Matt Torrijos is a construction worker and Marxist who spends his free time researching politics, and reading Marxist theory. In this episode, he gives one of the clearest and most thought-provoking explanations of the Marxist view of history that I have ever heard. Many textbook explanations will emphasize the historical context of Marx's thoughts, but Matt Torrijos takes things a step further; he argues that automation and other technologies Marx only could have speculated about make the progression of stages of history, inevitable.
Matt is also a Christian who believes not only that Marxism is compatible with Christian ethics, but that his ethics as a Christian impel him to support Marxism. He clears up a major misconception about Marx's often-quoted remark about religion as an opiate for the masses and makes a clear case from the Christian tradition why a socialist or communist view is imperative.
We also briefly discuss Matt's relation to Omar Torrijos, the Panamanian leader responsible for gaining control of his country's canal which was a U.S.-held territory until the Torrijos-Carter Treaty of 1977. Matt did not know he was related to Omar Torrijos until after he had become a Marxist and the relationship is more distant than I initially believed. Matt's views on his distant relative are not his area of expertise, but it was very interesting for me to hear what he had to say based on his familiarity with Panamanians.
