:
- The limitations of theories from the founding Enlightenment thinkbois like Adam Smith, John Locke, and Thomas Paine, which mostly pre-dated industrial capitalism
- The "gospel of success" as an anesthetic for an uproarious working class who did not go gently from their farms into factories
- A surprising role for corporations, which have—ironically—done more to "socialize production" than any other modern entity
- The trap of thinking about class as an "identity," rather than a relationship
- How wealth inequality creates speculative markets and bubbles
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Transcripts, show notes, resources, and credits at: https://www.moneywithkatie.com/the_mwk_show/freedom-capitalism-missing-revolution.
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