Synponsis - The communist manifesto was written by Marx and Engels in 1848 and has influenced the formation of governments and politics throughout modern history. The communist manifesto illustrates what a communist political economy looks like with a command economy and liberty for the workers. From the revolution in Russia to the red scare in America and the effects of modern industrialisation, Marx and Engels can be seen responsible.
'' The significance of Critical - Utopian Socialism and Communism bears an inverse relation to historical development''
Analysis
Reading the communist manifesto is significant as throughout history communism has been manipulated to become the backbone to totalitarian states such as Stalin's Soviet Russia and Mao's communist China. By reading the Communist manifesto it allows you to examine and form an opinion on pure, Raw communism.
Marx and Engels argue that the elimination of social classes cannot come about through reforms or changes in government. Rather, a revolution will be required. However, it will be different from previous revolutions: previous revolutions simply reallocated property in favor of the new ruling class. However, by the nature of their class, the members of the proletariat have no way of appropriating property. Therefore, when they obtain control they will have to destroy all ownership of private property, and classes themselves will disappear. Another important theme of communist ideology is the need to be seen as a human and not just another means of production. Marx and Engels express their anger that humans are ' all instruments of labor, more or less expensive to use according to their age and sex' with a lack of ' social validity' it seems that capitalism has turned the ' physician and the poet into its paid wage laborers'. This idea of capitalism stripping humanity from the working class is a significant theme of communism however in theory it seems the legitimacy of this is manipulated. This is because in Soviet Russia after the revolution, collectivization and the 4-year plan's created mass industrial work for the people whilst also ' gulags' were being used as forced labor camps. It seems that the communist manifesto throughout history has been manipulated to reach prosperity for the ones at the top. By physically exhausting their people Russia had begun to modernize giving Stalin a positive reputation for Russia in the battle of being a great power.
Looking from a perspective of the authors Marx and Engels it seemed the motive behind this book was the industrial revolution, the revolution caused mass struggles for the working class and inflicted bad working conditions for them whilst big businesses were thriving. Throughout Europe, it seemed human nature was being damaged for the growth of the ruling class. This is further seen as Marx shows that The lower strata of the middle class, such as tradespeople, gradually sink into the proletariat. This is because they lack sufficient capital and the fact that technology has rendered their skills no longer useful. This is becoming even more significant today as technology begins to globalize, Jobs begin to dissolve leaving the working class in a state of poverty.
The communist manifesto also challenges nationalism which isolated much of the 20th century as imperialism and militarisation grew sufficiently in places such as Germany and Britain. It states that National differences and antagonisms lose significance as industrialization increasingly standardizes life. For Engels and Marx's there is no nation when one is oppressed.
The manifesto also touches on this idea of imperialism and countries colonization, it talks about how the bourgeoisie has made the ‘barbarian and semi-barbarian countries dependent on the civilized ones’ just like it made the county dependant on the town. With the influence of the British empire and the need for other countries to reach this standard to prove themselves as a great power internationally, this interpretation seems legitimate. The ' race for Africa ' and the battle between the great powers of who could colonise first display the greed of capitalist governments . At the end of the manifesto, the attention is drawn to Germany when it mentions a ‘bourgeoisie revolution followed by a proletarian’ will be coming. This is interesting to evaluate as, by 1918, Germany was split their democracy being weakened by the threat of the left and the threat of the right. Germany's division of socialism and Fascism ultimately paved the way for the NSDP which was responsible for one of the worst genocides throughout history. It seems that this battle between the bourgeois and the proletarians will always lead to authoritarian-ship to exert control - something which Marx and Engels may disagree with.
To conclude the communist manifesto ends with the ‘ proletarians have nothing to lose but their chains’ ‘ working-class men of all countries unite!’. It seems that even today the working class face struggles with child labor, cheap employment and low pay. Many people more than ever are struggling from globalization and the fast demand for production. However, when a country is placed under communist rule and implements its ideology of a command economy the working class suffers more. With famine caused in Russia by the economy focusing on production rather than food and with gulags created it seems that communism has never worked. With North Korea today being a communist country it seems prosperity is never reached but rather suffering inflicted on all. Perhaps in an utopian world communism will be given the basis to flourish. However, in a society, today riddled with globalization, industrialization, and mass monopolies in the west it seems communism is a long way off, for the better or the worst.
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