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Manifestation of Communism

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Marx, K. & F. Engels ‘Bourgeois and proletarians’

Tom Considine

Marx, K. & F. Engels (1972 [1848], p.1) said ‘The history of all hitherto existing society is the history of class struggles.’ (Marx, K. & F. Engels 1972 [1848], p.1) This is the opening text from Marx and it is the theme of the rest of the chapter. Marx writes of the oppression of the proletarians and how the capitalist bourgeoisie have commodified them. He describes his disapproval for the capitalists stating that there is revolt from the proletariats due to the exploitation that was taking place, this would be the same for any capitalist society. Throughout the text there is the overriding idea that society would benefit with equality and public ownership (socialism). Then I will discuss the argument in favor of capitalism and the argument against socialism.

The main concept of this text is that the capitalist society will always self destruct because of the tensions that occur between the bourgeois and proletarians. This tension is caused by the exploitation of the laborers, who work very hard for very little. Marx demonstrates that capitalism can be a destructive thing as it decreases a whole societies relationships to one that is based on greed and money. Anyone that once had a highly regarded job such as a doctor or lawyer is now a wage-laborer working in the industrial sector for the capitalists. His idea of a functioning economy is one that has societies working in cooperation with one another without separate classes dividing them like feudal times. He believes that classes and hierarchies will only bring about about conflict and a revolt from the proletariats, this is where trade unions where born. Marx, K. & F. Engels (1972 [1848]) However I can say that this is not so relevant to the 21st century as there are many government regulations put in place to stop exploitation like this

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