Pratique du Shadowing: What is Marxism? (And Why The Outrage is Wrong) - Apprendre l'anglais à l'oral avec la vidéo
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202 phrases
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Turn on the news and you'll hear one word yelled constantly.
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These are the same dumb Marxist ideas.
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Far left, radical, Marxist.
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Uh, Marxist.
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Marxist -Leninist, they get along.
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The Marxist left, another lunatics preaching radical ideology.
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It's blamed for everything from cultural collapse to economic decline.
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But here's the problem.
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No one ever actually explains what it is.
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I'm Dr. Alexander Matnansky.
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I'm a political scientist who studies all of the issues that everybody argues about online and tries to make sense of them.
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So today, let's tackle the ism that everybody seems to argue about online but nobody ever seems to have an answer for.
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What is Marxism?
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We interrupt this program for a special news bulletin.
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For this discussion, the natural starting point is who is Karl Marx?
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Karl Marx was a Prussian philosopher and political theorist who specialized in capitalism.
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He was particularly interested in how class was shaped by history, politics, and society.
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Now, I know we've all heard
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Marx was this mysterious revolutionary who was going to take up arms to overthrow the Western order,
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but in reality he was simply a political scientist, no different than myself.
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He was essentially just a guy up the road in Hiberian Islington here in London.
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Getting his start in the mid -1800s, he finished his PhD from the University of Vienna, which is in what is now modern -day Germany.
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And one of my favorite stories, a little bit of folklore while not proven necessarily to be true.
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After finishing his PhD defense him and his PhD supervisor stole a donkey
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and paraded their way around town wreaking havoc in celebration.
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While not necessarily true or historically accurate it kind of contextualizes how
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Marx is seen in kind of everyday folklore.
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He's a real person that behaved like everybody else that wanted to go and celebrate good times.
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He wasn't a radical revolutionary in this way.
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He was simply a guy celebrating earning a degree.
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Originally Marx considered a career in academia
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but there was a large conservative turn in Germany at the time and then he decided to pivot towards journalism.
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This kind of reflects something that's happening in the world right now where places like the United States, parts of Europe such as Hungary,
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right -wing governments have began to attempt to facilitate a right -wing turn in academia
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which has pushed out a lot of early career academics.
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It was in Paris where
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Marx would go on to meet Friedrich Engels, a lifelong collaborator.
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Engels came from a wealthy industrial family and would support
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Marx financially for much of his life.
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Engels own experience would help to contribute some insights that would ultimately develop into what is now Marxism.
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Together they would write the texts
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that would now define Marxism as a field of study and academia and would influence some revolutionaries later on,
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the most prominent of which is the Communist Manifesto, which we're gonna demystify a little bit in this video.
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Before discussing Marxism further, we need to first identify the two key forms of Marxism.
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Marxism as a part of academic literature, a theoretical critique of class structures in society, and also Marxism in practice,
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something that we see in the world.
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The scholarlyism as it is, is something that just identifies how capitalism and class structures influence large inequality throughout the world.
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Academics use this toolbook to ask who benefits?
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Why is society structured a certain way?
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So at its core
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Marxist theory is a way to understand how capitalism creates inequalities around the world.
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It focused on the relationship between two key groups, something Marx and Engels called the bourgeoisie and the proletariat.
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The bourgeoisie is those who own the means of production
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and the proletariat is those who sell their labor to make a living.
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While this is a story about greed that isn't the entire picture.
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Marx argued that capitalism itself, the structures of society, are what created the perpetual inequalities that we see.
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Those who own the means of production are in a position to continue to reproduce these balances
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and continue to perpetuate their own power on those that don't have the resources.
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So while workers generate value through their labor, they don't ever reap the benefits of this through power.
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While Marx was writing about this in the mid -1800s, we continue to see how workforces are exploited.
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This wasn't just a product of the 1800s, we're seeing this now.
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Amazon workers were prohibited from unionizing.
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This is the one way that labor can come together, influence the balance of power.
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We can use this understanding to see how ruling elites, large corporations can exploit their own power, push down working class people from unionizing.
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And if you think about it today, we are in an even more capitalized version that
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Marx likely saw.
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Every part of society is monetized.
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The second you pick up your phone, you're using a tool that was created by capitalism.
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While my iPhone might be something that I find useful and something that I can use to create my own intellectual labor,
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it's still a product of capitalism.
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And then let's take this a step further.
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The second you turn on your phone and you scroll to the nearest app, we're completely bombarded by advertisements.
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So when academics use this as a lens.
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We can see the useful elements of how capitalism continues to exploit labor,
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the labor where you go and you earn money through your job,
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and then it's continued to cycle through advertisements where you go purchase new t -shirts or we go purchase items on Amazon,
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all the while while people at the top of the ladder continue to retain the wealth,
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while those in the middle and lower portions of the ladder are unable to move upward.
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So what makes Marxism so useful?
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It doesn't just critique capitalism, it gives us useful lenses to interpret society today.
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One of my favorite examples is David Harvey's right to the city.
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David Harvey is of course a modern
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Marxist theorist and I've included a link to his piece in the show notes below.
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So essentially in Harvey's piece he looks at the city
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and he says this isn't simply just a place we live
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but it's something that's shaped by capitalism itself
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and gives examples of how everyday life has imbalances of power exploited by people
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that earn a lot of money and those that are continuing to create labor that supports the system itself.
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We could see the imbalances of power throughout the worlds.
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I'm thinking some places that I've been to myself, places that I've lived, London, Dakar, Senegal, New York, Tokyo, Mumbai, places like this.
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There are luxury accommodation alongside housing shortages throughout cities gentrification is
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when richer people move in and push out lower income folks
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and this is what harvey sees as the city
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we don't necessarily have a right to the city some people
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have the right to the city those with more resources than others the city isn't something
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that we have the right to like the freedom of speech in some cases
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but it's something that we have to live with something
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that we experience and something that we deal with on the ladders of capitalism.
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Each person, based on their background, how they look, their socioeconomic status, they all have different experiences of living in a city.
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Who gets to live where, who gets pushed out, are all affected by these capitalist structures.
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So as the Harvey piece illustrates, Marxism isn't a regime, it isn't a social movement.
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In this case, it is just a lens to critique the way we live on a daily basis.
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Marxist theory can help us identify the unequal structures of a capitalist society and how it affects everyday individuals.
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So in practice often what we're talking about in the news media or online, Marxism is quite different than how it's applied theoretically.
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An interesting point of this is a key assumption by Marx was that the so -called
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Marxist revolution or the class revolution or the socialist revolution was likely
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or in some cases could be viewed as inevitable in some parts of society
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and in some states in particular because the capitalist elites exploited the working class so much.
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An interesting point from Marx's own work is that he thought
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that the Marxist socialist the workers revolution was a likely outcome in many capitalist states.
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While Marx thought this was potentially going to happen and likely in some places, he was largely wrong.
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In some places there were Marxist -esque revolutions such as that in the Bolshevik Revolution or the Maoist Revolution.
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Even these we can see as not being perfectly
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Marxist because of the states that came out of them were in fact not Marxist states.
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While the right wing media would like you to believe that every instance of an authoritarian government, a repressive regime, were all
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Marxist, Socialist, or Communist regimes, there has not ever been an exact
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Marxist model of a government implemented in history.
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Marx never created a concrete roadmap for what an ideal state would look like.
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In many of them, he saw economic equality or workers having a large portion of power.
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So while the media itself would like you to believe that every instance of authoritarianism or repression was in fact this
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Marxist states, there wasn't a roadmap.
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Marxism just wanted economic equality and a state where workers retained their rights.
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And we've never actually seen that.
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That's the greatest fallacy of modern media is that there hasn't been a Marxist state.
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States often labeled as Marxist or socialist or communist like the Soviet Union
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or the People's Republic of China use the Marxist facade
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but in fact do not operate in any interpretation of Marxism where there is economic inequality.
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Generally these states operate with a concentrated elite at the top that enrich themselves off of the working class.
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While there have been instances of these states lifting up lower
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classes as we've seen the the rise of the middle class in China.
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This in fact still has to do with capitalism where the
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central government in China have operated within the capitalist system and in some places repressed their people.
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This was not a workers' revolution in which workers gained lots of rights and helped operate the state.
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It's in fact a concentrated center of elites that enrich themselves
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while the working class in some cases can climb up their ladder slightly,
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but continue to be subjugated by a repressive government using capitalists' apparatuses.
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Examples of this are state -owned enterprises.
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We think of state -owned gas companies like Gazprom in modern Russia.
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We think of the numerous state -owned corporations in China that usually often orient themselves around technology.
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This is not Marxism.
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This is not communism or socialism.
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This is state -ran capitalism.
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And through this, they continue to repress people while enriching themselves and gaining more and more resources.
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So rather than redistributing wealth or creating economic equality, we have entrenched elites continuing to gain resources and wealth
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while the working class gains very little semblance of power influence in society.
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This is no different than capitalist societies that are democratic throughout the world.
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You think about this in the United States where we have billionaires that are influencing elections,
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we have billionaires in Western Europe that are continuing to assert their influence.
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And just because somebody puts the facade of communism, Marxism, or socialism onto the title of their state, that does not in fact make it socialist.
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So with this we have a world shaped by capitalist structures where elites manipulate narratives around nationalism,
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ideology, to pit workers and the working lower
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and middle classes against each other so they can continue to entrench themselves in power.
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Understanding that we have not in fact had a Marxist state before,
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states that label themselves as socialists or Marxists are in fact operating within a capitalist system,
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and understanding that academics use the Marxist theory to identify systemic inequalities in society
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and understand patterns of political mobilization is useful
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because it helps us to demystify the reality of what Marxism is
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and that in fact many people in the news media
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and on social media
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that demonize Marxism are actually doing it for their own benefits to continue to entrench themselves in a system
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that supports the capitalist elites, the media elites, and to ensure that labor -based,
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class -based political action is continued to be perceived as a stain on society and something that shouldn't happen.
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So recognizing that there are two aspects of Marxism,
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the first being a critical theory used by academics to understand how capitalism creates
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and reproduces inequalities from that of the Marxism in practice where there are instances of political movements
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that created states that ultimately weren't a equal socioeconomic view of society
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and often use the Marxist
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or communist label to entrench themselves in power is a way to deepen our understanding
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and assure that people can't misuse this term for their own benefits
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and we're seeing this throughout the news media
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and on social media where capitalists economic elites want to ensure
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that working -class people don't come together
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because people together are more powerful in mass so recognizing
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that there is an academic view of Marxism that identifies capitalism
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and socio -economic inequalities from it as a understanding for patterns in society from
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that of Marxism in practice where instances of revolution use the label of Marxism but did not implement
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Marxist states helps us to ensure that people in power don't demonize this term and use it for their own benefit.
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So in sum, Marxism as a political theory is still widely used to interpret how class perpetuates inequalities,
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it helps identify patterns in places like cities that we live in, and how we live our everyday lives.
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It can help us identify who the elites are that control the resources, how labor is influenced, how we live in cities,
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and all of these are useful tools for helping academics to understand the patterns of the world.
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At the same time the term has been weaponized.
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It's thrown around as a catch -all boogeyman for all things right -wing media figures don't like.
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Cases like China and the Soviet Union are not examples of Marxism,
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but they're examples of entrenched elites using the capitalist structures of the world to their own benefits while repressing their citizens.
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So who does this actually serve?
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The rich talking heads on Fox News want you to believe that everything is fair.
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All the while, they get to go home to their Fifth Ave penthouse apartment.
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While millions of Americans struggle to put food on the table, put gas in their cars.
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Simultaneously, billionaires are infiltrating public spaces that should be where everyday citizens have access to power.
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In America, we should continue to see more plumbers,
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more electricians, computer programmers, all enter public life and pursue power through the structures that were given to them.
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We should see senators and house members that are farmers or bartenders because these public houses,
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these forms of government were built for everyday citizens to ascend to the heights of power, not for billionaires to buy their way into public office.
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When wealth becomes the only ticket to influence, we should ask the question,
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who benefits from casting working -class aspirations as radical or dangerous.
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Understanding this isn't just an academic exercise or a reinterpretation of how history has been manipulated.
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It's a way for us to move past the fear -mongering
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and question if society is structured in a way that benefits all people.
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I think it's important for us to reinterpret these key issues so we can build a society that empowers everybody.
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And with that, the more we know, the more we talk, the better future we can build.
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See you next time.
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Vocabulaire et conseils d’expression pour cette leçon
Cette leçon d’expression orale s’appuie sur la vidéo « What is Marxism? ». Les mots qui reviennent le plus souvent : Marxist, Marxism, society, Marx, capitalism. Cette vidéo contient 202 phrases et 2673 mots à répéter en shadowing. La partie parlée dure 16:31. Le locuteur parle à un rythme naturel d’environ 162 mots par minute, proche d’une conversation courante. Seuls 80 % des mots font partie des 3 000 mots les plus courants en anglais, le vocabulaire est donc exigeant.
Vocabulaire clé de cette vidéo
15 mots de la vidéo à retenir, avec leur prononciation et leur sens :
| Mot | Prononciation | Sens |
|---|---|---|
| capitalism nom | /ˈkæp.ə.təlˌɪzm̩/ | capitalisme |
| capitalist nom | /ˈkæp.ɪ.tə.lɪst/ | capitaliste |
| elite nom | /ɪˈlit/ | élite |
| inequality nom | /ˌɪn.ɪˈkwɑ.lɪ.ti/ | inégalité |
| everyday adjectif | /ˈɛvɹiˌdeɪ/ | usuel |
| socialist nom | /ˈsoʊ.ʃə.lɪst/ | socialiste |
| exploit nom | /ˈɛksplɔɪt/ | exploit |
| label nom | /ˈleɪ.bəl/ | étiquette, libellé |
| radical nom | /ˈɹædɪkəl/ | racine |
| communist nom | /ˈkɑ.mjə.nɪst/ | communiste |
| ladder nom | /ˈlæd.ɚ/ | échelle |
| billionaire nom | /ˌbɪl.jəˈnɛɚ/ | milliardaire |
| earn verbe | /ɝn/ | gagner |
| necessarily adverbe | /ˌnɛs.əˈsɛɹ.ə.li/ | absolument, nécessairement |
| argue verbe | /ˈɑɹ.ɡju/ | affirmer, débattre |
Les verbes à particule que vous entendrez
| Mot | Prononciation | Sens |
|---|---|---|
| come together verbe | /ˈkʌm tʊˈɡɛðɚ/ | affluer, s’assembler |
| get along verbe | s'entendre | |
| pick up verbe | soulever |
La grammaire de cette vidéo
Les structures que le locuteur utilise le plus, avec les mots exacts de la vidéo :
| Structure | Dans la vidéo |
|---|---|
| Present perfect have/has + participe passé — une action passée qui compte encore maintenant | has pushed · I've included · I've been |
| Voix passive be + participe passé — l’accent est mis sur ce qui arrive, pas sur qui le fait | was shaped · is seen · are exploited |
| Propositions relatives who / which + proposition — une précision sur une personne ou une chose | Vienna, which is · those who own · those who sell |
Prononciation à surveiller
Le locuteur utilise 38 contractions et formes réduites, comme don't, isn't, we're. Prononcez-les sous leur forme courte, telles que vous les entendez.
- Les sons « th »: wealthy /ˈwɛl.θi/, theoretical /ˌθi.əˈɹɛt.ɪ.kəl/, overthrow /ˌoʊvɚˈθɹoʊ/, authoritarian /əˌθɑ.ɹəˈtɛɹ.i.ən/, theorist /ˈθiːəɹəst/
- Les sons « sh » et « zh »: socialist /ˈsoʊ.ʃə.lɪst/, regime /ɹəˈʒiːm/, essentially /ɪˈsɛnʃəli/, revolutionary /ˌɹɛvəˈluʃənɛɹi/, socialism /ˈsoʊʃəlɪzəm/
- Mots longs — placez bien l’accent: capitalism /ˈkæp.ə.təlˌɪzm̩/, capitalist /ˈkæp.ɪ.tə.lɪst/, inequality /ˌɪn.ɪˈkwɑ.lɪ.ti/, necessarily /ˌnɛs.əˈsɛɹ.ə.li/, equality /ɪˈkwɑ.lɪ.ti/
Les sons difficiles pour les francophones :
- /h/ — il se souffle, il n’est pas muet: historically /hɪˈstɔɹɪkli/, behave /bɪˈheɪv/, prohibit /pɹəˈhɪbɪt/, havoc /ˈhævək/, penthouse /ˈpɛnt(h)aʊs/
- /tʃ/ et /dʒ/ — à ne pas adoucir en « ch » et « j »: ideology /aɪ.diˈɑ.lə.d͡ʒi/, intellectual /ˌɪntəˈlɛkt͡ʃʊəl/, generate /ˈd͡ʒɛn.ə.ɹeɪt/, journalism /ˈd͡ʒɝnl̩ˌɪzəm/, preach /pɹit͡ʃ/
- /r/ anglais — langue recourbée, sans frotter la gorge: everyday /ˈɛvɹiˌdeɪ/, radical /ˈɹædɪkəl/, necessarily /ˌnɛs.əˈsɛɹ.ə.li/, argue /ˈɑɹ.ɡju/, regime /ɹəˈʒiːm/
Comment s’entraîner avec cette vidéo
- Écoutez la vidéo en entier une fois sans parler et notez les mots que vous ne connaissez pas.
- Commencez à la vitesse 0,75×, répétez phrase par phrase, puis revenez à la vitesse normale quand cela devient facile.
- Enregistrez-vous et comparez avec l’original, en faisant attention à des mots comme capitalism, capitalist, elite.
Qu'est-ce que la technique du Shadowing ?
Le Shadowing est une technique d'apprentissage des langues fondée sur la science, développée à l'origine pour la formation des interprètes professionnels. Le principe est simple mais puissant : vous écoutez de l'anglais natif et le répétez immédiatement à voix haute — comme une ombre suivant le locuteur avec un décalage de 1 à 2 secondes. Les recherches montrent une amélioration significative de la précision de la prononciation, de l'intonation, du rythme, des liaisons, de la compréhension orale et de la fluidité.