" Workers of the World........

....Forgive Me." ___Karl Marx So went the joke making the rounds in Poland in the 1980's. Karl Marx is famously quoted as rallying the "Workers of the world, unite!" It didn't turn out as he planned. But frankly, it didn't start out as he planned. It never does. And therein lies the problem. Nothing ever goes according to plan. Scientific socialism depended on things going right. It assumed, yea, it asserted, that history would move as expected. Oh well. Today is May Day, International Workers' Day, a holiday that is rarely noted in the U.S. but has been celebrated with great fanfare around the world for eons. The Soviets celebrated with an annual parade in Red Square that featured the latest military weapons and technology. Missiles were mounted on flatbeds, that's what I remember most. So, Happy May Day! And workers of the world, it really sucks, doesn't it. How many jobs have been lost in the past two years? How many families have lost livelihoods and homes and relationships due to the economic stress caused by greed and stupidity? Not a very happy workers' day for too many of us. Marxism fascinated me. It hit all the notes that mattered. Fairness. Justice. Equality. But it couldn't be imposed. Certainly not in a Leninist-Stalinist manner. There is this pesky little thing called human nature. And it is always the wild card. The variable. "Saddling a cow" is how Stalin described trying to rule Poland. Frankly, the image seems apt in describing Marxism as imposed Communism all over Eastern Europe. Not a pretty sight. And just not possible. But is it possible, could we, might we consider the values lifted up by Marx as we continue to tinker with our own economy?