politics: throwing around the marxist label and sweater making

So, I keep hearing the words Marxist and Marxism coming out of the right to describe Obama and pretty much everyone else on the left. The term is usually written in a hyperbolic style meant to strike to fear in the heart: "He's a Marxist, for crying out loud." I have two queries about this phenomonon: 1) Does this term still resonate in the way? and 2) Which Marxisms are we discussing? I mean I don't immediately jump to visions of the Cold War when I hear the word Marxist, just visions of sad hippies and anti-hippies trying to recreate their youth. Admittedly, I work in academia, which supposedly makes me some kind of indocrtinated drone. Nevertheless, no one has told me that I need to subscribe to Marxist political theories. I actually think Karl Marx is a horrible writer; Engles had the better grasp of prose and economics. Of course, I also think Marx needs to be read in context. Both Marx and Engles were writing during the Hungry 40s, or the 1840s, when the plight of the working class was between dying of starvation and well, dying of starvation. Nor were Marx and Engles the only ones to address the condition of England question or to call for a radical rethinking of the system. I prefer Gaskell's stewardship model, actually, but when most people invoke Marx, they aren't considering or aware of this context. Plus, since the nineteenth century, Marxism, as a socio-economic-political theory, has taken many forms. I find Gramsci's theory of hegemony vastly more compelling than others. I like the idea of being complicit in the system because it means you change the system from within in gradual steps. I don't think this is the kind of Marxism that conservative commentators have in mind. I think they want people to see red.

Side note: I'm almost done with my cardigan. Less than half the back to knit and a sleeve. I also think I'm going to undo that baby blanket and use the yarn for something else...like a shawl for me.