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Comparison Of Communism And Marx's Declaration Of Independence

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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,

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”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

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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

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“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

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560 Words | 3 Pages

“The goal of socialism is communism,” a quote by Vladimir Lenin that in six words may challenge to summarize Warren Lerner’s “A History of Socialism and Communism in Modern Times.” In this book Lerner provides an informational device for readers to learn and understand the history of socialism and communism in addition to the roles that theorists, activists, and humanists had in the creation of such. The book incorporates the aspects pertaining to the history including honorable mentions of the events that took place leading to and during the formation, groups that were focused on, and individual persons that helped form the ideology of what it was perceived of in the past and what it is seen as today. Lerner makes the purpose of his work to go in depth about the early beginnings of socialism and communism and how it later on ventured on past

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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.

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Nathan Patterson Professor McCarthy Core-145 Paper April 5, 2023 The Communist Manifesto by Karl Marx ad Friedrich Engles and The Problem of Poverty by Abraham Kuyper are two economically motivated works written in the 19th century. For one to understand the ideas presented in each of these works, one must understand western culture during the 19th century. The Industrial Revolution was at its peak, and the average man’s life has changed drastically over the last century. The small shops were replaced with large factories, individual craftsmen were replaced with assembly lines, and people flocked to the big cities to find work.

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Karl Marx, the revolutionary socialist whose name has virtually become synonymous with communism, published in February of 1848 The Communist Manifesto, a political pamphlet clarifying socialist values. In the pamphlet, Marx stamps the bourgeoisie as an impediment to equality, highlighting their oppression towards the proletariats as the bourgeoisie continually shove them into poorer and poorer territory. As a socialist seeking equality, Marx consequently rejects the middle-class values and political agendas of the bourgeoisie, preferring instead to incite the inevitable uprising of the proletariat. Class conflicts between the bourgeoisie and proletariat characterized the Industrial Revolution. The bourgeoisie created a system of capitalism

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762 Words | 4 Pages

In 1848, German philosophers Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels published what would become one of the world’s greatest influential political pieces, The Communist Manifesto. This piece of literature detailed the theories behind communism, an idea where all members of a society are equal. Decades after publication, the ideals affected two countries: Russia (in the late nineteenth century) and China (in the early twentieth century), where communism grew as a result of certain events. The circumstances that led to the growth of communism in Russia and in China were similar in some way, but different in another. While both Russia and China experienced poverty, which led to increased support for communism, Russia experienced World War I, which led to the rise of Vladimir

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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.

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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.

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

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2297 Words | 10 Pages

Adam Smith and Karl Marx are amongst the most influential economists of the last few centuries and are noted for their revolutionary contributions to the world of economics. While Adam Smith is known as an advocate of the capitalist school of thought, Karl Marx is recognized as the father of a politically opposing economic system: Communism. Although both these notable philosophers vastly contributed to the field of classical economics, their ideologies have always known to clash with one another. While Smith proposed the idea of the free market system where all individuals were given the liberty to follow their competitive nature and produce goods without any government intrusion, Marx strongly opposed the idea of a laissez-faire society and believed that Socialism would ultimately replace Capitalism. Marx believed that the capitalist system was inherently flawed since it was meant to only profit the rich and exploit the poor.

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This may sound like a cold war version of an essay, but the comparison between capitalism and communism is inherently different… Yet there are linkable aspects and similar trains of thoughts throughout. Marx viewed capitalism as unfair and believed that workers should be paid more than what the good is worth based on their time put in. Smith didn’t care about this as much, he cared about the morals and stability of the economy and figured that workers working towards their self-interest would always lead to a better economy thanks to the “invisible hand” ideology. Marx was a radical advocate of State or Government involvement to ensure an equal political suture among the classes.

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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”

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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.

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