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Posted On:
07/05/2007 3:00 pm
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People of the world Unite
Mood:
 Other
“The Communist Manifesto is arguably one of the greatest works of non-fiction of the nineteenth century along with Charles Darwin Origin of Species. Wrote the “Los Angels Times”. The Communist Manifesto has been stated to be one of the most important political documents in history. However, if this is the case, were Marx and Engels right in their ideologies and beliefs? Or is it that there views or concepts have no relevance in the world we live in today. Could the Communist Manifesto be as relevant today as when it was written in 1848. Together Marx and Engels have gotten to watch capitalism from its earliest stages and its beginnings, to see capitalisms essential characteristics and core dynamics take root in society. They had the very uncanny predictions that capitalism would split society into two social classes and about the many dynamitic changes it would leave in its wake. They had also said that capitalism would cause an epidemic in the world that was unbeknownst until this time. It has to be mentioned though, just because Marx and Engels said that society would be split into these two classes it didn’t mean that there wasn’t going to be other classes existing within the two. Just that this was in the end going to be the largest social cleavage. The splitting of society into these cleavages would then lead to the bourgeois (the owners and controllers of the means of production) and the proletarian (the working class) to be exploited by the bourgeois. Many argue though that capitalism has changed since Marx’s day and his criticisms are no longer relevant. That the working class is disappearing, also claiming that the living standards have improved. To a certain extent this is very much true, but does not mean that capitalism has come past the exploitations of the working class. It can be said that there have been improvements in many countries around the globe, yet there are still so many poor and 3rd world countries that don’t share in the same basic rights as citizens in the developed countries. These are all things that are still very much relevant in our society today. Although there is the odd rhetorical exaggeration, or even an odd prediction that has gone wrong in the Communist Manifesto, much of what Marx and Engels wrote is still relevant today and some of the ideas can still be used to help better society. They got to see capitalism take root around the world and see the changes it began to make.
For this precise reason that Marx and Engels where alive at the time when what is now known as modern capitalism was still in its infancy, they were both able to analyze the system in such way that seizes the essential characteristics and core dynamics of capitalism. When the manifesto was written, capitalism was established in a relatively few places. Western Europe and North America being the important ones in this case. Marx and Engels envisioned that capitalism would eventually grow to become a global system. The need of a constantly expanding market for its product chases the bourgeoisie over the whole surface of the globe. It must nestle everywhere, settle everywhere, establish connections everywhere. I19/ pg44 What they are trying to say here is that in the search of new markets, cheap labor and the constant need of more natural resources drive capitalism around the globe. This is one of the fist statements referring to what we now call “globalization”. The statement in the manifesto mentioned that the bourgeoisies has through its exploitation of the world market given a cosmopolitan character to production and consumption in every country. I20/44.pg. The more that this trends carries on, the less differences are found between the working class in different nations. Due to this wide spread of all market resources and the relative ease at which natural resources could be exploited, production of goods had reached new levels. Marx foresaw this eventually leading to vast problems in capitalist society.
What they had predicted when this happened in the manifesto was that in these crises a great part not only of the existing products, but also of the previously created productive forces, are periodically destroyed. In these crisis there breaks out an epidemic that in all earlier epochs would have seemed an absurdity-the epidemic of overproduction. I27/pg47-48. The thought that they are trying to put across is that in pre-capitalist society crisis resulted in the shortage of the vitally important goods. Where as under capitalism for the first time the typical result will be of producing too much of those vital goods. This in the end will cause millions to lose their jobs and are then placed into poverty, even though there is still a demand for those vital goods to be continuously produced. For the first time in history there will be enough of the valuable goods for everyone to survive, but yet many people will go with out these vital goods. Instead what happens these valuable resources are wasted or destroyed until it eventually becomes profitable for the company to invest in new production again. This can only lead to more and ever more sever crisis to happen again and again in the future. Thus cementing the relation of the two social classes that Marx and Engels stated that society would split itself into two.
To Marx and Engels through all of history there were always class struggles. The history of all hitherto existing society is the history of class struggles. I1/pg39. In the manifesto it is stated that capitalist society was going to be broken down into two classes, the bourgeoisie, and the proletariat. Society as a whole is more and more splitting up into two great hostile camps, into two great classes directly facing each other: bourgeoisie and proletariat. I5/pg40. The dividing of these two classes where going to be different then any other cleavage in history. All previous historical movement were movements of minorities, or in the interest of minorities. The proletarian movement is the self-conscious independent movement of the immense majority, in the interest of the immense majority. I49/pg.55. This is not to say that all classes apart from the bourgeoisie and the proletariat will vanish they will still remain but what communism is trying to accomplish is equality. They do not speak of a feminist movement as we know it but do touch on the subject of equality for women. That the real point aimed at is to do away with the status of women as mere instruments of production. I47/pg66. Where is saying that Communist want to do away with the idea of women being property. Their main objective is to have and maintain a full equality for both women and men. The idea that Karl Marx was trying to get at though, yes there maybe other smaller classes but capitalism would place the majority on the one side with the proletarian and the minority with the bourgeois, and that the bourgeois would then exploit the proletarian with the aims of exploiting this working class. There are many though that argue that capitalism has gone past this point of exploitation of the working class.
It is argued that capitalism has changed since Marx’s day and his criticisms are no longer relevant. That the working class is slowly disappearing from the equation they claim that the living standards have improved. It is very true that standards of living have been improved upon with the coming of capitalism. These improvements are largely around the large and wealthy nations. While the 3rd world countries are still trying to developing their living standards. Marx shows a starting point into this. The bourgeoisie, by the rapid improvement of all instruments of production, by immensely facilitated means of communication, draws all even the most barbarian, nations into civilization. But in the expansion of capitalism and in the search of new markets and more natural resources, that it has found other citizens in which it can exploit. Today’s so called “Free Trade” agreements open up poor and 3rd world countries to imports and investment from larger more powerful economies, giving these large multinational corporations access to cheap labor. Even in the Capitalist society the wealth is not evenly distributed. One of Marx’s first though on the subject was that, In order to oppress a class, certain conditions must be assured to it under which it can, at least, continue it’s slavish existence.” I52/pg.56. The vast majority of the wealth is concentrated in the hands of the few, while the vast majority are meeting the minimum started at which they need to survive it is true that wage labor has been raised in all of the developed countries. The average price of wage labor is the minimum wage, i.e., that quantum of the means of subsistence, which is absolutely requisite to keep the laborer in bare existence as a laborer. What, therefore, the wage laborer appropriates by means of his labor merely suffices to prolong and reproduce a bare existence. I22/pg61. In a capitalist society the proletariat don’t actually own the raw material in which they can produce this capital, but instead rely on their ability to work. In proportion as the bourgeoisie, i.e., capital, is developed, in the same proportion is the proletariat, the modern working class, developed-a class of laborers, who live only so long as they find work, and who work only so long as their labor increases capital. I30/pg49. This saying that the majority of the world’s population will have to sell themselves as a commodity. This leaves the working class in a constant state of instability. Showing that even in the developed countries there is still very much the exploitation of the bourgeois over the proletarian, making many of the ideas in the Communist Manifesto still relevant to society today.
There are many arguments against what Marx and Engles had to say. They did make the point though that those in control write history. As it stands today we are still very much a capitalist society. Not with standing that Marx did make the occasional mistake or exaggeration within the manifesto. These errors are by no means devaluing the concepts that are still very much valid in today’s society. In order to gain the true important nature of this document one must remember the period of time in which it was written. Along with focusing on the critical concept behind the Communist Manifesto, this concept or ideology was to abolish the exploitation of the bourgeois over the proletarians. To protect the interests of the working class and bring about equality regardless of nationality. The key point we should be looking for is the spreading of equality and protection of interests to all people around the globe. Regardless of whether Marx and Engles could have ever foreseen the influence of interest groups and other social movements. This does not mean the key concept that all people should be equal regardless of nationality can’t be built upon and expanded in today’s society. This should be to abolish all forms of oppression and the equality of everyone regardless of all nationality, colour, race, and sexual orientation. In the end we are all the same. Like Marx said at the end of the manifesto. “The proletarians have nothing to lose but their chains. They have the world to win.”pg89. But it no longer has to just encompass that one thing. It’s the ideology behind what is said. We need to take the ideas that can still much better society today, while leaving behind the ideas or the mistakes with in the book. The Manifesto is end off with “WORKERS OF ALL COUNTRIES UNITE!” We should take this and expand upon it and make it “PEOPLE OF THE WORLD UNITE!”
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