# Karl Marx and Capital

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/karl-marx-and-capital/1028272>\
**Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\
**Created:** [March 7, 2026, 12:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/karl-marx-and-capital/1028272 "2026-03-07T00:39:07Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 7\
**Page:** 2

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![griffin1977](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/977dab/32.png) [@griffin1977](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/griffin1977)\
**Post date:** [March 9, 2026, 12:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/karl-marx-and-capital/1028272/21 "2026-03-09T00:35:18Z")

</div>

> [@Kropotkin](#):
>
> Chapter 27, footnote 12 reads

That right there is why only 1000 copies of Das Kapital sold in Marx’s lifetime. If you want anyone to read your damn book don’t put the hot countess BJ scene in the footnotes of chapter 27! Put the steamy sex scene at the front FFS.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Kropotkin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kropotkin/32/18045_2.png) [@Kropotkin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kropotkin)\
**Post date:** [March 9, 2026, 12:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/karl-marx-and-capital/1028272/22 "2026-03-09T00:47:32Z")

</div>

I’m sure Friedrich Engels told Karl the same thing. He did suggest Karl put the historical sections at the front, not the back, to make it more readable, but no.

It’s true the first German edition only sold 1,000 copies, but it did a little better in the French and Russian editions. Today the average press run for a US university press book is about 500 copies, so Capital didn’t do too badly. Marx did note that he spent more on tobacco while writing the damn thing than he would likely receive in royalties.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Thing.Fish](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thing.fish/32/9168_2.png) [@Thing.Fish](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thing.Fish)\
**Post date:** [March 9, 2026, 8:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/karl-marx-and-capital/1028272/23 "2026-03-09T20:07:36Z")

</div>

I have read bits of it. It’s basically an economics text explaining his labor theory of value. It’s not quite as dry as one might expect from that description, but it’s definitely not easy reading. IIRC it is focused on describing capitalism as it existed in his time, not on polemical arguments for socialism.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Reply](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/reply/32/15952_2.png) [@Reply](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Reply)\
**Post date:** [March 9, 2026, 8:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/karl-marx-and-capital/1028272/24 "2026-03-09T20:11:57Z")

</div>

> [@Kropotkin](#):
>
> I will be putting this question to a university undergrad seminar and am curious about the responses of that group and this one.

Out of curiosity, what would the class be? Is it an Econ 101 class or something like it, or is the whole class focused around Marx?

I’d take this class if it were available online.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Kropotkin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kropotkin/32/18045_2.png) [@Kropotkin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kropotkin)\
**Post date:** [March 9, 2026, 10:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/karl-marx-and-capital/1028272/25 "2026-03-09T22:16:04Z")

</div>

It will be focused on Marx as historical figure of some importance and will draw on contemporary Marxist and “Marxish” thinkers to think critically about the world we’re in. Hmm…an online course…interesting!!!

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\
**Post date:** [March 9, 2026, 10:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/karl-marx-and-capital/1028272/26 "2026-03-09T22:17:09Z")

</div>

Ah, of course, the old canard that any successful woman must owe her success to trading sexual favors. I might have guessed it’d be something like that.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Kropotkin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kropotkin/32/18045_2.png) [@Kropotkin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kropotkin)\
**Post date:** [March 9, 2026, 11:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/karl-marx-and-capital/1028272/27 "2026-03-09T23:02:30Z")

</div>

Yes, that’s the takeaway from Capital all right.

[Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/karl-marx-and-capital/1028272.md?page=1)