ipl-logo

Comparison Of Communism And Marx's Declaration Of Independence

1024 Words5 Pages

When examining both the Declaration of Independence and the Communist Manifesto, many questions surrounding human nature and government arise. When ideas of such stark opposition surround similar topics, an opportunity for deep analysis presents itself. This situation can be seen when exclusively examining Jefferson’s and Marx’s ideals regarding the economic structure of America, but also broadly on their social postulates. Both social contracts are deeply unique, even down to their basic architecture. The theory today that is under the alias of the American Dream deeply values the epitomes of liberty and opportunity, while Marx’s Communism is based on the notion of supreme equality. This irreconcilable difference may seem minute, but it has caused the two ideas to become complete adversaries, and a stigma of disgrace in Americans from any mention of Communism. The true notion of Communism, in the sense of Marx writings, is not meant to be …show more content…

Adam Smith, commonly referred to as the Father of Capitalism, would have focused specifically on the mention of the “pursuit of Happiness”, while Karl Marx would have based his structure on the mention on “Liberty”. Modern capitalism, as practiced in America, is centralized around the possibility to better oneself and one’s situation, which would ultimately bring what is perceived to be happiness. Meanwhile, Communism aligns itself with liberty, because under such a system, no man would ever be oppressed by inequality, and as such every man would be, in a sense,

Show More
Related

  • Communism During The Salem Witch Trials

    732 Words  | 3 Pages

    While communism is meant to help achieve equality for everyone it has been proven we can’t achieve a perfect communist state. Communism first originated from the Greek idea during the Golden Age that harmony and bliss would be achieved without owning private property (Beer, "Origins of Communism"). Lopez 2 It later than resurfaced around 1848 when Karl Marx published his book The Communist Manifesto. During Karl Marx’s time he wanted the proletariat, the working class, to overthrow the government due to bourgeoisie, the high class, having more opportunities and unfair advantages.

    Read More

  • Essay On Antebellum Reform

    1216 Words  | 5 Pages

    “Socialism” and “communism” was introduced into America’s political lingo when the reformers tried to own useful property together as a community instead of private individuals. Several Utopian societies attempted to change traditional gender roles and

    Read More

  • Rise Of Communism In The 1950's

    539 Words  | 3 Pages

    Popularized by Marx (1875), the saying most associated with communism: “From each according to his ability, to each according to his need” (Part I.), strikes fear in the heart of conservative America. Given America’s history with McCarthyism, some Americans still believe that there is subversive effort on the part of the government to turn America into a communist state. These fears once permeated nearly every corner of American politics and social philosophy, with elements of the same fear resurfacing whenever an effort is made to increase in redistribution and strengthening the American welfare state. It is arguable that, because of America’s nearly decade-long fear of communist infiltration and because the welfare state has been associated with socialism and communism, the level and degree of redistribution will continue to be checked by those fears for

    Read More

  • Compare And Contrast Abigail Williams And Joseph Mccarthy

    747 Words  | 3 Pages

    ”The great difference between our western Christian world and the atheistic Communist world is not political, gentlemen, it is moral. For instance, the Marxian idea of confiscating the land and factories and running the entire economy as a single enterprise is momentous. Likewise, Lenin’s invention of the one-party police state as a way to make Marx’s idea work is hardly less

    Read More

  • Similarities Between Fascism And Communism

    1502 Words  | 7 Pages

    Meanwhile, the theory of Communism was theoretically developed by Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels in 1848, with the writing of “The Communist Manifesto” (Heywood, Politics 41). Communism is a system in which all economics and politics are synthesized into one classless state which is most commonly associated with common ownership and people 's leadership by a political party. Although both ideologies coincide in a few aspects when in practice, Communism and Fascism feature different approaches to property and society. Similarities between Fascism and Communism First, under both despotic systems, the state controls the production system, industry, and trade.

    Read More

  • Communist Manifesto By Karl Marx: A Comparative Analysis

    1595 Words  | 7 Pages

    Wealth of Nations by Adam Smith and “Communist Manifesto” by Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels both address selfishness and its effect on society through social and economic means. In Wealth of Nations, Smith defines wealth as the productivity of a nation and the aspects of a commercial society. “The Communist Manifesto” criticizes the idea behind a capitalist society and talks about the class struggle between the working class and the owners of the means of production. Wealth of Nations and “The Communist Manifesto” both analyze how the selfishness of people affects society, however while Wealth of Nations claims selfishness causes increased productivity and increases wages for all, “The Communist Manifesto” argues that selfishness causes injustice

    Read More

  • Comparing The Communist Manifesto By Friedrich Engels And Karl Marx

    309 Words  | 2 Pages

    Although Friedrich Engels and Karl Marx penned the Communist Manifesto in 19th Century Germany, the ideology in their work is not irrelevant in the 21st Century United States. In this text, Engels and Marx mention the veritable subjugation of Eastern society by Western capitalist nations (Engel and Marx, 17), and to this day, the US maintains the relevance of Marx and Engel’s claim in its relations with Eastern nations. The bourgeoisie society is a capitalist society, as is the US.

    Read More

  • Communism In Kurt Vonnegut's Harrison Bergeron

    1311 Words  | 6 Pages

    Communism can be summarized in this sleek maxim, “From each according to his ability, to each according to his need” (“What is Communism”). Communism as we know it today is based on the writings of two German economists, Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels (“What is Communism”). In their book “The Communist Manifesto” published in 1848 they argued that the problems in society were caused by an unequal distribution of wealth (“What is Communism”). In order to obtain happiness for all the distinctions between rich and poor must be abolished, since the rich will not give up their possessions the poor must rebel (“What is Communism”). In the short story “Harrison Bergeron” written by Kurt Vonnegut Jr. it portrays a future America in which all are equal.

    Read More

  • The Communist Manifesto: Comparing Marx And Engels

    1517 Words  | 7 Pages

    The overview of the Communist Manifesto draws attention to the type of words used by the authors in comparison to the textbook. It should be noted that Marx and Engels use very dramatic words in place of simpler terms. Our secondary source describes The Manifesto as a “radical critique of capitalism,” and about the “unbearable oppression of industrial workers.” It is not an arguable fact that the Manifesto critiques capitalism, yet Marx and Engels do not call the system by name. Instead, they describe a society in which money and the market control all aspects.

    Read More

  • Karl Marx And Liberal Democracy

    1891 Words  | 8 Pages

    Marx saw capital and liberal democracies as the fundamental reasons for the low standards of living and the low social conditions of workers. Karl Marx in particular is especially concerned with the political assumptions behind these two ideologies. According to him, these two types of government should be replaced by communism, since communism would provide a more equal and socially just society. Although this statement may seem unusual, since we tend to associate communism with Stalin and China, the type of communism implemented in these countries is different from the communism that Marx and Engels envisaged in their Communist Manifesto. Marx and Engels’ vision of communism is based on the principle of equality among the people and freedom

    Read More

  • Communism: Karl Marx And Freidrich Engels

    284 Words  | 2 Pages

    His main belief was capitalism was the reason for divide and inequality. Many powerful leaders turned to Marx's

    Read More

  • How Did Karl Marx Symbolize Capitalism

    396 Words  | 2 Pages

    Karl Marx, who now symbolizes communism, called for the rejection of capitalism’s essence, private property, and the rise of the workers over the capitalists. Despite his criticism

    Read More

  • The Role Of Political Ideology In Political Science

    2148 Words  | 9 Pages

    One characteristic is that two motives are collective ownership and having a planned economy (Johnson). A communist leader believes that each individual should work to their capability and receive according to their needs. One interesting characteristic is that in a communist society there is no class hierarchy (Johnson). According to Johnson, Karl Marx is considered to be the founding father of a communist political ideology (Johnson). “Karl Marx is today the most famous early theoretician of communism, but he did not invent the term or the basic social ideals, which he mostly borrowed and adapted from the less systematic theories of earlier French utopian socialists -- grafting these onto a philosophical framework Marx derived from the German philosophers Hegel and Feuerbach, while adding in a number of economic theories derived from his reinterpretation of the writings of such early political economists such as Adam Smith, Thomas Malthus, and David Ricardo”

    Read More

  • Karl Marx And Class Conflict

    1486 Words  | 6 Pages

    Karl Marx (1818-1883) considered himself not to be a sociologist but a political activist. However, many would disagree and in the view of Hughes (1986), he was ‘both – and a philosopher, historian, economist, and a political scientist as well.’ Much of the work of Marx was political and economic but his main focus was on class conflict and how this led to the rise of capitalism. While nowadays, when people hear the word “communism”, they think of the dictatorial rule of Stalin and the horrific stories of life in a communist state such as the Soviet Union, it is important not to accuse Marx of the deeds carried out in his name.

    Read More

  • Marxism In The Early 20th Century

    1243 Words  | 5 Pages

    Americans fought the infiltration of communism (e.g. Marxist-Leninism and Stalinism) by making the word ‘communist’ synonymous with ‘criminal’. For fear of being labeled a communist and prosecuted by the U.S. court system, individuals were discouraged from sharing their radical ideas, which was a tactic Stalin used to enforce his ideas and the acceptance of socialism as the only true form of government. Stalin wrote about the downfall of capitalism in “Dialectical and Historical Materialism,” stating: “These irreconcilable contradictions between the character of the productive forces and the relations of production make themselves felt in periodical crisis of overproduction, when the capitalists, finding no effective demand for their goods owing to the ruin of the mass of the population which they themselves have brought about, are compelled…[to] destroy productive forces at a time when millions of people are forced to suffer unemployment and starvation… because there is an overproduction of good. This means that the capitalist relations of production have ceased to correspond to the state  productive forces of society… capitalism is pregnant with revolution, whose mission it is to replace the existing capitalist ownerships of the means of

    Read More

More about Comparison Of Communism And Marx's Declaration Of Independence

Open Document