HSFBunn

The lexicon of “The Poverty of..” has some common usage. Although most often from statist leaning writers, or as point of mockery with Obama’s critics. President Kennedy used the phrase in a speech. It seems that “The Poverty of..” was originated in the rough translation of Marx’s book title from French to English. Personally, I find Obama’s use of “The Poverty of..” as a signal to careful listeners that he is a “fellow traveler”, a clever use of semantic manipulation to claim himself a Marxist.

Is there a connection between President Obama, and famous literary works on philosophy? Two quotes from Obama are referenced below. "It's because you have an obligation to yourself. Because our individual salvation depends on collective salvation. Because thinking only about yourself, fulfilling your immediate wants and needs, betrays a poverty of ambition." - Barak Obama, 2008 "The Poverty of Philosophy" written by Karl Marx (1847). "John McCain and Sarah Palin they call this socialistic," Obama continued. "You know I don’t know when, when they decided they wanted to make a virtue out of selfishness." Barak Obama, 2008 “The Virtue of Selfishness” - written by Ayn Rand (1964). The context of word usage appears to match the respective philosophical ideas of each author. Obama is a successful politician and orator. Politicians craft their words with cautious deliberation. Relatively few individuals would be familiar with the writings of both Karl Marx, and Ayn Rand. This begs the question, who is Obama speaking to and what is the message? References: http://my.barackobama.com/page/community/p...amfelsen/gGBPzl