testable predictions¶

Marxists literally do make causal models to generate testable predictions and improve our theories based on those empirical observations.

If you see someone doing something other than that, you're looking at a dogmatist, not a Marxist. https://t.co/7EJy8qrzFT Our field is most closely analogous to ecology. You can't package up a society and stick it in a lab, any more than you could an ecosystem. But you can still make observations, study its parts in depth, and design experiments that interact with those parts to affect the whole. Marxism is a holistic science, concerned with endlessly complex webs of interactions between inseparable parts. We work to understand the world on every level we can, with clearly defined goals and criteria for constructing our theories. It is iterative, and it is rigorous. "The philosophers have only interpreted the world in various ways. The point, however, is to change it."

And so we have. You just don't like the attempts to change it, because you feel the existing ecosystem suits you just fine, so you imagine us as mere philosophers. Marxist theory has fueled movements that raised armies, toppled empires, built superpowers, and lifted billions out of abject poverty. As far as translational research goes, I think we have a pretty stellar track record.