The Communist Manifesto

The Communist Manifesto

By

3.5454545454545
(66 Reviews)
The Communist Manifesto by Karl Marx, Frederick Engels

Published:

1888

Pages:

43

ISBN:

0451527100

Downloads:

204,497

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The Communist Manifesto

By

3.5454545454545
(66 Reviews)
One of the world's most influential political manuscripts. Commissioned by the Communist League and written by communist theorists Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels, it laid out the League's purposes and program. It presents an analytical approach to the class struggle (historical and present) and the problems of capitalism, rather than a prediction of communism's potential future forms.--Wikipedia

Book Excerpt

we find almost everywhere a complicated arrangement of society into various orders, a manifold gradation of social rank. In ancient Rome we have patricians, knights, plebeians, slaves; in the Middle Ages, feudal lords, vassals, guild-masters, journeymen, apprentices, serfs; in almost all of these classes, again, subordinate gradations.

The modern bourgeois society that has sprouted from the ruins of feudal society has not done away with class antagonisms. It has but established new classes, new conditions of oppression, new forms of struggle in place of the old ones. Our epoch, the epoch of the bourgeoisie, possesses, however, this distinctive feature: it has simplified the class antagonisms: Society as a whole is more and more splitting up into two great hostile camps, into two great classes, directly facing each other: Bourgeoisie and Proletariat.

From the serfs of the Middle Ages sprang the chartered burghers of the earliest towns. From these burgesses the first elements of the bourgeoisie we

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3
the theory of communism seems fair and just however putting it into practice is impossible.
would anyone like to share reason of failure of communism? Was it a conceptual failure or failure due to lack of leadership or mismanagement?

Huzain
1
As a former beliver, I can say with conviction that I have studied the problem and found:

1. Lenin tried and failed
2. Stalin tried and failed
3. Countless others have tried and failed
4. Communism has never worked in practical application

Quod Erat Demonstrandum
I bet that the previous reviewer could indeed go on (spouting self-referential horror stories manufactured by fascists, pro-fascists, and ultranationalists and propagated by capitalists and nationalists). Interestingly enough, he even advocates banning this book, and by extension banning Marx's ideas.

Not only does he casually drop impossible figures like "20 million murdered" (as if Stalin himself went around the streets with a gun shooting 15% of the population individually, and no one noticed), he fulfills Godwin's Law by the second paragraph. As an appeal to emotion, reductio ad Hitlerum is an intellectually bankrupt method of argument. Implying that the Soviet Union under Stalin was worse than Nazi Germany in what is supposed to be a review of the Communist Manifesto is non-sequitur.

The Communist Manifesto does not advocate "vile and degenerate" actions. The Bible, with its passages justifying genocide, stoning, anti-homosexuality, and sexism, would be a better candidate for the title of "most vile and degenerate book".

http://clogic.eserver.org/1-2/furr.html

I agree that the Communist Manifesto was never about utopia. It was indeed about "greed and cruelty", in that its purpose was, and is, to end the greed and cruelty inherent to the capitalist system.

The Communist Manifesto is a short and succinct introduction to Marxist thought. It should of course lead one to read one of the most in-depth analyses of capitalism Das Kapital. I only hope that it continues to encourage people to question and analyze our current form of human organization, which we are told is the best and only possible. The Communist Manifesto is as relevant today as it was over 100 years ago.
1
20 million Russians murdered under Stalin as a direct result of the philosophy this book introduced. People reduced to cannibalism as a direct result of the agricultural policies set out here. Half the world imprisoned in daily fear of their lives with no escape. I could go on.

I doubt many people would be giving a 5 star rating to Mein Kampf. People rating this a five should be ashamed. It was never about utopia, it was a book of greed and cruelty. Probably the most vile and degenerate book ever written. It\'s scary to think that it\'s still brainwashing people to this day.

Chances are a lot of reviewers giving this a positive score imagine that if communists took power you would be rewarded with a nice office, a bust of Lenin and some adoring young party members hanging off your every word. In reality you\'d be more likely to get a bullet in the head like many party members who accidentally strayed one word from the official line. This book, and this book alone, should be banned.
5
Wow! I was looking at the comments below mine, and realized that half of the reviewers haven't even read the book. "Communism has been tried and failed..." What planet are you living on? What has been "tried and failed" is *forced* socialism; an unsustainable shortcut. If you'd have read the book, you would know and understand the reasons behind those failures. At present day, be assured that you are witness to the gradual change as originally described by Engles. Should be required reading for just about everyone.
*sigh* How does one add a review to a collection of heated, acrimonious exchanges which reveal the authors' biases but little about this book? Of course this is inevitable. A book which has left such a strong and controversial footprint upon the sands of time, and which is only the tip of the iceberg of an intriguing, difficult, and even more controversial system of thought, is bound to produce such a reaction. Personally, as an ardent classical liberal and believer in free-market capitalism, I disagree strongly with the conclusions of this volume; but I am not here to defend my position, and the fact is I believe everyone should read Marx, first for historical insight, but also to be challenged mentally. There is a dangerous tendency in our society only to read books with which one agrees. So-called 'conservatives' read books by 'conservatives' presenting a 'conservative' view on the world; 'liberals' read books by 'liberals' which fit everything within a tidy 'liberal' worldview. Yet this kind of thinking gets one nowhere productive. If I followed this trend, I wouldn't be where I am today. Therefore, rather than either run on a tirade against Marx's views or wax eloquent on his virtues or nitpick his faults, I will simply urge the reader to carefully read and consider what Marx has to say. That is all. One would hope this would be obvious, but judging by other reader responses, that is unfortunately not the case.
people need to remember that this is not a book about an idea that will lead to a select few having absolute control. it is merely a book about a groups utopia. personally, a class less society would be perfect. that way we will no longer be in things such as recession or even depressions. capitalists are just greedy. great book. must read. also, lenin, stalin, etc. are not marxists. they taught their own form of marxism or communism.
Glen Dawson - A Satirical Wake-up Call
FEATURED AUTHOR - After graduating from Duke University, Glen Dawson owned and operated a flexible packaging manufacturing plant for 23 years. Then, he sold the factory and went back to school to get his Master's degree in biostatistics from Boston University. When he moved to North Carolina, he opened an after-school learning academy for advanced math students in grades 2 through 12. After growing the academy from 30 to 430 students, he sold it to Art of Problem Solving. Since retiring from Art of Problem… Read more