Themes in The Communist Manifesto

The aim of this essay is to discuss the focus of Marx and Engels’ in their book The Communist Manifesto, to analyze the issues of corruptions of capitalism and their effects on the lower section of the society. The Communist Manifesto is the wider read as well as most influential political documents in the history of economy and political science. This main focuses on the relation between the bourgeois capitalists and the result of the social class. This book deals with the spread of industrial revolution along with capitalist modernity. Analysis of Marx is quite complex as this includes the theories regarding the evils of capitalism as well as their resolution. The irrationality, inefficiency and unpredictability of capitalism has affected the socio-economic setting, socio political and administrative system of the countries and affect the regulation as well as policy making structure completely. This essay will be capturing the argument that the book by Karl Marx and Engels to be more focused on the capitalism corruptions more than detailing just the types of work the proletariat have to do.

The main themes of The Communist Manifesto, include the issues of bourgeois, proletarian revolution and class straggle. These are also relayed to the variants of socialism as well as the measures that the proletarians or the Marxists need to seek for achieving their revolution or after it. According to Lamb (2015) Marx believed that capitalism has a far-reaching effect on the society but this will be collapsed which is the feature of historical materialism of Marx. It was principally informed by the sort of economic materialism. Marx in The Communist Manifesto, has detailed the reasons of his detest of capitalism and recorded countless features of the capitalism which has given birth of the concepts of alienation and exploration. As mentioned before, the corruption so capitalism has covered much place in the book which gradually leads to exploitation of the labor class.

Exploitation according to Marx and Engels (2005) is the process that the bourgeois use to force their labors to sell their labor power of these capitalists for lesser than it is worth. It happens as effect of the living labor of the workers producing the surplus values for these capitalists and the labors are paid disproportionately lower wages. It is one of the features of capitalism as through exploitation, the act of procuring the profit in the accumulated labor is made possible for purchasing the living labor. The authors of this book, have therefore, blamed the social setting which takes place in any system irrespective of geographic diversity. In the Communist Manifesto, Marx has connected capitalist exploitation with the class exploitation that is reinforced by the already existing conditions of this capitalist system of the society. This problem of exploitation creates a devil’s cycle that forces the proletariats to survive only to be exploited in the class scale. Exploitation of the proletariat has been connected to the alienation effect as the authors point out latter to be the result of the former.

Exploitation and Alienation

As mentioned in the Communist Manifesto, the capitalist system the labors are treated like machine. Just as the capitalist’s profit from the machines and pay only for the raw materials, they do the same for the human labors also (Marx & Engels, 2005). In addition to exploitation and alienation, another evil feature of the capitalist society has been pointed out by Marx. To Lamb, (2015), the concept of controlling the meaning by the bourgeoisie is the feature that makes law for all and states that the essential characters or directions are determined by economic conditions of the existence. For Marxists, the humanity of the labors is also determined by the bourgeoise that does not match with the actual existence of the labors. Their humanity is seen as the factor of production. This is where Marx has referred to the third type of alienation which refers to the alienation from the notion of humanity. As pointed out in the Communist Manifesto, the proletarians in the capitalist social setting has no individuality but they are the mode of production only. Marx has also pointed out that the division of labor has key features of capitalism that try to make the structure of the labor force to have simpler and more mechanized roles (Marx & Engels, 2005). Therefore, it can be stated that according to Marxist focus, the proletariats are doubly alienated by the all-smothering philosophy of the bourgeoisie.

As discussed in his book, Lamb (2015) have pointed out that the concepts of exploitation and alienation are the chief theme of the book by Marx and Engels but these are the part of the whole idea of capitalism. This is the reason why the Marxists believe that the society need to be developed according to the idea of communism where the ill effects of capitalism will not be present. In such context the common people will have most of the assets that is termed as primeval common ownership of land (Marx & Engels, 2005). It is the only way the proletariats can over come the power of their oppressors in the communist social settings.

According to Marx and Engels, there are other ways that the capitalism ruins the social and economic balance of the society. Marxism gradually leads to the communism is the social setting that has four essential stages that all focus on the process how the ownership of the wealth will be transformed into the commons or proletariats who have nothing to lose except their chains from the hands of the capitalists. To Marx and Engels (2005) the bourgeoise not only affected the lives of the proletariats but also affected the political rights and rights of citizenship in the social setting. The bourgeoisie supported by the capitalism mentioned in the Communist Manifesto, is the root of the social division as well as the class struggle. The bourgeoisie completely destroyed the original orders of the aristocratic privileges that founded their own society. These established a new and chaotic civic equality which further battered the indebted as well as poorly educated after the fresh monarchy collapse scenario. The capitalism affected the society and the aristocracy crumbled as it refused for reforming the financial system and institutions.

Communism as an Alternative

In every part of this book, Karl Marx has expressed disagreement with the principles of capitalism as well as its outcome. He along with Engels have pointed out that capitalism creates anarchy which will directly ruin itself like other oppressing powers. To the Communist Manifesto, capitalism relates to the imperialism as this also supports the accumulation of wealth through exploitation. This is the best method of concentrating capital, employment and power. It can gradually lead to the complete destruction of the economic freedom. Capitalism leads to the essential loss of political, economic and democratic power for the majority o global population of human beings. The reason is however similar to what the exploitation of the proletariat has been discussed by Marx. It has been believed that capitalism creates a very large concentration of money in the very small minority of the power elite. Therefore, it can be stated that the economic power attracts the administrative power and all the laws and regulation are formed to support the interests of the capitalist and the exploitation of the proletaries are increased.

The Marxism in the world have seen rise and fall of many empires be it a French, German or British. The nature of all the imperialism has the similar features. All of these are based on the aim to accumulate power and wealth. They follow the rules of capitalism and grabbing the capitalist marketplace and gradually the society as well as religion. As mentioned in The Communist Manifesto, the medieval age and religion were all supporters of feudalism, now the capitalist are also getting support of religion. This is due to the fact that capitalism creates scope to use religion to be the mode of exploitation to the lower and weakest part of the society. capitalism has been characterized by the dominance of hierarchical, bureaucratic, large corporations, which are legally required to pursue profit without concern for social welfare. They manipulate the power of the government and policies so that the profit mechanism does not go beyond their reach.

Therefore, it can be stated that except identifying and detailing every aspects of the oppression of the proletariat, therefore, the Communist Manifesto has pointed out that capitalism leads to deep as well as structural erosion of the basic human rights. The powerful capitalism affects the civil rights as the equitable wealth along with the income distribution of the people of the society. these also effect the democratic political as well as socio-economic power representation of the individuals and many other human rights and needs of common by depriving them from all their deserving matters. This is the reason why it can be started that whatever the initiatives in the capitalist society is the class struggle is inevitable and what Marx has prophesized in his book that the capitalism will be demolished through the power shift in the hands of the proletariats, will be evitable.

References:

Lamb, P. (2015). Marx and Engels’ Communist manifesto. London: Bloomsbury Academic.

Marx, K., & Engels, F. (2005). The Communist manifesto: a road map to history’s most important political document. Haymarket Books.