You may recognize this famous quote!

I've probably been asked about a dozen times now to voice my opinion regarding WFTV anchor Barbara West's 'crazy' question to Joe Biden...

West: "You may recognize this famous quote: 'from each according to his ability, to each according to his need.' That's from Karl Marx. How is Obama not being a Marxist if he intends to spread the wealth around?"

Biden: "are you joking? Is this a joke?"

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OK, should we assume from this exchange that Marx is the only guy out there who thinks that providing for those in need is a good idea and that we shouldn't demand more from people than they can reasonably give? Perhaps we should further assume that such 'convoluted' logics are the only positions that set Marx(ism) apart from other philosophical positions - say, Liberalism for instance. Where exactly is West's question supposed to leave us? With the all-or-nothing claim that Obama is either 1) a Marxist because he believes in some semblance of wealth redistribution, or 2) not a Marxist, and thus does not favor wealth redistribution? Well, I'm not exactly sure. The whole exchange seems a little crazy, and the implication by West that Marx = Evil is the same kind of closed-minded ideological bludgeoning that leads to totalitarian societies in the first place. But I digress...

Anyway, here's what I really think about the exchange: Biden was right in asking: 'is this a joke' but for the wrong reasons. The real question should have been posed back to West as follows:

Biden: "Miss West, you may recognize this famous quote: 'The path of the righteous man is beset on all sides by the inequities of the selfish and the tyranny of evil men. Blessed is he who, in the name of charity and good will, shepherds the weak through the valley of the darkness. For he is truly his brother's keeper and the finder of lost children. And I will strike down upon thee with great vengeance and furious anger those who attempt to poison and destroy my brothers. And you will know I am the Lord when I lay my vengeance upon you.' That's from the Bible. How is John McCain being a Christian when he wants to leave the fate of the poor up to the uncertainty of the market?"

BUT - and this is what's key - Biden should have delivered the passage just like Samuel L. Jackson said it in Pulp Fiction. You can watch it here (I think it's about 2:15 in):



Well, in all fairness, that Pulp Fiction quote isn't really from the bible (here's a fun journal article that discusses 'scripture on the silver screen' if you're interested http://www.unomaha.edu/jrf/scripture.htm); however, I'm pretty sure that the theme of charity still occurs somewhere in those rather dull and fictional pages, even if it's not presented as deftly as Samuel does it. Thus, the lesson is still the same: the very values Ms. West is criticizing Obama for are the very values that 1) are championed in most every religion, and 2) are the values that help to hold societies together. If we all went about ignoring those in need and making unreasonable demands of the needy, it would not be long before a society would be torn asunder. Alas, when noble values such as charity and compassion have been truncated and left to atrophy, I suppose it no surprise that what grows root in their place are such vices as avarice, litigiousness, covetousness, etc - all the trademarks of a great capitalist society.

So yeah Joe, given that your answer should have been something akin to what I've written here, I think both of you were joking.

And Ms. West - if by some chance you read this - you can shove your vulgar, reductionist Marxism up your stinky cooch, you cold-hearted retarded bitch. WTF is wrong with you? Jesus, how can you object to giving to those in accordance with their level of need?