The Communist Manifesto By Karl Marx And Friedrich Engels

Karl Marx was born in Prussia in 1818. Later in his life he became a newspaper editor and his writings ended up getting him expelled by the Prussian authorities for its radicalism and atheism (Perry 195). He then met Fredrich Engels and together they produced The Communist Manifesto in 1848, for the Communist League. This piece of writing basically laid out Marx’s theory of history in short form (Coffin 623). The Communist Manifesto is mainly revolved around how society was split up into two sides, the Bourgeoisie and Proletariat. I do believe that the ideas of the Communist Manifesto did indeed look educated on paper but due to the lessons of history communism is doomed to fail in the past, present, and future. Communism did not prevail in many different countries, two of them being Berlin and the Soviet Union.

Locke’s theory of equality and natural law. What is equality? Equality is the state of being equal and the rights of status. Throughout the 1st and 2nd treatise of government Locke put emphasis on equality. Locke is a liberalist who believes that everyone should have equality in a governed society. The reason Locke feels that way is because in a society the people create the government. With the citizens doing this they give the government consent to govern them by protecting them and their property. By them giving this it means that everyone has equal rights. Locke’s view of equality wasn’t limited to the politics he expanded to religion which has equality as well. The idea of equality came from the state of nature which transition into

In his Second Treatise on Government Locke focus’ on liberalism & capitalism, defending the claim that men are by nature free and equal against the idea that God had made all people subject to a king. He argued that people have ‘natural rights’, such as the right to life, liberty, and property, that hold the foundation for the major laws of a society. He says, “…we must consider, what state all men are naturally in, and that is, a state of perfect freedom to order their actions, and dispose of their possessions and persons as they think fit.” (2nd Treatise, Chapter 2, sec 4). John Locke used this claim, that all men were naturally free and equal, for understanding the idea of a government as a result of a social contract. This is where people in the state of nature transfer some of their rights to the government in order to better guarantee the steady and comfortable enjoyment of their lives, liberty, and property.

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.

While reading the “The Second Treatise of Government,” you can notice and see that John Locke has a strong standing for civil rights as well as helping with the development of the Constitution of the United States. He states that the “consent of the governed,” is basically saying that communities are not put together by the divine right or ruled by. Paternal, familial, and political are types of powers that John Locke mentions that have all have unlike characteristics. He inspired others to believe in and want equal rights and democracy. John Locke talks about the state of nature, which basically states that no one has the power to be ruler of someone, as well as they are able to do what they want in a freely matter. In other words people are born just like anyone else that is born, and should have equally rights to property, health, and liberty, and that no one should have the power over anyone. Everyone should be able to live and enjoy his or her own freedom and wellbeing. However, the state of nature is not a guarantee to have natural laws, which could help with the protecting of one’s property. According to him having your own personal freedom was the true meaning of state of nature. John Locke thought that people were following his faith in human rationality through the declaration of Locke. John Locke states that if the government takes away from others for them to empower them then the people have right and opportunity to go against

Locke believed that men essentially were governed by the laws of nature that God created and that the government should reflect in such a

He proclaims that all men are born of the same state, but God gives privileges to certain individuals. These privileges are what rank one race, religion, culture, and gender over another. However, Locke believes respect should be given to every other man’s lives, health, liberty, and possessions (68, Ward). In Locke’s state of nature there is no government, but rather every man implements punishment accordingly to the crime committed (eg. Murder is solved by killing the murder). On the contrary, Locke’s state of nature lacked laws for men to abide by, judges to mandate disputes, and the power to execute a law or enforce a sentence within

Locke feels that this system of government is lacking in that the ruler has all control, and may not be stopped in abuses of power, which Locke fears. Humans beings decide to form a society out of the state of nature because there must be unity among men in order to protect one another, and so that they may punish offenders of the justice. Men do this under the rule of an indivdual who is selected by the people, and to whom the people give up some of their personal rights.Though humans give up certain rights to the chosen authoriy, they are entitled to certain rights reserved to them alone, which they hold within the society. All members of the society should be equal under the law of justice, and that no man is better than another, since all men are created equal, and all are equal before the laws of nature. The law of nature states that people attain property through the labour they do.The ruler or authority over a society should be an indivdual

He starts off this chapter by saying that “God having made man such a creature, that in his own judgement, it was not good for him to be alone…” (42). While saying that men should always work together, Locke also talks about how a man can also join a political society “where every one of the members hath quitted this natural power, resigned it up into the hands of the community in all cases that lished by it” (46). Here, Locke is saying how if a man wants to be a part of the political party, he must get rid of some or all the things that a state of nature provides to him. Locke believes this is how a political society should work because if a man wishes to live in a society ran off political ideas, he must give up his state of nature to live in a civil political society which does not give him more freedom or rights than any other

Locke describes his ideal form of government as limited in its capabilities, to prevent the corruption and give the people of the city-state the freedom entitled to them by the state of nature. Unlock Aristotle, Locke focuses on one aspect of freedom that he believes to be, above all others, the best representation of human freedom, which is the ability for humans to accumulate and own property. As with Aristotle it is best to look at the natural law that Locke believes drives humans to adequately understand why he believes that governments are in place in the city-state. Locke and Aristotle believe that reason is the natural law that guides humans, but Locke writes that when in the state of nature, humans are equals in every way and naturally interact and form communities. Locke states that the one right that all humans have, is to protect themselves from harm, “… every man upon this score, by the Right he hath to preserve Mankind in general, may restrain, or where it is necessary, destroy things noxious to them” (Locke, ch.2 sc.8). This statement is the foundation for why Locke believes governments are necessary. Government exists for the sole purpose of protecting each individual’s right to own property, “Political Power then I take to be a Right of making laws with Penalties of Death, and consequently all less Penalties, for the Regulating and Preserving of Property” (ch.1 sc.3). Government allows individuals their natural right to accumulate property without fear of others harming them or taking away their

     The Communist Manifesto was written by two world renowned philosophers, Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels. This book was produced in an era of great suffering and anguish of all workers in a socially distressed system. In a time when revolutions were spreading through Europe like wildfire, Marx organized his thoughts and views to produce the critical pamphlet “The Communist Manifesto”. Marx’s scrutiny illustrates his belief that unless change is to occur the constant outcome will repeatedly remain uniform. This is a novel that displays the differentiation between the Bourgeois and the Proletariat. Class relationships are defined by an era's means of production. Marx’s

In order to understand Locke’s vision for a perfect government, he first wanted to define the driving force behind men. Locke believed that there were three primary natural rights a man had: the right to life, liberty, and property. In life, Locke. being a man of God, believed that men are all created equally and no one should outrank the highest authority, God. In the matter of liberty, “a man…is absolutely free to dispose of himself or his possessions, but he isn’t at liberty to destroy himself, or even to destroy any created thing in his possession…” (3), meaning men should do everything they can to protect each others rights. Locke states, “…because we are all equal and independent, no-one ought to harm anyone else in his life, health, liberty, or possessions (3). This was the basis for Locke’s social contract theory, that men have natural laws to protect and preserve their liberties and in exchange for a government that would protect these laws, some

Locke believes that considering human nature, men are enough capable to self-rule and through the capacity to reason, individuals can be trusted to manage their natural rights and avoid problems for the good and the interest of the others. So, the government authority will be responsible to make laws that will not restrain the natural rights of individual but enforce and further enlarge them. These laws are not arbitrary, since according to Locke, nobody can transfer to the government more power than he has in himself. Such a government is a legitimate one, because its powers come from its citizens, who give their express or tacit consent to its

John Locke was a firm believer of the people. However, his beliefs went against the idea of the divine rights of kings. Locke argued that people have rights; the right to life, liberty, and property. The claim argued by Locke was that the power is always in the hands of the people and since the power is with the people they are able to select and remove anyone who does not fulfill their wishes as a community or uphold their human rights. Natural laws and natural rights were two of Locke’s political concepts; natural law can be discovered by logic alone and applies to everyone and natural rights are privileges or claims to which a person is entitled to. Locke argued these concepts because the government was not fulfilling the natural laws or rights; while being under the divine rights of kings, the monarch was able to create laws that did not apply to everyone and that were discovered by God’s chosen one (the monarch). With that being said the monarch could take advantage of the people and allow for no freedom, without any justifications, Locke however, did not believe in unfair acts or judgements; his major interest was individual liberty. In 1689 and 1690 John Locke published his book, “Treatises of Government,” the first treatise Locke stated there was no divine right for monarchs to rule, his argument was, God did not put some men above others, therefore everyone should be considered equal and their should be no higher power. In the second Treatise Locke challenges Hobbes and puts forth a liberal interpretation of the state of nature, “Man is free and in this condition all men are equal.” Locke’s concept of the state of nature is found in his second book, “Treatises of Government,” it states, “Men living according to reason, without a common superior on earth, to judge between them, is properly the state of nature.” Locke believed that once people became free, independent, and equal they would soon work together and form a social contract, leading into a free government lead by the people. Therefore the only justifications for government comes from people’s willingness to surrender some freedom and be governed. Locke put forth a very strong political campaign, the thoughts of the people being in power and

Locke regarded humans naturally in “a state of perfect freedom to order their actions” (Locke Two treatises ex.4). Along with this comes unbounded indulgence of the benefits of law of nature whereby men “has by nature a power, not only to preserve his property, that is, his life, liberty and estate, against the injuries and attempts of other men; but to judge of, and punish the breaches of that law in others” (Locke Two treatises ex.87). In addition, “it was not good for him to be alone, put him under strong obligations of necessity, convenience, and inclination to drive him into society” (Locke Two treatises ex.77). Locke views that the formation of government “derive[d] from God’s will” (Dunn 2003, p. 37) and originated from men’s need to protect their property as a collective, where a common