How Marxism went from philosophy to cudgel

<p dir="ltr">Republican politicians like to use the term ‘Marxist’ to criticize Democrats. Lately, they’ve dubbed New York City mayoral candidate a ‘Marxist’ despite him identifying himself as a democratic socialist. Today on the show, we dig into what ‘Marxism, as an economic term,’ actually means.<p dir="ltr"><strong>Related episodes: <br /></strong><a href="https://www.npr.org/2021/03/26/981686254/socialism-101" target="_blank">Socialism 101</a><br /><a href="https://www.npr.org/2020/02/03/802417653/even-the-facts-are-polarized" target="_blank">Even the facts are polarized</a><p dir="ltr">For sponsor-free episodes of The Indicator from Planet Money, subscribe to Planet Money+ via Apple Podcasts or at <a href="http://plus.npr.org/" target="_blank">plus.npr.org</a>. Fact-checking by <a href="https://www.npr.org/people/1268825622/sierra-juarez" target="_blank">Sierra Juarez</a>. Music by <a href="https://dropelectric.bandcamp.com/" target="_blank">Drop Electric</a>. Find us: <a href="https://www.tiktok.com/@planetmoney" target="_blank">TikTok</a>, <a href="https://www.instagram.com/planetmoney/" target="_blank">Instagram</a>, <a href="https://www.facebook.com/planetmoney" target="_blank">Facebook</a>, <a href="https://www.npr.org/newsletter/money" target="_blank">Newsletter</a>.  <br /><br />See <a href="https://pcm.adswizz.com">pcm.adswizz.com</a> for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage your podcast sponsorship preferences.<br /><br /><a href="https://www.npr.org/about-npr/179878450/privacy-policy">NPR Privacy Policy</a>