Karl Marx's Beer - General Posted by Jeff (Wednesday January 28 2004 @ 11:04PM EST)

Karl Marx has been both vilified and deified but his influence remains undeniable. In the West, he lent teeth to a labor movement that successfully extracted concession from government and business. In the East, he provided philosophical underpinnings that assisted the demise of monarchy. Unfortunately, that which replaced the Romanovs, and later the Hapsburgs, did not improve life for working classes. Proletarian concerns aside, the true heirs to Marxist legacy are not Bolsheviks, but people like me: the sleep deprived. I tend to apply a Marxian model of historical analysis. Perhaps due to his deification by former enemies of the West, that model is called Historical Materialism. It was not Contribution to the Critique of Political Economy that most impressed me. It was the author's ability to go so long on so little sleep. Karl Marx had a large family that consumed most of his day. He worked at night and often until dawn. Those overnighters were sustained not with caffeine, but beer. Since alcohol is a depressant, I never considered feasible the Marxian prescription for sleep deprivation. That changed recently when I finally discovered the genius of Karl Marx. Say what you will about the author of Das Kapital, but the man knew how to elude the sandman. During football season, Krazy and I attend Jets games in East Rutherford, New Jersey. We are joined by 80,000 other people. In order to avoid parking lot gridlock, we get there early. Really early. We pass time with grilled food and beer. We split a six-pack, three beers a piece. Krazy finishes his half in thirty minutes, a Hemingwayian, not Marxian, approach to beer consumption. Marx had his beer at a painfully slow pace. While alcohol is a depressant, it provides an euphoric boost upon initial consumption. Taken in very small doses for an extended period of time, it can provide a mild but sustained elation which helps prolong desire for sleep. The quantity necessary to sustain this state, does not provide intoxication. Last night, I experienced a Marxian epiphany. After hours of programming drudgery, I cracked a dark Bavarian style lager from Barley Creek Brewery in the Poconos. Subsequently involved with a new task, porting Gaim-0.75 to Solaris 9, I sipped my beer in painfully small increments over an extended period of time. As a result, I was able to hack Gaim until 2:30 am. The great thing about the Marxian method is this, it's easier to finally shut down after sustained sips from a single beer then is is after four mugs of coffee.

< GAIM | Keeping The Carbs On The Down Low >

By Cher (Thursday January 29 2004 @ 10:02AM EST)

Unlike Jeff, I need sleep – lots of it. When I had to stay up to finish a paper in college, iced tea was my jolt of choice. Now I try to stay organized enough to avoid the all-nighter. Sleep deprivation is sheer torture.

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By Jeff (Thursday January 29 2004 @ 10:45AM EST) I have now lived with Cher for almost five years. By my conservative calculation, I've outlived her by 152 days over that period of time.... [ reply | parent ]

By Cher (Thursday January 29 2004 @ 10:55AM EST) Hey - it runs in the family. My mom is a big sleeper as well. I make no apologies. 10:30? I'm going to bed. Cold and raining on a Saturday afternoon? Nap time. I think Monz would agree with me. [ reply | parent ]

By Anonymous (Thursday January 29 2004 @ 01:18PM EST)

Doesn't jeff get upset that you nap with Monz?

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By Cher (Thursday January 29 2004 @ 01:52PM EST) Monz and I nap at the same time, but alas, in different places. We've even exchanged napping stories over beer on Tuesday nights. In the immortal words of Ralph Wiggum, "Ah, sleep! That's where I'm a Viking!" [ reply | parent ]

By Jeff (Thursday January 29 2004 @ 02:00PM EST) I'd be upset cos then the bed would smell like smelly ol' rottweiler and stale beer... [ reply | parent ]

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