Karl Marx's critique on capitalism is the major thrust in his Communist Manifesto. Written over 150 years ago in 1848, a period of history with great upheaval, it continues to be an important work on political economy, especially as we enter the dawn of the global economy. Politicians, business leaders, acamdemics and students of very different persuasions find the manifesto a basic and essential treatise to be understood. It has had a tremendous effect throughout history and will continue to influence the future of mankind. A Collector's Edition.
With the help of Friedrich Engels, German philosopher and revolutionary Karl Marx wrote The Communist Manifesto (1848) and Das Kapital (1867-1894), works, which explain historical development in terms of the interaction of contradictory economic forces, form many regimes, and profoundly influenced the social sciences.
German social theorist Friedrich Engels collaborated with Karl Marx on The Communist Manifesto in 1848 and on numerous other works.
The Prussian kingdom introduced a prohibition on Jews, practicing law; in response, a man converted to Protestantism and shortly afterward fathered Karl Marx.
Marx began co-operating with Bruno Bauer on editing Philosophy of Religion of Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel (see Democritus and Epicurus), doctoral thesis, also engaged Marx, who completed it in 1841. People described the controversial essay as "a daring and original piece... in which Marx set out to show that theology must yield to the superior wisdom." Marx decided to submit his thesis not to the particularly conservative professors at the University of Berlin but instead to the more liberal faculty of University of Jena, which for his contributed key theory awarded his Philosophiae Doctor in April 1841. Marx and Bauer, both atheists, in March 1841 began plans for a journal, entitled Archiv des Atheismus (Atheistic Archives), which never came to fruition.
Marx edited the newspaper Vorwärts! in 1844 in Paris. The urging of the Prussian government from France banished and expelled Marx in absentia; he then studied in Brussels. He joined the league in 1847 and published.
Marx participated the failure of 1848 and afterward eventually wound in London. Marx, a foreigner, corresponded for several publications of United States. He came in three volumes. Marx organized the International and the social democratic party.
People describe Marx, who most figured among humans. They typically cite Marx with Émile Durkheim and Max Weber, the principal modern architects.
Bertrand Russell later remarked of non-religious Marx, "His belief that there is a cosmic ... called dialectical materialism, which governs ... independently of human volitions, is mere mythology" (Portraits from Memory, 1956).
The first part of The Communist Manifesto was very interesting. He talks about a Europe that has changed rapidly - new means of production, new markets for consumption, "manufacturing" of new needs, global interdependence and cosmopolitanism and the rise of the middle class (the bourgeois). Of all the historical/philosophical texts/essays I have read so far, this is the first document that didn't need to be seen exclusively through a historical lens.
The part where he talks about what Communism is - that's a bit crazy. He talks about dissolution of family, children as wards of state (not in so many words though, I may be misreading here and be happy to be corrected) and "communities of women". But an interesting upshot of this argument is that, he says, children should be education not privately but publicly by society where the society decides what is to be taught. This wasn't so bad, was it?
The last part of the Manifesto is quite interesting too - it talks about the different proletariat parties/movements of the time and how Communism relates to them and works with them to accomplish its short term goals while paving way for the long term goals. I had no idea that Socialism and Communism was already such an established idea and took so many different forms in so many countries.
An extremely germane read if you are a political science minor or major or just interested in economic theory. I've read it many, many times and still find it fascinating. Even if you find Marxism repugnant, I still recommend you read this.
Communist Manifesto is the sum of the Marx's and Engels' thought in general with regard to history, politics and economy. In the first chapter, Marx analyses the historical and sociological structure of the industrial society. In the next chapters, he suggests how the bourgeise will create its own gravedigger, proletariat and sharpens the class division and profanes humanitarian values.
Communist manifesto can be seen as the program of the emancipation and struggle of the working class. It is romoured to have been one of the most read books so far. In spite of failures in Russia and China, Marx's sociological, economical and historical analyses in this booklet conserves its importance. "Workers of all countries, unite"
Besides the historical relevance of the text, many passages in the Manifesto are quite lyrical. Even if one doesn’t champion Marxist thought, the Manifesto’s accessible language and literariness make it a joy to read.
I figure there are three possibilities here for what seems so very poorly reasoned and even less adroitly argued:
1) Time and the widespread adoption of what they call Conservative Socialism has done a disservice to the arguments. The world has moved on.
2) People were shockingly naive when they read this, but the bourgeois triumph over the old order was fragile enough that a few forceful personalities could drown it in the bath before it could mature. cf Russia, 1917.
3) There are two Communist Manifestos, and I just read the hoax version created by Tories with the express purpose of making Communists and their Socialist successors look like berks.
Don't misunderstand, I'm entirely empathic to the classes they were trying to free, and contemptuous of the kind of people who read this and, as per an earlier review, "think of Obama". Those people are people who've never questioned their own privilege.
But the notion that we should cast down whole classes of people and oppress them because society has conspired through commission or indifference to keep down the working poor, that's a wilful swipe at the very humanity of the people it was supposed to elevate. Is it any wonder that it created the conditions in which strong willed sociopaths could rise up and discredit the entire progressive movement by preying on the righteous anger of the oppressed and just nudging it gently off the edge into insanity?
I don't rate it low because of political beliefs. I rate it lowly because even as sympathetic as I am to its cause, it rang hollow and tarnished to me; entirely unconvincing.
I hate to give it 4 stars, but it's not an endorsement of the philosophy itself. It's important to understand the planks of Communism, otherwise you cannot identify Communism when it infiltrates your government. I find Communism abhorrent and dangerous, but it's absolutely necessary to read the proposal and methods to enslave people under this system. This is a must read and a highly recommended personal reference book.
I am very glad to have read this. I gained a much better understanding of communism and the effect it could have on a nation. While I certainly do not agree with this radical thinking, I gained insight into why the authors felt it necessary. Labor unions were necessary at one time in America to protect the working class from the abuses of greedy company owners. Likewise, I can see why Marx felt something radical needed to be done to protect the working class in 19th century Europe.
Good thoughts on the weaknesses of capitalism but horrifically terrible solutions. Marx also has a penchant for inane phrases like "Communism abolishes eternal truths." Yeah, let me know how that goes. All that aside, the weaknesses in capitalism that he highlights should not be brushed aside in the same way that other things he wrote should be.
Although I am not a Communist I must admit that this Manifesto is one of the most amazingly written pieces of literature I ever read. Persuasive is an understatement.