...This paper will be about the main elements of Karl Marx’s work, which includes the Paris Manuscripts, which will focus on alienation. The Communist Manifesto, which will focus on Marx’s political and economic theories and Capital Vol. 1., Marx’s final work about how profits are made by the capitalist. Karl Marx was a liberal reformist who believed that capitalism could be reformed and inequality and exploitation of the working classes could be addressed and abolished. (Stones, p.22) . In 1844 Karl Marx wrote and published “The economic and philosophic manuscripts of 1844”, better known as “The Paris Manuscripts.” This was Karl Marx’s first work, where he writes a study about alienation of workers. (Hughes p.27) What does one mean by alienation? Karl Marx states that the alienated person feels a lack of meaning in his life, or a lack of self-realization. (Hughes p.27) “One must understand, he argues, that there are three types of alienation. The first type of alienation is alienation from oneself. The second type of alienation is alienation from his fellow human beings. The third type of alienation is alienation from the world as a whole. These three forms of alienation are interconnected, and Karl Marx describes the connections between them. This is the core of his approach to the problem of alienation (Monthly Review, 2000, p.36-53). An example of alienation does not have to stem from the workplace, however. For example, I know many persons who attend the same church as I...
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...Title: The Communist Manifesto Author: Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels Source: http://www.anu.edu.au/polsci/marx/classics/manifesto.html The Communist Manifesto has four major sections: The Bourgeois and Proletarians, The Proletarians and Communists, Socialist and Communist Literature, and The Position of the Communists in Relation to the Various Existing Opposition Parties. The first section, The Bourgeois and the Proletarians, calls the proletarians to recognize the harsh treatment of the bourgeois towards them. The bourgeois are the land owners that are only worried about the amount of money that they are able to make at the expense of the lower proletarian class. Marx and Engels make their point by comparing these two classes to the older feudal system in which the higher classes survived off the lower classes; however, this modern bourgeois class is abusing the work done by the proletarian class and treating them as just the power to make the modern machines run, nothing more. The proletarian class is the larger of the two classes by being the mass workforce, yet the bourgeois class “must feed them instead of being fed by them”. The proletarian must continue to work and increase capital for the bourgeois, otherwise if they do not there will no longer be a market for their work, therefore, putting them out of work. This starts the basis of why the Communists call to reform over the capitalist way of life. In the next section, Proletarians and Communists, this document shows...
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...Karl Marx Communist Manifesto response paper Communism is justified seemed to be the message of Karl Marx throughout his Communist Manifesto and he even provides his reasoning and examples to prove his point. Marx describes history as the constant struggle for power between the proletariats and the bourgeois, between “freeman and slave, patrician and plebian, lord and serf…oppressor and oppressed” in “a fight that each time ended in either a revolutionary re-constitution of society at large, or in the common ruin of the contending classes” (Marx, 65). And that is where the goals of the proletariats and the communists matched up. Both groups wanted to consolidate the proletariats into a class and overthrow the bourgeois and allow the proletariats to gain political power. The communists wanted to further this revolution or overthrow of dominant power by taking control over bourgeois property because their property represented in a form the exploitation of the proletariats. (Marx, 78). This is true because the workers do not gain anything from working and the products that they produce ultimately represent something that had exploited them. Communism is further validated by Marx’s defense of Communism against the claims that communism does “ill” to society. Marx claims that “communism deprives no man of the power to appropriate the products of society; all that it does it to deprive him of the power to subjugate the labour of others by means of such appropriation” (Marx, 80)...
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...especially in Western society where it is taught that capitalism is the only correct way to govern a society. Many people condemn communism, however so fewunderstand the beliefs and concepts behind communism. It is not correct to say that communism has failed, but rather that a true communist society has never been enacted. In order to better understand communism we must first know the definition of communism. Communism is (a: a theory advocating elimination of private property b: a system in which goods are owned in common and are available to all as needed” (Merriam-Webster). Communism is also defined as “a system of government and ideals where all people are considered equal in an attempt to create a fairer society” ("Communism", n.d.). The base of the word communism is commune. A commune is a “group of people living communally sharing in the work, earnings and property” ("Communism", n.d.). In a commune there is no private property, rather the individuals living within the commune share all property and resources. Also in a commune all profits and resources are administered equally to all those who reside within the commune. Although these definitions help to understand communism, they do not fully explain the beliefs behind communism. The main theory behind communism is to institute a classless and moneyless state. Within this state all property, resources, and profits are shared equally among all citizens. In a communist state everyone is treated...
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...Karl Heinrich Marx Week 10 Final Assignment Strayer University SOC 300 Sociology of Developing Countries Professor Muhammad Terry Cheek 6/13/2013 I have decided to write a paper on Karl Marx because I think some of his views were interesting and had some truth to it but only to a certain degree. I am just voicing my opinion on his views and I think when reading about his ideals and philosophies you have to keep in mind that the world was a different place at that time also. I do believe he was a brilliant man and had a huge amount of courage to continue to write what he believed in even though it brought a great deal of hardships into his life. I will briefly discuss his upbringings, his education, philosophies, and some of the literature he wrote. I urge anyone to read his works and learn more about him as a person before passing judgment on him. Karl Heinrich Marx was one of nine children born to Heinrich and Henrietta Marx in Trier, Prussia. His father was a successful lawyer who revered Kant and Voltaire, and was a passionate activist for Prussian reform. Although both parents were Jewish with rabbinical ancestry, Karl’s father converted to Christianity in 1816 at the age of 35. This was likely a professional concession in response to an 1815 law banning Jews from high society. He was baptized a Lutheran, rather than a Catholic, which was the predominant faith in Trier, because he “equated Protestantism with intellectual freedom.” When he was 6, Karl was baptized...
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...Communism vs. Capitalism In Karl Marx's Communist Manifesto, he describes the Communists as the party that "fights for the interests of the working class"(136), while in a Capitalist society, the "living person is dependent and has no individuality-----only capital is dependent and has individuality"(84). That is not the case of today's society once you take a closer view at the comparison and contrast of communist Vietnam versus the democratic United States of America through their economy systems, educational systems, judicial systems, and the life style of their citizens in general. In a capitalist, democratic nation such as the U.S., freedom gives us just about everything and anything that the Vietnamese do not have under their communist government. Contrary to what Karl Marx has written in his manifesto, the living people of a capitalist nation (i.e. USA) of today are more independent and possess more individualities than ever. Economic-wise, Americans are the most progressive people in the world. The U.S. government is not directing the flow of its economy, but the individual businesses of its people are. These people have all the rights in the world to improve their businesses, as long as they are conducting them under the legal guidelines of the government. Such freedom in a capitalist society gives the Americans much greater advantages over the Vietnamese in improving economic conditions. When we touch upon the subject of education, only eighty percent...
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...continuous development of human society. Its impact far exceeds its theoretical scope and significance and an important reason lies in the fact that Marxism originates from practice, guides the practice and is developed in the practice. Karl Marx is considered by many to have been the greatest thinker and philosopher of all time. His idea on life, society and social structure revolutionized the ways in which people think and still holds much relevance in today’s society. Although there were many downfalls within his thinking he still set out the basis of Communism within Russia. Marx drew distinctions between the bases of his own contemporaries and his own scientific theory of which he believed were firmly rooted within society. He believed that social change was needed in order to achieve a better society for everyone and in order to achieve social change there must be class conflict. Marx’s major concern for social change was economic change and his most famous work dealt with the issues of class conflict and the opposition between the capitalists/bourgeoisie and the working class. During that time it was the bourgeoisie who were responsible for the controlling of land and factories whereas it was the working classes who were being exploited by the higher classes. One of largest manuscripts that Marx produced was The Grundrisse which discussed issues such as the capital of labour, wages and property and was not published until after his passing. Marx is considered to be one of...
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...Karl Marx was a very intriguing philosopher and had a lot of strong opinions that he was not shy about voicing. His ideas on change and how he thougth the world could seriously change were very strong. Marx was a philospher that had many beliefs and stood strongly by each one. From him believing that reality and histroy should be dialectally veiwed, to his beliefs that only a large scale in an econimic system can bring about real change. His beliefs of communism and all other things became its own and is referred to as Marxism. Marxism is defined as the political and economic theories of Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels, later developed as the basis for communism according to Merriam online dictionary. Marx was influenced by many, its said that his ideas of how the structure of this society should be ran stemmed from the orginal philosophies of Georg Hegel. Hegel was once his professor, and I beleive Marx's strong politcal beliefs all started after hearing the views Hegel held close to him. Marx was bold, argumentative and very critical. Critical is a bit harsh but he got most of his points across through critique. According to an untitled article Marx was the first great user of critical method in social sciences and with this tool he'd pursue the job of sharing his strong deep rooted beliefs voiced in a philosophical way to ensure that the public thinks about what exactly is being said. Marx has many things published, such as the Communist Manifesto. He did a lot...
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...The Rise of Socialism and Communism: Marxism “The classes and the races, too weak to master the new conditions of life, must give way. They must, perish in the revolutionary holocaust” (Karl Marx). Marxism was created in the mid-1800s by two German philosophers named Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels. Since the beginning of the 21st century Marxism has been making a comeback due to Marxism-Leninism in Asia and Eastern Europe, different morals of the upcoming generation, and due to the fact that it is one of the key components of the Communist style government that is being introduced around the world. Marxism-Leninism was created together in 1929, which was 5 years after Lenin’s death, by Joseph Stalin. Many communist parties today imagine it...
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...Karl Marx and Marxism Karl Marx set the wheels of modern Communism and Socialism in motion with his writings in the late nineteenth century. In collaboration with his friend, Heinrich Engels, he produced the The Communist Manifesto, written in 1848. Many failed countries' political and socio-economic structures have been based on Marx's theories, for example the USSR, East Germany etc. Many people believe that Marxism is not applicable to today's society, as Karl Marx put forward his ideas not anticipating the type of society we have today. The welfare state system has effectively nullified Marx's arguments, and made them irrelevant. Karl Marx, born on May 5, 1818, died on March 14, 1883, was a German economist, philosopher and revolutionist whose writings form the basis of the body of ideas known as Marxism. In his youth he was deeply affected by the philosophy of G.W.F. Hegel, and joined a rebel group called the Young Hegelians, which contributed ideas towards the movement against organized religion and the Prussian Autocracy. Later on in life, he was influenced by the writings of Ludwig Feuerbach, who wrote that God was invented by humans as a projection of their own ideals, and that in creating such a 'perfect' being, in contrast to themselves, mankind lowered themselves to lowly, evil creatures who needed guidance from the church and government. He said that, in creating God in their own image, humans had 'alienated themselves from themselves.' ...
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...also noted that American citizens who were fed up with our capitalistic society were more likely to support such an unconventional idea like communism. They were looking for a drastic change and “equal opportunity in jobs”. However, in reality, the equal paying government jobs would mean fewer jobs overall, with there only being one class, the middle class, and a lower middle class at that. If everyone can only afford around the same range of items, then certain brands around that range will flourish, while other higher or lower priced items, (food, equipment, etc) will slump. Another point that David made is that there will not be a lot of people in the top jobs that are very important to the economy, the environment and to innovation. With equal pay being the norm in a communist society, nobody will want to strive for the higher, more important jobs that sustain the way we develop as people and as a planet. With...
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...maybe it was time for Great Britain to change their former system of liberal capitalism to one that is more communist in nature. Others believed it was better to leave the system as it was. To decide on which would be better for the country one must first look at the ideas that lay behind both liberal capitalism and communism. One had to delve into the core of both systems and discover not only the positive implications, but also the possible negative implications as well. The term liberal capitalism is one that was well known throughout Great Britain. It was a system based upon the individual. It was a system that was primarily driven by free enterprise and the existence of classes. The government had very little say in what the market was like; this was known as a free market. The primary view was that this was the best form of economic system due to the fact that the individuals themselves set the amount of production and the prices of those products. David Ricardo believed that the wages received naturally fluctuated to meet the minimum subsistence requirements for workers. As he stated, “The market price of labour is the price which is really paid for it” (“Ricardo on Wages”, 2). He believed that allowing the market to regulate itself allowed for workers to make the money required for their survival and was most beneficial to the economy. Another strongly supported ideal of liberal capitalism was the belief that people benefit more from being allowed to function on their own...
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...countries. The quick changes in society during the 19th century created enormous social tensions and dissatisfaction among many. Workers, realizing that the wealthy had the most to gain from free market capitalism, turned to other ways of modernization including communism and socialism. Those who believed that they could achieve what they wanted by gradual reform of the existing political structure were socialists while those who believed that the old order needed to be completely replaced by force were communists. Others rejected the socialist emphasis on international class politics and proposed nationalism as another alternative to individualistic capitalism. Unlike socialists or communists, nationalists believed that there was nothing inherently wrong with capitalism. They just thought it should be regulated and made to benefit the nation as a whole in addition to the few individuals who owned the means of production. In either case, political philosophies that emphasized nation and class were responses to a changing world that had uprooted old social beliefs. Communism, which is also described as "Revolutionary Proletarian Socialism" or "Marxism," is both a political and economic philosophy. The Communist Manifesto is widely regarded as the founding documents of modern communism. It provides an analysis of the limitations of capitalism and class struggle, and it presents the main principles of communist ideology in detail. Marx and Engels viewed the capitalist...
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...Heather Jones Contemporary Political Thought Dr. Pickell November 24, 2015 Karl Heinrich Marx Throughout history many ideologies have been created and many philosophers have explained their thoughts and ideas. It has been over a century since Marx’s death, but he still remains to be one of the most highly influential figures (Prychitko). Karl Marx was not known as a 19th century philosopher, yet he was known as a German journalist, revolutionary socialist, and revolutionary communist. Not only did he discuss political and social issues, but he also inquired about history. Karl Marx was born to Heinrich and Henrietta Marx in Trier, on May 5, 1818 and was one of nine siblings. According to Ball, Dagger, and O’Neill, his father Heinrich was a Jewish, wealthy lawyer in Trier, but was forced to convert to Christianity because the government did not allow Jews to practice law. He was privately educated prior to going to college, and because Marx’s family was wealthy, he went to study law at the University of Bonn. There his grades began to deteriorate because he dedicated himself to his friends, alcohol, and trouble instead of his studies. As a consequence, his father made him relocate to University of Berlin, and while studying philosophy and pursuing law here he was introduced to the ideas Hegel and Feuerbach. In 1941, Marx graduated with a doctorate in Philosophy, but later turned to journalism because with his radical way of thinking he was unable to find an academic...
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...called the “first modern school of economic thought.”[1] Two economist/philosophers who have been placed within this Classical category are Adam Smith and Karl Marx. Though these two men are polar opposites in the political-economic spectrum they share some similarities; and although dated, there are points of value to both Adam Smith’s and Karl Marx’s theories. Adam Smith, the father of economics as a science, combined economics with moral theory in regards to the way societies ought to live. Today’s capitalist economic systems have been shaped by Smith’s explanations of market factors and the role of the state, or lack thereof, in economics. Karl Marx, a fundamental revolutionary, is one of the original minds behind communism. He is renowned as a radical political philosopher. These men have together been placed in the school of classical economics, signaling that there are similarities in their ideology. Politically, however, these men differ greatly. This essay intends to study some of their most poignant theories to compare fundamental differences. Karl Marx became famous for his revolutionary ideas and as one of the originators of communist theories. He is renowned for his book on economic theory, Das Kapital. As members of the Communist League, Marx and his friend Friedrich Engels authored the Communist Manifesto—which discussed the class struggle and the need for a revolution of the proletariat.[3] Common Sense dictates that without production, consumption...
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