Rating: 
Summary: A specter is haunting Europe - the specter of communism.
Review: The book begins with a series of prefaces to different worldwide editions. Then, it reaches the core its purpose - the actual pamphlet written by Karl Marx. Marx states that all history is a history of class struggles and predicts that workers all over the world will revolt against the government for their rights and set up a Proletarian state where everything belongs to the state which uses it on the behalf of the people. Marx also shows the need to abolish religion and all other elements of the bourgeoisie, the middle class - factory owners, doctors, employers etc. His belief can be summarized into a single phrase - "Power To The People" (no pun intended). Marx's philosophy may not appeal to many but lets face it - the man is highly responsible for changing the world completely. Would our world be the same without the people he inspired? Lenin, Stalin and Mao would all cease to exist if it was not for Marx. His slogan, "Workers Of All Countries, Unite!" shook the foundations of the world as we knew it. Sheer fantasy? Time has definitely proven otherwise. I believe that no individual has any right to criticize Marx or his theory without reading the Manifesto Of The Communist Party. Slightly technical language might cause a confusion of facts but otherwise a recommended read.
Rating:
Summary: heart in the right place, but doesn't work
Review: The Communist Manifesto was among the most feared and banned books in the 20th century. After reading it, I wondered why. What could cause so much fear in less then a hundred pages? The book, though short, is a good read, and doesn't talk above the heads or down to it's readers. But it proves the absurity of communism and why it was destined to doom. Pitting the workers (the prolitares) against the upper class in a constant struggle for a piece of the pie, it dictates that the workers will forever be the stepping stones of the elite to gain, control, and retain wealth. Some of Marx and Engels theories make sense, and many labor unions of today adopt many of the manifestos beliefs, but the authors forgot to take one very serious downfall of the human race into account: that of greed. As most of the communist countries show the people that become powerful and retain the control of the communist parties become rich and often the exact people that they claim to hate, living it great wealth while the "workers" suffer. (though it is mostly a satire of socialism, check out Animal Farm, a perfect example). This short books is a good read, and I encourge everyone (especially those that fear communism taking over the world, yet knowing nothing about it) to read it, and seeing why their fears are unfounded, and why it wouldn't (and didn't) work.
Rating: 
Summary: good written book about ridiculous political movement
Review: This book points out some of the reasons why "laissez affair" capitalism was not good for a political system. However it also brings out the failures of marxism and its idiotic goals. I too encourage people to read this book to realise that "Communism in Theory is a good system" is a load of hypocrasy and made up by people who try to be more original than others only making themselves look like idiots. Read this book and aknowledge the fact that marxism, socialism and communism are dead struggles for inhumanity, destruction of tradition and destruction of feedom both economically and socially.
Rating: 
Summary: The Foundations of Modern Socialism
Review: I encoruage everyone with an interest in socialism - or even simply anyone who doesn't like the way society is right now - to pick up a copy of this book. Karl Marx and Frederich Engels' "Manifesto of the Communist Party" (its original title) was written as a pamphlet for the International Workingmen's Association. At the time the association was the most leftward in Europe, and involved itself heavily in labor struggles and events like the Paris Commune. Marx and Engels brief but engaging works sketches out firstly what is wrong with the capitalist system we live under today, and what they believe is a far better system: socialism. Their writing concentrates on criticisms of capitalism, and what socialism will do differently - later revolutionaries like V.I. Lenin pick up on *how* to achieve socialism. While some portions of the Communist Manifesto are now dated, and some references obscure, the vast majority of the work is accessible to the modern reader. I first read the Manifesto in high school, and it convinced me to become a socialist. It is also a good exercise for people to compare the ideas found in the Communist Manifesto with the realities of the so-called socialists of the USSR or China. Rather than reject socialism outright because of the atrocities of the USSR, I encourage people to reject the USSR *not* the principles it supposedly believed in. We have often seen incidences where the United States government warps "democracy" to its needs (look at the robbed Black voters of Florida in 2000) but that doesn't mean we reject what we actually desire: real democracy. Again, I highly recommend the Communist Manifesto for anyone with an interest in socialism or those generally disenchanted with the political and economic system we live under today.
Rating:
Summary: Never have so many extrapolated so much out of so little.
Review: A concept born in a simpler time used as an excuse for many things from Socialism to controlled capitalism. As with any pivotal work one should read it for his/her self. There is always the chance of misinterpretation by an individual, but if you do not read this then you are just accepting someone's word anyway. This is more than an economics book it is a way of life. It sounds good on paper but makes a lot of assumptions. Instead of worrying about workability, look at the logic that is built on assumptions of that time (written, in 1848). Add this to your library. You can pick a side (pro or con) and make a stand if you like; but look at the size of this book and realize that many people will just use the title and build their own case. You will have read the real thing. And be sure to balance it with. "The Capitalist Manifesto" by Louis O. Kelso
Rating:
Summary: Very important but see other Marx works for bigger picture
Review: What many don't realise is that this book sits at the top of a larger body of work which forms Marx's philosophy. Beyond the manifesto, Marx has been extremely influential in the areas of philosophy, psychology, ethics, aesthetics as well as the more obvious areas such as political economy. This book therefore is a consequence of a much more complex philosophical analysis of his times. In other philosophical discussions of Marx, you will rarely if ever come across references to the manifesto which puts it into perspective relative to his other, philosophically more important writings. However, as a polemic and a political manifesto this book is spot on for it's time even if Marxism, due to the subsequent events of history needs to be seriously reworked and comtemporised.
Rating: 
Summary: Except for the mountains of corpses,a funny book
Review: This is not a book on economics,it is strictly ideology palmed off as some great humanitarian tract in order to assuage one man's guilty conscience over never having worked a day in his ne'er-do-well-life.Marx may have railed at the capitalist but he sure didn't mind freeloading off the capital of others for the duration of his loafer's paradise life!His 'economic'theories have been refuted so many times,notably by Von Mises and Hayek,that only the ideological aspect of his work remains. Amazingly,there are those who still cling to Marx and believe his ideas were 'noble' but were hijacked by bad people.To read The Communist Manifesto is to know that totalitarianism is inherent to the ideology.Where the state is the meaning and final arbiter of the value of human life then the value of an individual human life has been reduced to that of a mere slave.That Marxist governments everywhere brought about deaths by the millions,squalor,slave labor camps and despair is hardly an accident.That the people living within Marxist dystopias tried to escape their barbed-wired,concrete-walled,guard-towered prison fortresses at the first opportunity is also no accident.And as for the charges of 'imperialism'laid against Western governments,there were no worse imperialists than the Marxist governments,as the people of Poland,Hungary,South Korea,Taiwan,Afghanistan,The Czech Republic,Romania and numerous people of other places can attest to. It is no exaggeration to say that Marxism is the most corpse-producing ideology in the history of humanity.All the religious wars throughout history didn't wipe out as many people as did Marxists governments in a short 70 years.That anyone today could ascribe some nobleness to such a deadly,anti-human,anti-life,two-bit quasi religion of guilt-ridden trust fund babies and freeloaders is nothing short of miraculous. Lifelong college students still living at home in mama's basement at the age of 35,would-be Stalin's and Pol Pot's,amnesiacs,those who learn nothing from history,brain-fried professors holed up in the dark recesses of academic anti-reality and guilty white liberals of the world unite!
Rating:
Summary: Marxism is the opium of the intellectuals
Review: It is no small contradiction and hypocrisy on the part of Marxists that they've asserted for the last 150 years that the future belongs to Marxism or barbarism,seemingly lost on the fact that the worst barbarities of the 20th century came courtesy of Marxist governments.The Nazi's only managed to murder 8-10 million people;the Marxists wiped out 10 times as many.For a bunch so keen and quick to point out 'imperialism' the Marxists somehow fail to see that to assume that if the world doesn't adopt Marxist government means to be at odds with 'historical inevitability'seems to be the epitome of imperialism,not to mention Eurocentrism and racist good-hearted white-daddy-knows-what-is-best-for-his-benighted-colored- children ism.
The Marxist assumes that the non-European world couldn't possibly be competent enought to manage its own affairs or come up with workable non-European ideas of its own.Marxism is the rightful heir of European civilization in its unvanquishable Eurocentrism and hereditary imperialism.
The eternal usefulness of The Communist Manifesto and Marx's works in general is to see how even a great thinker can be severely deluded and megalomaniacal without even knowing it.Marx aped every aspect of Christianity to build his own religious temple.In place of Jesus you have Marx.In place of a kingdom on Earth you have historical inevitability.In place of the bible you have The Communist Manifesto(old testament)and Das Kapital(new testament).In place of atonement of sins and salvation you have class consciousness.Christianity identifies the devil as mankind's arch enemy;Marxism's devil is the bourgeoisie.Christianity gives man but two choices:salvation through Christ or damnation;in Marxism,the choice is between Socialism or barbarism.To Christ,if one was unwilling to leave behind family,friends and worldly riches,then you were unworthy of his kingdom;in Marxism,the loyalty to family and nation must take a backseat to the aims of the revolution.And for sure Marxism has had no shortage of Saints,Martyrs,Theologians and is believed by its adherents with such passion and ferocity that the feeling can only adequately be described as a religious faith.As they say,nature abhors a vacuum,and as Christianity was on the wane in Europe a new religion came and filled the void.That (old)new faith was rechristened as Communism.It is no wonder Nietzsche held up his nose at Socialism.He understood long before anyone else that Socialism was a regurgitated,secular form of Christianity.Marx suggested that religion was nothing more than the opiate of the masses.In the end,Marx merely replaced one opium with another.
Rating:
Summary: Useless in 21st century
Review: I studied political science in a leftist university and I read a lot of Marx texts, some of them are useful to think, to reflect, to debate and to confront ideas against non-leftis authors, but The Manifiesto is useless for this proposit.
Rating:
Summary: Pamphlet of key communist ideals
Review: What more can be said about the Communist Manifesto? It has been heavily criticized as a book which promotes murder, class conflict and societal divisions. Conversely, praise has been lavished upon it by the key architects of 20th century communism. To my mind, the Communist Manifesto should be read as is, keeping in mind that the movements supposedly inspired by this document were not sanctioned by the author and were simply the interpretations of specific groups. So, if one is capable of reading the Communist Manifesto apart from its historical interpretations, what would he find? For starters, this is essentially a pamphlet, a quick distillation of Marx's key ideas. This is evidenced by his listing of the key ten points for the communist movement. To call The Communist Manifesto a bible on communism is a critical folly. Furthermore, the manifesto is somewhat poorly organized, and was written with a deadline. Nonetheless, critical communist ideals are espoused in its pages, making it a required read. In closing, with the communist movement critically weakened, this manifesto has been reduced to little more than a historical document. However, it is a worthwhile and quick read, one which is essential for any student of 20th century history.
| 
