The Communist Manifesto By Karl Marx

Marx begins by writing, “The history of all hitherto existing society is the history of class struggles. (Jones, 219)” The existing society was divided between the Bourgeoisie and the Proletariat, as I stated before. The Bourgeoisie consisted of the social class who owns the means of production. The Proletariat consisted of wage-laborers who have no means of production of their own and they are reduced to selling their labor power in order to live (Jones 219). As you can see the bourgeoisie had the upper hand because they were the people who were mainly in charge of the proletariat. Marx believed that the

Karl Marx believed that the bourgeoisie exploited the proletariats in this new-found industrial age. The proletariat masses lived in poverty, while the bourgeoisie lived lavishly, feeding off the labour-intensive work and money made by their workers.

     Marx describes the problem in great detail in the first chapter. He feels there is a problem between the bourgeoisie and the proletarians. The bourgeoisie were the oppressed class before the French Revolution and he argues that they are now the oppressors. The proletarians are the new working class, which works in the large factory and industries. He says that through mass industry they have sacrificed everything from the old way of religion, employment, to a man’s self worth and replaced it with monetary value. He is mad that the people of ole that use to be upper class such as skills man, trades people, & shopkeepers, are now slipping into the proletarians or working class. He

Between the late 1840’s and 1850’s industrial revolution and the growth of markets led to a clear distinction between the working class and the class of owners. People are working harder to live a luxurious life. During this time the Communist Manifesto (1848) by Karl Marx (1818- 1883) and Walden (1854) by Henry David Thoreau (1817 – 1862) were published. Both Marx and Thoreau were after ending slavery. Marx was after ending slavery among the class struggles, while Thoreau was after ending slavery from your self. Thoreau had a similar vision of utopia as Marx, however his approach to the problem was that revolution is internal rather than violent, pervasive and militaristic. They had radically different solutions and starting points to the similar problem Marx and Thoreau perceive.

Marx thought of capitalism in a pessimistic way, he saw the relationship between the employee and employer in a capitalistic society as toxic. To Marx, in a capitalistic society the employee would always be at a constant struggle for power be never endlessly repressed by the bourgeoisie. The employer would pay employees only what they needed to survive making it impossible to move up in class or society. He also recognized that in capitalism everything becomes corporatized. Things like marriage go from a sacred bond between two individuals that once never included money or the government, to something that is regulated by the national government and must be done through the federal court and include ties between the individual's financial status. Small businesses would also become corporatized, a local family doctor has now become part of a larger practice that brings in complex forms of payment such as insurance instead of simply paying a small family doctor directly. He also goes into the downfall of capitalism. The way capitalism works is through a series of economic highs and lows, each high is marked by prosperous times, high employment rate, and overall happiness. But the lows are marked by deterioration of the national economy, low employment rates, and struggle for all classes. To Marx’s these highs and lows are what's killing capitalism with each low being worse than the last until the people revolt and create a new form of government. The next would be socialism and once this fell like capitalism, the new governing system would be communism. Communism is an ideal system where people are never struggling for money and are paid based on their needs rather than their particular job. Through this system a

Marx viewed society as a conflict between two classes in competition for material goods. He looked at the history of class conflicts and determined that the coming of the industrial age was what strengthened the capitalist revolution. Marx called the dominant class in the capitalist society the bourgeoisie and the laborers the proletariat. The bourgeoisie owned or controlled the means of production, exploited laborers, and controlled the goods produced for its own needs. He believed that the oppressed class of laborers was in a position to organize itself against the dominating class. He felt that it was the course of nature, that is, it is the way that society evolves and that the communist society would be free of class conflict, "the free development of each is the condition for the free development of all." (Marx & Engels 1948, 37)

A major part of profit from business concentrated in the hands of business managers, administrators or upper bourgeoisie. (Marx, p.59; Reich, p.1) Unequal distribution of capital identifies new property relations created with an emergence of bourgeois society. (Marx, p.71) Private property relations leads to indignation of proletariat, lower class who live from hand to mouth compared with upper bourgeoisie. It strengthens antagonism between these two distinct classes and hastens the accomplishment of Revolution by proletariat against bourgeoisie. (Marx, p.58, 144) Sporadic circumstances of clashes between bourgeois and proletarian raise into class clashes, strong antagonism. Consequently, workers from different countries found various associations in order to protect their rights (Marx, p.44) Therefore, gradually proletariat all over the world unite and as their interests differ from bourgeoisie’s, proletariat will attempt to overthrow an oppressive class (Marx, p.58) Strengthening of proletariat is a product of property relations of the bourgeois society which may lead to total disruption of bourgeois production relations eventually.

Karl Marx was one of sociology greatest thinkers and philosophers, one of his most famous pieces of work was das kapitial which has been linked heavily as a first part of the volume for the working class, although Marx did not live to see his ideas on communism happen. however, his writings did go on to form the base of modern communism (bbc history),

Karl Marx’s viewed capitalism as something that was negative for our society, but that would eventually become a positive. Because of capitalism, the bourgeoisie (upper and middle class) would often oppress the proletarians (working class). In The Communist Manifesto he discusses how capitalism is part of the transition to communism. Marx

The opinion of communism in American culture has been negative for as long as com-munism itself has been around. Throughout history, the United States, has told its citizens that communism is evil, taught children in schools that it is a dangerous idea, and has even gone to war to prevent the spread of it in foreign nations. But is it really that "evil" of an idea? In The Com-munist Manifesto by Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels, the idea of communism is painted in a much different picture than what is depicted in the United States. Although it was a controversial concept at the time, Marx published this work in 1848, and he provided a convincing case for the benefits of communism. He does this by comparing and criticizing the social classes of citizens throughout history and he touches on a few different types of appeals to convince the reader that this type of government should be put into actions. Marx believed very strongly in the ideas he put forth in this manifesto and it shows by how aggressively he conveys the benefits and defends the criticism towards his concept; he is in fact so persuasive in the style of his argument that his theo-ries are still relevant today.

The two classes discussed in the text are the bourgeoisie and the proletariat. The bourgeoisie is dominant over the proletariat in a couple ways. While the members of the bourgeoisie are land owners and the owners of the means of production living comfortable lives, the proletariat consists of wage laborers forced to sell their labor to the bourgeoisie because they own no productive property. The members of the proletariat make such little money that their living conditions are almost unbearable. The power that the bourgeoisie holds over the proletariat causes them to be exploited and held in subjugation.

“All written history is the history of class struggles” (Marx). In the year 1848, Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels decided to publish a manifesto after sitting down and sharing ideas for a period of time. Today, that piece of writing is known as The Communist Manifesto. In this book, Marx, the principal author stated that escaping from alienation required a revolution. That was the only possible way in which a political as well as a social change could have been seen. Therefore, Marx’ theory implied the use of violence. In addition, there was another individual, who argued that violence could be justified to gain independence, the one and only way to be free. Fanon’s theory on violence was very obvious and precise: “violence is the means by which the oppressed must gain freedom.” On the contrary, Gandhi understood the use of violence totally different. “If the history of the universe had commenced with wars, not a man would have been found alive to-day.” Although Marx and Fanon agreed that the use of violence is necessary and can always be justified, Gandhi intended to prove that nonviolence can lead a country to democracy.

Furthermore, Marx’s upbringing also showed him religion 's “seductive tyranny”. His father, a Rabbi, had turned away from Judaism, for the family was living in a predominantly Protestant area that was discriminatory against the Jewish people, especially by the rulers of the county (Wheen 9). Marx’s childhood had an immense impact on his life. He was born bourgeois Jew who turned from his faith, argued for socialist values, and eventually died penniless and nearly friendless. As a result of his upbringing, Marx was able to be educated on the ideas of socialism, for he lived in a wealthy family and was able to attend college. His father’s religious switch from Judaism to Christianity not only turned him away from Judaism, but ended up preventing Marx from becoming a Rabbi himself. The nurturing, more father-like, nature of his father-in-law prompted Marx to pursue knowledge and growth over religious ideas or social etiquette. His childhood was the mold that shaped Karl Marx into the man he would become.

Karl Marx came up later with a theory of a classless society to help the working class fight back. Marx came up with many radical ideas to change the way society was proceeding socially which, caused him to be banished from his native land in Germany and then from France, eventually he ended up in England. (Compton's Encyclopedia, 121) Karl Marx believed that social conflict was needed for society to function. He showed people not to be scared of conflict but rather to except it as a way of life. Karl Marx believes that people have a "class consciousness" which means that people are aware of differences between one another and that it causes a separation between groups of people. People mostly look at material objects for a sense of class status. If you are wealthy in life then you have many material objects and if you are poor then you have very little. People need to be educated in order to move up in society, which is why the working class people rarely have a chance to be very successful. Karl Marx realized that the working class deserved more then they were receiving and he tried to help the situation. Marx wanted the wealthy people and the poor to become more economically equal in status. Karl Marx also discusses the economic issues that the working class faces with change. With capitalism growing there is a greater need for production in the factories. More products need to be produced and at

Karl Marx was an idealist. He observed the cruelties and injustices that the poor working class endured during the period of industrial revolution, and was inspired to write of a society in which no oppression existed for any class of people. Marx believed in a revolution that would end socialism and capitalism, and focus on communist principles. The Manifesto of the Communist Party, written by Karl Marx and edited by Frederick Engels, describes the goals of the communist party for ending exploitation of the working class and creating a society in which there is equality in society without social classes.1