Hello Readers,
This most probably would be my first book review, as a book reader, as for many years I didn’t prefer to write reviews as I thought that might be biased, as I believe books are not necessarily accepted or liked by everyone.
I picked this book, The Communist Manifesto, written by Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels as I was curious to know much about communism and socialism. I have seen many people talking about communism and they don’t actually know much about it.
This book originally was first published in 1848. It is considered one of the most influential political and economic texts ever written, and it has had a profound impact on the course of human history. Many states passed laws to ban the communist symbol and the book.
Humans are greedy and they usually have very little regard for how it impacts others, humans are competitive in nature and can survive, which they need to do and usually, they do that, this competitive nature doesn’t only mean adaptation but also they possess the ability to greedily compare and feel themselves as better than others. They also consider themselves as they are entitled to more than others and they try to take what they feel they’re entitled to. Marxism floats the idea that this ability of a competitive nature could be the fruit of the capitalist ideology.
The selfish misconception that induces you to transform into eternal laws of nature and of reason the social forms springing from your present mode of production and form of property.
- Karl Marx
The statement criticizes how dominant classes throughout history have justified their privilege, from ancient to feudal societies, by framing their property relations as natural and reasonable
The Manifesto begins with a declaration that all history is the history of class struggle. Marx and Engels argue that society is divided into two main classes: the bourgeoisie (the ruling class) and the proletariat (the working class). Under capitalism, the bourgeoisie owns the means of production (e.g., factories, machinery, land), while the proletariat must sell their labour to survive.
Marx and Engels argue that capitalism is inherently exploitative. The bourgeoisie profits from the labour of the proletariat, but they do not pay them the full value of their labour. This exploitation leads to a growing inequality between the two classes.
Eventually, the proletariat will rise up and overthrow the bourgeoisie. This revolution will lead to the establishment of a socialist society, in which the means of production will be owned and controlled by the working class. Socialism is a transitional stage between capitalism and communism.
Communism, according to Marxism, is a classless society in which the means of production are owned in common and everyone contributes according to their ability and receives according to their needs. Marx and Engels believed that communism was the ultimate goal of human history.
The Communist Manifesto is a complex and challenging text, but it is essential reading for anyone who wants to understand the modern world. It is a powerful and persuasive critique of capitalism, and it offers a vision of a more just and equitable society.
Here are some of the key features of The Communist Manifesto:
1. The books discussed the division of humans into classes.
2. The bourgeoisie has taken control of politics, so there is no distinction between the people and the people who are governing them. Either they’ve taken control of the state or they’ve their members in the governance.
3. Humans relate to each other in terms of cash, what they can get and receive from each other, which in turn people see each other as commodities.
4. The bourgeoisie class exploits the world and the perfect example is colonialism. The differentiating culture and character of nations are dissolving and people accept each other’s in terms of the universal civilized culture. All people have to be alike in order to be called civilized.
5. Capitalism also focuses on centralization and power, and the exploitation ideology of capitalism is justified by the political and religious solutions, this exploitation becomes socially accepted.
Stages of Revolution:
Marx explains how the communist revolution begins, which explains and describes the events by which the proletariat units, as all the exploited people become united by the facts as they all are mutually exploited, and eventually they could overthrow the ruling class, so the first stage is considered the realization of facts.
The second stage means to overthrow the bourgeoisie supremacy as proletariats can seize the means of production.
The third stage is to seize the infected (said by Marx) political system after overtaking the economic supremacy.
Arguments against the manifesto
Now let me share the pessimistic approach of the communist manifesto, as commonly shared by different critics.
1. By inverting the class hierarchy we still will have the class systems as the proletariat can take over the bourgeoisie. This indeed not only increases the productive forces but also still will be the centralized system.
2. Marx says after the takeover the system will be free, and they will be accumulating wealth not only for survival but rather than they will enjoy it.
3. The call for overthrow is actually a call for violence and provides a destructive approach towards the solution.
4. The communist approach to control the aspects of the economy is believed to be authoritarian, it will be the loss of freedom and liberty.
5. The critics believe that society will observe the death of economic efficiency, there will be no incentives for the people who work hard or are innovative, which indeed will lead to the decline of productivity and economic growth.
The Communist Manifesto has been criticized by some for its utopianism and its advocacy for violence. However, it remains one of the most important and influential political and economic texts ever written.
