# How would communism turn out if Marx dropped acid ?
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-would-communism-turn-out-if-marx-dropped-acid/729672
**Category:** In My Humble Opinion
**Created:** [September 2, 2015, 3:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-would-communism-turn-out-if-marx-dropped-acid/729672 "2015-09-02T03:38:25Z")
**Posts on this page:** 18
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@MrQwertyasd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrQwertyasd)
#### Post date: [September 2, 2015, 3:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-would-communism-turn-out-if-marx-dropped-acid/729672/1 "2015-09-02T03:38:25Z")
Dialectical materialism, or, everything is… like… vibrations… ?
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### Author:  [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)
#### Post date: [September 2, 2015, 3:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-would-communism-turn-out-if-marx-dropped-acid/729672/2 "2015-09-02T03:41:15Z")
It would have been really groovy man! Like peace, and no more material things, we’d all just do our own thing, like for the state you know. And then the state would actually be on our side for once, I mean can you dig it? The government really being for the people, that’s like … wow… it would be out of sight man.
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### Author:  [@foolsguinea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/foolsguinea)
#### Post date: [September 2, 2015, 4:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-would-communism-turn-out-if-marx-dropped-acid/729672/3 "2015-09-02T04:20:26Z")
But what if it was a bad trip? Would a Jimmy Carter be there to talk him down?
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### Author:  [@GIGObuster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GIGObuster)
#### Post date: [September 2, 2015, 4:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-would-communism-turn-out-if-marx-dropped-acid/729672/4 "2015-09-02T04:33:21Z")
Now that got me curious, was there anything in the days of Marx that was as powerful as “orange sunshine”?
[For the ones wondering on what foolsguinea is going on, old SNL sketc, check the #10 item here: Jimmy Carter (Dan Aykroyd) takes calls from America](http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/02/13/snl-political-skits_n_6678176.html)
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### Author:  [@tomndebb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tomndebb)
#### Post date: [September 2, 2015, 9:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-would-communism-turn-out-if-marx-dropped-acid/729672/5 "2015-09-02T09:50:46Z")
Not a Great Debate (or much of any kind of a debate).
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### Author:  [@GrumpyBunny](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GrumpyBunny)
#### Post date: [September 2, 2015, 9:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-would-communism-turn-out-if-marx-dropped-acid/729672/6 "2015-09-02T09:55:54Z")
It would be fine, except for the paranoia caused by the dragons at the dacha that won’t stop STARING AT HIM!!!
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### Author:  [@cjepson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cjepson)
#### Post date: [September 2, 2015, 1:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-would-communism-turn-out-if-marx-dropped-acid/729672/7 "2015-09-02T13:13:12Z")
He would have been a [Yippie](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Youth_International_Party).
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### Author:  [@Doctor\_Jackson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Doctor_Jackson)
#### Post date: [September 2, 2015, 2:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-would-communism-turn-out-if-marx-dropped-acid/729672/8 "2015-09-02T14:14:40Z")
Lenin in the Sky with Diamonds…
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### Author:  [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)
#### Post date: [September 2, 2015, 2:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-would-communism-turn-out-if-marx-dropped-acid/729672/9 "2015-09-02T14:22:55Z")
Harpo would have been fine with it, but Chico would have left the group in disgust.
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### Author:  [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)
#### Post date: [September 2, 2015, 2:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-would-communism-turn-out-if-marx-dropped-acid/729672/10 "2015-09-02T14:42:48Z")
> [@GIGObuster](#):
>
> Now that got me curious, was there anything in the days of Marx that was as powerful as “orange sunshine”?
Well, there was [religion](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Opium_of_the_people) . . .
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### Author:  [@Dead\_Cat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dead_Cat)
#### Post date: [September 2, 2015, 5:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-would-communism-turn-out-if-marx-dropped-acid/729672/11 "2015-09-02T17:46:29Z")
Can’t believe I’m the first to post this: “what do you mean, ‘if’?”.
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### Author:  [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)
#### Post date: [September 2, 2015, 5:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-would-communism-turn-out-if-marx-dropped-acid/729672/12 "2015-09-02T17:49:12Z")
“From each according to his ability; to each according to his octopus.”
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### Author:  [@Steken](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Steken)
#### Post date: [September 2, 2015, 7:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-would-communism-turn-out-if-marx-dropped-acid/729672/13 "2015-09-02T19:38:53Z")
> [@GIGObuster](#):
>
> Now that got me curious, was there anything in the days of Marx that was as powerful as “orange sunshine”?
Opiates were readily available. Don’t know if he ever took 'em, though.
As for “true” psychedelics, _psilocybe semilanceata_ grows freely pretty much all over Europe, so it would have been theoretically possible for him to trip from that.
This… Damn.
This could actually be a pretty cool subject for an alternative history short story competition. The writing prompt could be something like:
_“The night before he’s supposed to participate in his very first duel, a nervous young student at the University of Bonn takes a walk through the woods with a few dear friends from the Poets’ Club. On their way, they stumble upon some psychedelic mushrooms, brew tea from them, and partake. The year is 1836. The student’s name is Karl Marx.”_
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### Author:  [@dracoi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dracoi)
#### Post date: [September 2, 2015, 7:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-would-communism-turn-out-if-marx-dropped-acid/729672/14 "2015-09-02T19:53:45Z")
> [@Dead\_Cat](#):
>
> Can’t believe I’m the first to post this: “what do you mean, ‘if’?”.
Yeah, really. As far as I’m concerned, everything Marx wrote amounts to “If people weren’t people, how could we do things better?” and then he designed an ideal economic structure for ants.
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### Author:  [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)
#### Post date: [September 2, 2015, 8:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-would-communism-turn-out-if-marx-dropped-acid/729672/15 "2015-09-02T20:29:32Z")
> [@dracoi](#):
>
> Yeah, really. As far as I’m concerned, everything Marx wrote amounts to “If people weren’t people, how could we do things better?” and then he designed an ideal economic structure for ants.
His system was perfect. It’s the people who were the problem!
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### Author:  [@kopek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kopek)
#### Post date: [September 3, 2015, 2:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-would-communism-turn-out-if-marx-dropped-acid/729672/16 "2015-09-03T02:30:54Z")
Like – groovy, man. Just groovy.
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### Author:  [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)
#### Post date: [September 3, 2015, 4:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-would-communism-turn-out-if-marx-dropped-acid/729672/17 "2015-09-03T04:23:03Z")
“Workers of the world, turn on, tune in, drop out!”
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### Author:  [@kopek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kopek)
#### Post date: [September 3, 2015, 5:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-would-communism-turn-out-if-marx-dropped-acid/729672/18 "2015-09-03T05:39:12Z")
Has anyone else done a Google image search for “Karl Marx on acid” or is it just me? 🙂