Thread by @shrikanth_krish

The tendency to use economic arguments to explain historical events appears to be Marxism's prime contribution (for better or worse)

So many people (even on the Right) are Marxists in this sense

In their reflexive tendency to resort to economics while discussing history

For e.g.

If someone were to ask - "hey...while is the cow sacred to the Hindus"

I hear so many RW Hindus responding - "Cow was v central to the Indian household economy. It represented prosperity in a heavily agrarian country" Yada Yada

That's a marxist argument

You are trying to use economics to explain why the Cow is special to Indians, instead of understanding the moral outlook in ancient India (which also no doubt evolved over time)

Yet the tendency in our times, even among the so-called conservatives is to not read scriptures closely. Not pay close attention to religion, culture

Instead use facile economic logic to explain broad historical trends

Another example of an economic reading of history -

People often ask - Why were the Vedas not written down for so long

The Marxist argument goes - Hey...the Brahmins wanted to preserve their exclusivity and power.

Their monopoly over Vedas by virtue of oral transmission and memory, ensured their special status in society

This is an argument of economics. Where monopoly over a scarce resource (in this case - monopoly over a skill) ensures gradation in society

But the traditionalist argument should be .

The Vedas weren't written down for long

Because the brahmins genuinely believed that incorrect pronunciation would desacralize the scripture and also impact its efficacy adversely

Hence the emphasis on oral transmission within families even long after the literature was indeed written down

This argument is based on a religious understanding of the issue.

Not on economics or game theory

Most academics in our times tend to reflexively underrate the religious or culturally rooted arguments and instead resort to facile economic explanations which explain the world in the prism of power equations