Wednesday, February 15, 2006

Wednesday Gravestoneblogging

I paid my three quid (two for me, one for my camera) to set foot in Highgate Cemetery and visit its most famous resident, Karl Marx.

Ah, here it is:

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Just kidding. The man who said

Religion is the sigh of the oppressed creature, the heart of a heartless world, just as it is the spirit of a spiritless situation. It is the opium of the people.


would not be buried under a crucifix.

The cemetery attendant said, "Go down to the first junction, take a left, keep walking and you'll see it on the right. It's very big. You can't miss it."

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That's just the head.

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How did the German Marx end up in London? The Wikipedia entry on him notes that he was kicked out of various countries--Germany twice, France twice, and Belgium--for various revolutionary writings or activities. He moved to exile in London--if it'll accept a guy who advocated for a worldwide revolution by the workers, it'll accept me--where he spent the last 34 years of his life supported by fellow Communist Friedrich Engels, whose family had a bourgeois business in Manchester. He lived first in Soho, then in Hampstead, his home when he died. During his London years, he wrote his opus, "Capital," among other works, and also served as a foreign correspondent for the New York Daily Tribune.


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This monument was built in 1954 by the British Communist Party.

9 Comments:

Blogger Gary Karr said...

Where's the picture of Adam Smith's grave? Isn't this blog fair and balanced?

1:39 PM  
Blogger Mrs. Werbenmanjensen said...

Why don't you love Jesus?!

And isn't Adam Smith Scottish, and therefore buried up there somewhere?

9:27 PM  
Blogger Gary Karr said...

I think that's right. :-)

9:39 PM  
Blogger Smitty Werbenmanjensen said...

When they get around to moving Adam Smith's bones to within walking distance of my flat, I'll get around to visiting his grave. Edinburgh's a fur piece from here ....

9:55 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

And buried next to Marx? Sociologist Herbert Spencer. If you're British, this is amusing.

10:51 PM  
Blogger oldest kid said...

So, what's a quid?

3:32 AM  
Blogger Gary Karr said...

As far as Edinburgh goes, I believe trains go there. Surely even the proleteriat get weekends off.

4:38 AM  
Blogger Middle Kid said...

Yeah, I want to know what OK wants to know. I believe Schmutz (whoever he is) also asked the question in an earlier blog.

5:59 AM  
Blogger Smitty Werbenmanjensen said...

A quid's a pound. It's like saying "a buck" when you're referring to a dollar. Since I can't figure out how to do the pound sign on this silly U.S. computer, I'm going to use the word quid a lot here.

6:23 AM  

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