The Communist Manifesto

Rating:
Summary: Good work, "Genosse"!
Review: Well, for me as a German it was a great pleasure to read this book showing the social and political differences in that century. It allows to have a clear view of how to make up his own ideology and how to start a revolution improving (actually to destroy) the system and leading to a world living in peace and harmony without any damn capitalists (espeacially those americans)!

Rating:
Summary: Messianic Hope, Wishful Thinking, and Social Racism
Review: "The Communist Manifesto" was originally written at the request of a small group of radicals known as the Communist League. Fate decreed that it should become the most influential statement of Karl Marx's views. Although Marx and Engels put both of their names on the finished product, the ideas are mostly Marx's, as Engles himself acknowledged. However, Engels polished the Manifesto, ensuring brevity and clarity, for Marx is known to go off on a tangent and wax philosophical using obscure references and turgid language. Thus "Manifesto" is not meant to be the deepest expression of Marx's thought, but rather its brief summary and a call to arms.

Marx boldly declares: "The history of all hitherto existing society is the history of class struggles." What about class cooperation? It seems to me cooperation was far more frequent than struggle. But Marx would not hear of empirical analysis, he could not resist the temptation to generalize on the grandest possible levels. For him, facts came second to abstract propositions. Marx was 30 years old when he wrote "The Communist Manifesto," yet he had no doubt that he had all of history figured out already and knew how it was going to end. Marx was Messianic, believing that communism was unavoidable and that it was his role to be its herald.

Here Marx shows a lot of wishful thinking. "The proletarian movement is the self-conscious, independent movement of the immense majority, in the interests of the immense majority." Wow! How did he arrive at this? The most glaring example of wishful thinking and ideological delirium, however, would be this: "National differences and anatgonisms between peoples are daily more and more vanishing." Exactly the opposite was happening. National antagonisms were only gathering momentum. Thirteen years after Marx wrote this, Italy became a unified country, a decade after Italy, a single German state emerged. Then came World War I, whose main cause was nationalism, and Austria-Hungary and the Ottoman Empire disintegrated because of national antagonisms. The Armenian genocide took place during World War I. Then came the Holocaust during World War II. And a mere seven years ago five hundred thousand people were slaughtered in Rwanda within three weeks in an outburst of violence between Tutsis and Hutus. The former Yugoslavia remains a cauldron of national antagonisms. So Marx was completely off base. He merely philosophized: "In proportion as the antagonism between classes within the nation vanishes, the hostility of one nation to another will come to an end." This proved to be the hollow hope of the modern world.

And as for social racism and bigotry, Marx was rich on that, too: "You must confess that by 'individual' you mean no other person that the bourgeois, than the middle-class owner of property. This person must, indeed, be swept away, and made impossible." This is incitement to class genocide. This and similar statements is what gave Stalin an ideological excuse to exterminate class enemies, or "enemies of the people," as the official propaganda labeled them. Middle-class people are to be wiped out! This is what Marx wanted. I have no patience for self-serving philosophizing of Marx's apologists who say the Soviet Union and similar communist states were not "real" Marxist states. No, my dear philosophers, that WAS reality. Everything else is wishful thinking and pleasant self-delusion, or to put in in Marx's terms--the ideological opium of the people.

Rating:
Summary: Down with capitalism!
Review: Before I read this book I was a nieve child who hated communism. I was ignorent and i had no idea what is was talking about because my parents taught me to hate communism. We are in an anti-communistsic age and i think more people should read this book. Today communism is best known as human suffering, actuallly that is totalitarianism. Unfortunately most of the communist countries were totalitarian. I'm outraged that our scholl systems is anti-communist, because in history class they only tell you the cons of the communist countries. Communism is a very good idea next to our capitalist scociety.

Everyone I know thinks communism is a way your country is politically runned. Actually its is how economiclally one country is run.

This book turned me in to a leftist and i think more ignorent Americans should read this book.

Rating:
Summary: Karl not as much fun as Groucho
Review: I believe that there are two aspects to "The Communist Manifesto": the extremely intriguing ideas it expresses about the problems of capitalism, and the somewhat impractical way in which it suggests to alleviate those problems. Many of our most cherished institutions are a result of Marxist thought, the problem is that the manifesto is a bit idealistic. Once the bourgeosie overthrows the proletariat, what's to stop the leaders from becoming a new proletariat? Also, Karl Marx wasn't much of a writer but, perhaps due to its influence, "The Communist Manifesto" isn't nearly as exhausing as some of his subsequent writings.

Rating:
Summary: Good Introduction to Leftist Thinking
Review: This is obviously the quintessential pamphlet on communism, and it provides basic information in regards to communism. However, in order to truely understand communism and other leftist philosophies one must explore more indepth novels.

Rating:
Summary: Whether you agree with it or hate it - an essential read
Review: When treading the line of Communism in America we find ourselves very precariously balanced. There are many people who are afraid of communism and are yet to distinguish it from Fascism, which - when dealing with Communism in its pure form - should be Communism's opposite. Therefore I can only judge the communist manifesto here as a book and how good a read it is as book - rather than a political system and how well it would work, because in its book form that is what it is.

And in this catagory it remains essential - not essential as in 'we must all revert to communism' but essential as in 'we should all read the manifesto'. Primarily this is because it is interesting. Love them or hate them, face it: Marx and Engels were two of the most influencial philosophers and skilled politicians of all time. Secondly, it is an essential read because the American people became disillusioned as a whole with Communism a long time ago along with Stalin. But Stalin's communism was not real communism: it had reverted to fascism - hence the confusion it incurred.

Now perhaps becoming disillusioned with it was justified: perhaps it is either idealistic and exploitable or even bad to begin with: but you must give it a chance by reading the book. As a reviewer I'm here to tell you whether to buy this book, not whether to agree with Communism. You can decide the latter for yourself.

Rating:
Summary: Marx and Engels: great thinkers, sub-par writers
Review: Reading some of the hysterical attacks on this book amuses me more than a "Fawlty Towers" marathon. Examples:

"Which country has put forth more of a concerted effort to adopt Marxist ideals, which country has tried its level best to adopt economic policy more in line to that espoused by the Communist Manifesto: U.S. or Russia? Japan or China? Kenya or Tanzania Puerto Rico or Cuba? Namibia or Angola? Hong Kong or Viet Nam? West Germany or East Germany?" Guess what? NONE of those countries even TRIED to adopt "economic policy more in line to that espoused by the Communist Manifesto" (which is fundamentally not a treatise on economics -- that'd be "Das Kapital"). Each of these countries adopted backwards, reactionary regimes based on the nationalist system of "socialism in one country," directly contradicting Marx and Engels' vision of an international workers' movement.

"Let's look at the results: over 100,000,000 killed and countless imprisoned, and an ideology for the Democratic Party." Hmm, so by that logic, Christianity is an evil system of thought because of the countless hundreds of millions killed in its name, if not its actual beliefs. And anyone who thinks the Democratic Party is "communist" must lie somewhere to the right of Mussolini on the political spectrum.

"Communists should ask themselves why only murders and tyrants have espoused their ideology." Gee, I espouse communist ideology. I guess I'm a murderer and a tyrant, then. Thanks for clearing that up -- my mind had been so damaged by this evil, deceptive swill that I didn't even realize I'm one of history's great villians!

As for the book itself......well, I have to be honest, it's not that great. It was written in a hurry and it shows, not only in its brief length but in its severe disorganization (there is much overlap between the various sections) that makes reading certain parts of the book an exercise in patience and concentration -- an exercise that is quite simply not worth the trouble when there are plenty of other works out there on socialist/communist thought espousing the same ideas as Marx and Engels but in an eminently more readable fashion. The best example, I think, is the writings of Rosa Luxemburg, who maintained a relative fidelity to Marx and Engels' theories but also grappled with the practical implementation of an international workers' movement -- which she unfortunately did not live long enough to lead. (Which raises the question: if a socialist state is such an unworkable and unreasonable goal, why did they bother killing her in the first place?)

Rating:
Summary: Be Afraid!
Review: Every self respecting man woman and child should read the communist manifesto not to gain some kind of hopeful message, but instead to understand the truly radical nature of the communists. My favorite line is "Abolition of the family! Even the most radical flare up at this infamous proposal of the communists." This and other shocking plots are contained within this infamous work. While trying to re-write history, the communists Marx and Engels create a false reality where there ideas can work. But read this manifesto to understand fully why you should truly be afraid of the communist menace! Watch how modern liberals are doing nothing less than carrying out the directives in the manifesto. Be Afraid and Be Aware!!

Rating:
Summary: Idealistic and prone to failure...but ultimately insightful
Review: Karl Marx and Friedrich Engel's ~The Communist Manifesto~ has affected probably more lives then most books of its time had (save maybe Upton Sinclair's ~The Jungle~). Marx and Engel's set forth a series of ideals as to achieving the perfect utopian society and abolishing with the "feudalistic class systems." In so doing, Marx creates probably the most relevant section of the little book, Section I.: Bourgeois and Proletarians. With this section, Marx paints a picture of modern capitalist society for the proletariat (or worker if you will) in order to play up his ideal classless society. Although his society was never achieved, the idea of alienation and exploitation in the workplace is still relevant today.

Marx sums up the situation of the worker in this first chapter very well. Marx first begins by comparing modern Bourgeois society to that of Feudalistic Europe, "The modern Bourgeois society that has sprouted from the ruins of the feudal society has not done away with class antagonisms. It has but established new classes, new conditions of oppression..." Just a few, short pages later, Marx introduces us to the Modern working class; the proletariat, "But not only has the bourgeosie forged the weapons that bring death to itself; it has also called into existence the men who are to wield those weapons - the modern working class - the proletarians." Marx describes the Proletarians as "slaves of the borgeois class" and as being "enslaved by the machine, by the overlooker, and above all, by the individual bourgeois manufacturer himself."

Despite Marx's constent bashing of the bourgeosie, he has some interesting things to say about them as well. Marx says that the bourgeoisie "by the rapid improvement of all instruments of production, by the immensely facilitated means of communication, draws all, even the most barbarian, nations into civilisation." Marx even credits the bourgeoisie with another accomplisment: "[he] has rescued a considerable part of the population from the idiocy of rural life." I think what Marx is trying to tell us is that the Bourgeoisie is essential to the progress and development of a nation, but it certainly should not be the end, there must be something beyond the bourgeois society.

Later on in Section II. (Proletarians and Communists), Marx sets down the ten steps that should be taken by the government upon establishing a Communist/Socialist government/economic nation.

1. Abolition of property in land and application of all rents of land to public purposes.

2. A heavy progressive or graduated income tax.

3. Abolition of all rights of inheritance.

4. Confiscation of the property of all emigrants and rebels.

5. Centralisation of credit in the hands of the state, by means of a national bank with state capital and an exclusive monopoly.

6. Centralisation of the means of communication and transport in the hands of the state.

7. Extension of factories and instruments of production owned by the state; the bringing into cultivation of waste lands, and the improvement of the soil generally in accordance with a common plan.

8. Equal obligation of all to work (different from Capitalism in which you have two choices: work and get money, or don't work and die). Establishment of industrial armies, especiaaly to agriculture.

9. Combination of agriculture with manufacturing industries; gradual abolition of all the distinction between town and country by a more equable distribution of the population over the country.

10. Free education for all children in public schools. Abolition of children's factory labour in its present form. Combination of education with industrial production, etc.

The only difference in the rules between today's capitalist based economies are rules 1, 3, 4, 5, and number 8. Remember, in a capitalist economy, you have the choice whether to work or not. The thing is, if you don't work, you're pretty much screwed. Marx states in the Communist Manifesto that, "the theory of Communists may be summed up in a single sentence: Abolition of private property."

Marx sets up a series of systems which the state will gradually ease off of into a different economic state. However, in the "Communist" countries we've seen that almost all of them haven't graduated off their strict form of socialism, skipping the fedualistic stages and the capitalistic stages. China however, has been able to gradually ease onto a more capitalistic economy but the nature and spirit of the country remain "Communist." Because of greed and impatience we may never know whether Communism (in its purest form) can actually work and if it leads to a Utopian society, but we do know that Karl Marx was a very, very idealistic man.

I highly recommend the Signet Classics copy of ~The Communist Manifesto~. It's an excellent buy... and a good print of the book (meaning the text is very readable). The Signet Classics copy also contains a very enlightening introduction by historian Martin Malia, and preferences on each edition (two on the various German editions, one on the Russian edition, and one on the English edition) written by Friedrich Engels.

Rating:
Summary: Ray of Hope
Review: Marx hits the nail on the head perfectly. Communism is the inevitable saving ideology which will bring about the freedom of mankind. Freedom from greed, freedom from the delusional corporate run pseudo-democracy of America, freedom from endless craving for money and mindless material possessions, freedom from rascism, freedom from the hypocrisy of the world. Marx's work is far from perfect, but in an imperfect world it's as perfect as we're going to get. It is the ultimate evolutionary culmination which attempts to stop the subjugation of the many by the few. Stalin and Mao were the beginners, which is why they manifested into unjust political models. The five year plan or the cultural revolution has nothing to do Marxism!!!! His work is now more relevant than it ever has been, with global capitalism causing untold suffering around the world. Anybody interested in true political freedom (not some conditioned, mindless, flag saluting, insiduous propaganda which has been drilled into most westerners from day one) or the fundamentals of human freedom should read this book. Marvellous.