In this article, the author attempts to examine Marx's humanist commitment, and with it a belief in human volition--or agency (Brosio 1985, passim). Collective agency is necessary for attempts to rescue society and its schools from the latest, namely neo-liberal, capitalist attack on working people and the possibilities for the achieving deep and inclusive democracy. This article consists of yet another series of arguments that Marx's ideas and actions (he was involved politically his whole adult life), as well as the Marxists and others who have understood his work well, provide not only some of the best ways to understand people's conditions, but also to organize in ways to make possible a resolution of the historical human crisis. John Sanbonmatsu's "The Postmodern Prince" (2004) provides powerful theoretical, historical, and pragmatic support for the author's claim that Marxist thought is still "primus inter pares" for analyzing and combating today's neo-liberal capitalism. Considering what the neo-liberal phase of capitalism fundamentally consists of--the ultra but historical penetration of market ideas and realities into civil society in increasingly up-close and personal ways--the most effective societal and educational inquiries must be radical. The author contends further that were one to understand how Marx and the best Marxists conducted/conduct their inquiries it would be warranted to assert that they deserve careful attention--if not replication. The author concludes this article with a brief summary and postscript. (Contains 12 notes. Contains a bibliography.)