Marxism as Taboo.

Satan in hell.
Limbourg bros. (between 1411 and 1416) [A]

Commenting on an interview with two Marxist academics, David Ruccio finds that the interviewer "seemed surprised to hear that Marxism has been for some time, and continues to be, subject to a taboo in the academy and in the wider society".

Well, I can show with a real-life example how this thing works!

Here's Christian Rickens (Der Spiegel Online in English) astounded with Sahra Wagenknecht's proposal to solve the European crisis: "Astoundingly, however, there really is a novel approach out there".

Although he is not fully gained by Wagenknecht's proposal (and neither am I, to be honest), Rickens believes it should have been afforded some attention.

But it wasn't.

Why not? "It is perhaps because of this somewhat spotty biography that her concept for solving the euro crisis has received so little attention."

Why is her biography "spotty"? Because "Wagenknecht, now 43, joined the East German communist party SED in 1989 just a few months before the fall of the Berlin Wall. Until 2010, she was the most prominent member of the Communist Platform, the Marxist wing of the Left Party."

To Rickens's credit, at least he heard what Wagenknecht had to say, in spite of her "spotty biography". Many others can't even manage that.

After all, isn't it very natural that a woman, whose only crime was to join the SED at the age of 20, should be ostracized for life? And if that wasn't enough, on top she remained "the most prominent member of the Communist Platform"! Eternal damnation!

That's how you know that Marxism is "taboo in the academy and in the wider society".

Image Credits
[A] Satan torturing and being tortured in hell. Limbourg brothers (between 1411 and 1416). Wikipedia.