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Marx And Engels: A Literary Analysis

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The Communist Manifesto was written in Europe in 1848 and is known for its upright opposition of a capitalist society. Within the text lie many in-depth reasons corroborating the need of equality among a society. The text does not only emphasize how capitalism affects economy, but also how it affects social interactions. Specifically, Marx and Engels mention the change of relations within families and between humans. It is then remarkable to read work, such as Rachel Carson’s Silent Spring, published in 1962 that exemplifies Marx’s predictions of a nation suffering from the effects of capitalism. This is done through her act of writing the book and through her explicit warnings. Marx and Engels foresee a crucial result of capitalism – environmental deterioration. Early on in book, Editor Phil Gasper attempts to introduce and clarify certain points that will be read later. One of …show more content…

He states that the “sentimental veil” of a family is no longer present and that family relations have been replaced with “monetary relations” (Marx and Engels 43). Social hierarchies across capitalist nations have influenced the same sort of social structure within the home. Both authors then explicitly believe that because the husband earns money to make sure his family has resources to live off of, he automatically has “special legal titles and privileges” (Marx and Engels 183). Marx furthers this idea by comparing the division of classes at home to those created as a result of Capitalism – where “he is the bourgeois and she is the proletariat” (183). Although capitalism may not have created this division in the home of many, this form of economy did strengthen the ideas that made men superior. Carson’s views on the effects of insecticides were not given much attention although they validity, because she was a female. Her claims in the early 1960’s were ignored. This further highlights Marx’s notion of females being

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The market revolution was a term used to describe the expansion of the marketplace that occurred in early nineteenth-century America, prompted mainly by the construction of new roads and canals to connect distant communities together for the first time. This market revolution effected all Americans, just not all received benefits from it. Before the market revolution, women were not allowed to work outside their homes. Their responsibility was to take care of the house duties and the family. They barely had any rights because the male was the dominating presence in the house or family and made all the decisions.

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Henry David Thoreau’s “Civil Disobedience” speaks to many political issues and how to handle them. He felt the government was corrupt for their continual use of slavery and that one “cannot without disgrace be associated with it” (150). On the point of the government enforcing laws, Thoreau calls for men to do nothing. By nothing, he means to not give the government power over them which would effectively be “peaceable revolution” (154). Americans complain about the way the government is run, yet they do nothing while allowing the government to do as they please.

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As explained by Marx and Engels, the nature of this subliminal domination lies in the relationship between the oppressor and the oppressed, resulting in a history marked by the class struggle. This model has manifested itself throughout history in multiple forms, through feudalism, slavery, or, more recently, the capitalist system, in which the oppressor and oppressed are the bourgeois and the proletariat, respectively. Understood to be the most revolutionary actors in history, the bourgeois built a system of complex, subliminal domination developed through the creation and perpetuation of norms and assumptions. The domination does not happen within or overtop of the established system, but rather is the system. The game of Marx and Engels’

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In the beginning of the 19th century, the Industrial Revolution caused a massive economic spike from small-scale production to large factories and mass production. Capitalism became the prevalent mode of the economy, which put all means of production in the hands of the bourgeoisie, or the upper class. Karl Marx and Frederick Engels argue that capitalism centralizes all the wealth and power in the bourgeoisie, despite the proletariat, or the working class, being the overwhelming majority of the population. The manufacturers would exploit the common proletariat and force them to would work in abysmal conditions and receive low wages, furthering the working class poverty. “The Communist Manifesto” predicts that as a result of the mistreatment

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Raisin in the Sun: Gender Roles Defied Following the event of World War Two, America during the 1950s was an era of economic prosperity. Male soldiers had just returned home from war to see America “at the summit of the world”(Churchill). Many Americans were confident that the future held nothing other than peace and prosperity, so they decided to start families. However, the 1950s was also a time of radical changes. Because most of the men in the family had departed to fight in the war, women were left at home to do the housework.

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It is argued that social inequality occurs because of the conflict between the upper-class and the working-class, or as Marx defines it, the Bourgeoisie and the Proletariat. Based on the Manifesto of the Communist Party (Marx and Engels, 1848), the divergence emerges because the aim of the Bourgeoisie is to obtain a surplus-value that is produced by the work of the Proletariat. On the other side, the Bourgeoisie provides the Proletariat with the minimum required, such as a place to live and a minimum wage, in order to keep the society under control and avoid a rebellion. However, Marx did predict a revolt of the working-class that would eventually lead to a communist regime. When it comes to applying this theoretical approach to reality, it is evident to notice that no global revolt in regards to capitalism has occurred.

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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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Marx, through his communist manifesto, believed that “modern industry has converted the little workshop of the patriarchal master into the great factory of the industrial capitalist”, taking society from one epoch of social stratification and forced labour to Capitalism, under which the inequality between the Bourgeoisie and the Proletariat grew and became more evident. On the other hand, Durkheim saw industrialisation as a mainly positive occurrence which, along with the division of labour, provided the necessary institutions are in place to maintain it, as it causes society to change and develop and thus “civilization develops because it cannot fail to develop” (Durkheim: 1933: 337). Yet despite differences in their views of the effect, both Marx and Durkheim used the process of industrialisation to explain how society progresses and how society is held together or broken, with Durkheim, in particular, looking at just how much the structure of society changes as the division of labour progresses (Morrison:

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He argues that with all the pressures of class conflict and the imbalance of capitalism there is no way that this pattern can continue without a major revolution. Marx compares capitalism to anarchy, in the sense that there is no organization within which only causes chaos. The common pattern of capitalism is a boom followed by a bust, and that bust leads to recession and social unrest. This sort of fickle economy, Marx believes, will furthermore contribute to the downfall of capitalism. This socialist revolution would, “abolish private ownership of key elements of economy and change nature of relationships from ones based on marriage and property.”

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Marx and Engels look at capitalism with seriously negative opinions. They regard the system as extremely unsuitable, and are deeply concerned with getting rid of it. In a capitalist society, capitalists own and control the main resources of production - machinery, factories, mines, capital, etc. The modern working classes, or proletariats, own only their labor. Proletariats work for the capitalists, who own the product that was produced and then sell it for a profit.

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“In ancient Rome we have patricians, knights, plebeians, slaves; in the Middle Ages, feudal lords, vassals, guild-masters, journeymen, apprentices, serfs; in almost all of these classes, again, subordinate gradations” (Manifesto, 1848). In the Communist manifesto, Marx discusses the class type of his time, bourgeois and proletariat. The bourgeois were the higher class who exploited the proletariats. They constantly strived to expand their power and wealth in society.

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In bourgeoisie society, there is living labor, but it is used to increase collected labour but in a communist society, collected labour exists but it is broadened, improved and shows appreciation and encouragement to the existence of the laborer. Communist robs no man of the authority to apposite the products of civilization. Mark speaks about different divisions of communist and literature. He mentions the reactionary socialism which includes the bourgeois socialists which are individuals who fight against the bourgeoisie society and their development of production. They are against the bourgeoisie because they see their approach of life as a hazard.

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Marx believed that the current capitalist society is separated into two classes, the Proletariat society, and Bourgeois society. The Proletarians, as perceived by Marx, are part of the working class that only possess one significant material value, that is the ability to work, or labour power. The Bourgeoise, on the other hand, is the societal class that owns the means of production and hence rule over the Proletarians. As I quote from Marx’s book, “The history of all hitherto existing society is the history of class struggles.” (Marx and Engels, 1988, p. 473)

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1225 Words | 5 Pages

Instead, “The bourgeois sees his wife a mere instrument of production.” (Marx, Chapter 1) They see their wives as mere tools, not as human beings to be valued for themselves. In addition, Marx accuses bourgeois men of treating their wives as sexual objects who can be used by anyone to satisfy their urges. He also charges that the bourgeois men of believing that they can take any woman they desire.

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Introduction In India, discriminatory attitude towards men and women have existed for generations and thus it affect the lives of both genders. Although the constitution of India has granted men and women equal rights, but gender gap still remains. Female discrimination violates human rights. These are mostly seen in family land sharing among sisters and brothers.

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