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Communism: The Communist Manifesto By Karl Marx

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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 for 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 …show more content…

For Marx, Communism is the perfect alternative to liberal and capitalist democracies. Marx describes Communism as being the “affairs of the people” (Marx Karl, On the Jewish Question, 63), since the detachment between the state/government and the people is abolished. On the contrary, the community will lead the people. In Marx’s Communism there is also no division of labor, and consequently no division of classes, instead everyone will be equal. In capitalist and liberal democracies, since men cannot change their conditions whenever they want, men are obliged to continue the work that they first performed. In capitalist societies workers cannot choose the work they would like to perform, but they perform a job only because in this way they are securing a wage, whereas in communism workers can choose on a daily basis what type of work they would like to perform, and they can change it every day, since in communism there is no “exclusive sphere of activity”. (Marx, Karl. “The German Ideology.” Karl Marx: Selected Writings. Ed. David McLellan. 2nd ed. Oxford: Oxford UP, 2000. 185. Print.). Moreover, Marx claims that communism leads to the emergence of the “social power”. (The German Ideology, page 185) which entails a natural form of cooperation between the individuals. Thus, Marx believes that Communism is the best type of government that a society can …show more content…

Men are guided by self-interest and so they will always pursue their own benefits first, and they will help others only if it is in their convenience. Marx states that men cooperate naturally through “social power”, but this power can also lead men to fight, since individuals that have different ideas will tend to argue with each other. Marx also talks about the power of the people, which is one of the principles on which democracy is founded. However, people do not always know what is best for them and for the society as a whole since, in order to govern, you do not need only experience, but you also need political and economic knowledge. People’s power would be good initially, but as soon as the first problems emerge then a community would not be able to efficiently decide on the best course of action. When problems develop, people will try to solve them according to their own interests, so there will be the necessity of a supranational authority which creates new laws and then executes them. Without such authority, the community would not be able to come to an agreement and especially they would not be able to enforce the laws. Marx’s communism does not take into account also immigration. In conclusion, communism as described by Marx would represent a perfect type of government, where the citizens have the power, and where everybody is equal. However, this does not represent the truth. Men

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From 1790 to the late 1800’s, the Industrial Revolution recreated industry as Europe knew it with ground-breaking inventions and mass-producing factories. The Industrial Revolution widened the social gap with the bourgeoisie on a pedestal and the proletariat baring the weight of being the work class that would make the Industrial Revolution happen; this strife would lead to many riots and revolutions across Europe as many men like Karl Marx would develop solutions to the proletarian’s problems such as communism. The question arose of how the proletariat were to rebel against the bourgeoisie. The fact was that a revolution was inevitable.

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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.

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Communism Communists strive for extermination of social class and inequality through equal distribution of collective output. The government is authorized to control and make decisions. All means of production and property are occupied centrally, which is in opposition to capitalism. The mere existence of private property ownership, free markets as well as social class are abolished and replenished with collective ownership of means of production and redistribution. In due cause, the significance of government declines due to social equality, establishing a stateless society (Harold, 1968).

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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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He believed that “the people” should own the means of production and would not have to fear exploitation. This thinking had an impact on many societies, particularly the USSR (Union of Soviet Socialist Republics) in the twentieth century. In the “Communist Manifesto” Marx writes, “They (the communists) openly declare that their ends can be attained (achieved) only by the forcible overthrow of all existing social conditions. Let the ruling class tremble at a communist revolution. The proletarians have nothing to lose but their chains.

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Andre Abi Haidar PSPA 210 INTRODUCTION It is always difficult to write about and discuss Karl Marx, or more importantly the applications of Marx’s theories, due to the fact that he inspired and gave rise to many movements and revolutionaries, not all of which follow his theories to the point. Although Marx tends to be equated with Communism, it might not seem righteous to blame him for whatever shortcomings occurred when his theories were put to the test; Marx passed away well before the revolution in Russia, and he played no role in the emergence of the totalitarian regime at the time. When discussing Marx, however, Vladimir Lenin is one of the biggest highlights when it comes to studying the outcomes of Marx’s theories.

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Foundations of Sociology (SOC10010) Mid-Term Essay: Question: ‘’Discuss three main ideas from the Communist Manifesto.’’ Answer: In this essay I have been asked to discuss three main ideas from the ‘’Communist Manifesto’’, written by Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels. To do this I will summarise three main ideas from the text and critically analyse them.

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Eventually, if the proletariat proved to be successful in regard to ending capitalism, all citizens would be considered equal. Equality also refers to private property, which Karl Marx wanted to cease. He believed that communism is the “abolition of private property”, completely taking private property out of the government’s hands. Since most production of goods and services are done on private property, the power shifted from the government owning the means of production to the community as a whole. The work was divided between the people by each individual’s abilities, while each member of the community reaped the benefits from the other member’s work.

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The three main ideas from the Communist Manifesto The Communist Manifesto, written by Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels, had little to no influence when it was first published in 1848 for the Communist League. However, soon after Marx and Engel’s other writings on socialism became published it grew in popularity, and was considered a standard text of the time (Brians, 2006). With Marx’s radical ideas, and Engels’ thorough writing, they were able to convey how they were individual of the other socialists of the time and elaborate on their idea socialism and how it would inevitably be achieved. The three main ideas from The Communist Manifesto are class conflict, ephemeral capitalism, and inevitable revolution.

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Karl Marx talks about the role of communism and his conjecture of underlying this type of revolution. He speaks of two different class struggles, the "Bourgeoisie and Proletarians". Bourgeoisie are the people with authority, the ones who own production and are bosses of wage labor while the proletariat are the individuals with no authority, no ownership and are giving up their own power to the Bourgeoisie in order to survive. Societies began to separate and became hostile and aggressive classes. It all became about social ranking because of the increase and need of production.

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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

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Karl Marx was a German philosopher and economist in the 18th century. He is known for his book the Communist Manifesto that was published in 1848. Marx believed that a revolution of the working classes would over throw the capitalist order and creates a classless society. The Industrial Revolutions led to the proletarianization; his partner Friedrich Engels explained why the changes created by the proletarianization of the worker would develop into a huge problem for industrial societies. I do believe that Karl Marx’s vision of communism in the Communist Manifesto could re-emerge as a popular and workable philosophy of social, economic, and political organization.

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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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