Communist Manifesto

Communist Manifesto, Karl Marx
In the Communist Manifesto, Marx first outlines the problems within the society at the time. He acknowledges that the idea of communism is already prevalent in Europe, and moreover, is recognized as a power. Further, he advises all the communists to take action: “It is high time that communists should openly, in the face of the whole world, publish their views, their aims, their tendencies” (769). Because all the history of the world has always consisted of some type of class struggle, he proposes the solution to be a communist community. He categorizes society into the Bourgeoisie and the Proletariat; the bourgeoisie being the ruling class and one with all the power and resources and the proletariat being the working class. The recent advent of capitalism and industrial revolutions around the world had destroyed society according to Marx. People merely became like machines—they input and output work. This makes them emotionally and physically detached from the product. For their work, they are paid very low wages by which they are barely able to support themselves. While the working class is not able to enjoy any of the benefits of its own work, the ruling class, never knowing what goes into a product, enjoys it. This is morally and ethically wrong for Marx. It dehumanizes the workers. Therefore, he proposes that the only way for a change would be for the working class to rise and fight for its rights. Thus, a revolution becomes necessary because the workers are otherwise not able to overpower the system or have any rights whatsoever.