220519 - red reading

 Engels & the role of particularly women in property conceptions through the development of the family has been especially interesting. The analysis ties in the primative attractiveness of communism/communal living, seeing the each gender had its role in society, but it was about the society as a group which was paramount, rather than the individual. It reminds me of the attraction, especially to women, of this conception of socialism/communism - could this be part of the evolution for Nordic socialism? Certainly, there is more of an attraction for the primacy of the mother - you always know who the mother is, right? Whereas, the father can be unknown (or uncaring), so why not emphasise/rely on the mothers' identity. Indeed, the role of the male is evidently that of a stud - of little use, apparent from breeding or hunting. There is a certain attractiveness to this communal living, e.g. kibbutz living, but I fear that it takes a paradigm shift in a broader social sense to enable/enact significant changes - imagine the BRS with unknown fathers! So, there are lessons to be gathered from the writings - interestingly, it is a prose easier to read than Marx, but is missing his subtle humour! Hence why the combination of both is so significant, for they balance & complement each other? Certainly it gives me something to engage with on my morning train journeys. Another significant insight is the role that private property begins to play in the socio-cultural development of humanity - as it begins to blossom, so too does the rise of patriarchy (coupled with the decline of the mother right) begin. As the male begins to accrue, with the role of community property declining, certainty of offspring is required to ensure that the right person inherits. Or is it? Although this calls for private property rights, the disposal of those rights should be at the discretion of the rights holder - so is it perhaps also about the expectation of inheritance rights? An expectation of property? So much for making your own way in the world, hey? Hmm ... Certainly, my scheme to read Marx & Engels so as to get a greater appreciation/context for some of my latter writers is making more sense now ...