The Communist Manifesto Essay, Research Paper

The Communist Manifesto

By

Karl Marx

Also words

by

Friedrich Engles and A JP Taylor

Volumes and volumes could be written about communism, but in fact, the actual Communist Manifesto is a mere forty pages. Karl Marx, the principal former of communism as we know it now, later wrote many books fulfilling the outline or skeleton of communism, which is the Communist Manifesto. Communism cannot be summed up in one sentence, but it can be summed up in ten main ideas, sort of like the Ten Commandments of true communism. We know communism did not work, because of one main reason: it defies human nature and human rights.

Although communism in different countries and years might differ, the following is an outline of what is done to have a communist government as described in length in the Communist Manifesto:

1. All private property has to be annihilated and turned into public property. This means that all property will go to the government (who knows how greedily they will use it) and distributed fairly within all the masses. Later on this part also included food, clothes and personal items to be distributed evenly in rations like the property was, but Marx did not say this in his manifesto.

2. A large progressive income tax. This made it so that everyone receives almost the same income; of course this does not include the aristocracy, which Marx was not thinking of?or was he?

3. This one is simple: abolition of right of inheritance. Basically the money goes to the government once again and they are suppose to use it to benefit the country.

4. Property of emigrants and rebels is taken away, and sent to the government who are meant to use it for the benefit of the country.

5. All of the people?s money in the country is in one national bank and in the hands of the state. Who knows what might happen to the money in the bank?

6. Communication and transportation is in the hands of the state. This basically means no free speech; the government takes the right to censor any publications and thoughts, like ones against the government. Marx would not be able to write this manifesto without this right. It also means that the state will censor where you go and leaving the country, like in bad times.

7. Basically what Marx meant here, is that there is always improvement and progress agriculturally, and that agriculture and farming should be very important. This happens in a normal country, but I think Marx is trying to get people on his side (like our president does often instead of just improving the country, it is basically doing things to make certain people happy). Marx might also be just a little WACO.

8. All men have to work, and establishment of industrial armies. Even Marx himself noted that laziness might overtake the populous, but he then said that they would be able to undertake the laziness and become better people. Marx obviously does not understand human nature.

9. The destruction or abolition of the distinction between town and country by a combination of agriculture and manufacturing industries and, also by evenly distributing the population across the country. There is one problem here, for instance, the people living in Siberia might revolt on this matter because of the unfavorable location that they have to live in. The point of this is to help make fewer conflicts between townsmen and countrymen.

10. Free education in public schools and elimination of child labor. When learning in school, you also learn about industrial production. This means that while learning normal school stuff, you also learn an occupation.

When all this is done in every civilized country and it is running smoothly (yeah right)

?WORKING MEN OF ALL COUNTRIES, UNITE!?

(Then, after all this is completed we have a perfect world or Utopia, just what Marx wanted, but life is about conflicts and problems)

There are many flaws and problems considering human nature and human rights in Marx?s Communist Manifesto. First of all, a Utopian society is impossible and it is just a dream by Thomas Moore. To think that one day we would reach Utopia is ridiculous, part of human life is conflicts, or what would life be, the Brady Bunch. First, people like to own their own property and not have share it with the world. They also like having their own family contrary to whatever Marx says about have one big universal family because the only point of a family is for reproduction. Second, the reason people work, is to earn a living. What do they earn in a communist society-the right to share their life and existence with the rest of the nation? People are lazy; Marx obviously does not understand this because everything was always given to him one way or another him. Third, numbers three through five (government takes money and land from inheritance, emigrants, rebels and money in national bank) all have to do with the government taking the people?s money and using it for their benefit instead of helping the country like how Marx wanted it to happen. Fourth, in number six, Marx denies himself the right of free speech, freedom and transportation in communism. Marx was kindheartedly trying to help the poor and working class and it is unfortunate that such an influential person was so misinformed.

I do not understand why people listened and followed Marx. People listen to a man who does know much about history or does not look back to events in time. He was a member of the Bourgeoisie in Germany (mainly because his good friends Engles supported him) who barely worked a day in his life except a job as a journalist for very little of his life. He spent most of his time inside and did not see how humans worked, in the streets and markets etc. Marx clearly did not understand human nature and the rights that were given to humans when they were born. Some of these are the rights of freedom, ownership of property and to work harder and get more-like Capitalists, not Communists. Human nature includes striving to be the best if something is at stake and being lazy when there is no incentive. Marx?s whole manifesto shows a man who does not know a thing about human nature and any man who followed him either also did not have a clue about human nature, or was very selfish and wanted to become dictator of all the masses.

Communism is unlike socialism in Europe in the 19th century because Socialism then was supposedly, to help the proletariat (working class), but in the end benefits the bourgeoisie (middle class: lawyer, banker, shopkeeper, etc.). Socialism benefits the bourgeois by taking the grudge away from the working class against the bourgeois and makes a barely higher income tax and kind of tricks the working class into thinking that socialism is helping them. Communism is made for the working class. Any rich man like Friedrich Engles (Karl Marx?s only long-turn and best friend) is either a hypocrite or a very kind person trying to help poor humans. If Engles were not a hypocrite in communism, his money would go straight to the government and leave him with the same wealth as a factory worker even though he might work much harder. Engles is kind of like Ted Turner because both are rich and favoring a government for the poor and working class. If the left-wing had a revolution and won, Ted Turner would lose a lot of money because of heavy income taxes and having to pay workers who did not even work for him anymore, and I?m sure he is not for that. Ted Turner might want to be the government in a socialist country and maybe having Jane Fonda as his secretary, but not as a normal businessman.

One of the main problems that defies human nature is that someone will always want to be the ruler or leader and in this case, the government would take all the average non-aristocratic people?s money and become very rich and form the two classes of a communist society. The first is the bourgeoisie and the workers, who make the same pay and second, the aristocracy or government. They take the people?s money and use it for themselves, which destroys the economy. In the end, the government looks almost like feudalism again. First, there is the dictator or king, and under him his nobles and vassals, which are the rest of the government workers, who are also aristocracy. Finally there are the peasants, workers, businessmen who are all equal and have no class struggles anymore and hardly realizes what just happened; both bourgeoisie and the workers are equal but now they lost there money and fair lives to the aristocracy, who are taking all their money. Take Russia for example; in the end the country is in shambles and there are a few very rich and greedy people and all the rest are practically starving.

Karl Marx had based his ideas and thoughts around those of Hegel and the Hegelian dialect, Sismondi, Babeuf, Saint-Simon, Robert Owen and Thomas Moore. These predecessors influenced Marx as he has influenced his disciples. This might be an extreme idea, but maybe all along Karl Marx had a plan to become absolute monarch or dictator with his background and belief in his predecessors. His manifesto takes freedom and free speech away from the people and also limits their travel, just so the dictator or Marx could have full, control, sort of like Iraq with Sudan Housaine.

Many editions were printed out of The Communist Manifesto in the 19th century in different languages. Each one instigated new revolts, which most of the time were not very successful but started compromises for the working class. Some of today?s unions are based upon the ideas in the Communist Manifesto, because of course communism was for the working class. Even though communism does not exist in any countries any more except a few Oriental countries, it has helped and inspired many forms of working alliances like the Farmers Alliance, the National Grange and things like cooperatives. The Manifesto has inspired much corruption, but at the same time has also helped us, but the bottom line is that some of the ideas are against human nature and rights and human nature is not communism, but capitalism.

Bibliography

the Communest Manifesto

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