Thursday, October 23, 2008
The Communist Manifesto
I find it interesting that in the Communist Manifesto Marx is promoting the idea of a classless society while at the same time understaning the roles of the proletariat or the working class and the Bourgeois or the factory owners and people with capital. Given the innate differences in the class standing and opportunities of these two classes there is tension between them. the Bourgeois although a smaller group has the upper hand and can control what happens to the proletariat. However I find it interesting that within the "class" of the proletariat it is argued that they are a classless group of people because as Marx writes "...the proletariat alone is a really revolutionary class...the proletariat is recruited from all classes of the population.". As for the Bourgeois as a class it takes away from the individuality of people because it is such a proponent of making everyinthing equal. Overall I think that Marx's arguments about class are interesting in the way that at times thisgs seem to be contradictory but if there were to be an execution a perfect communist society then these class antagonisms that he argues against might not nescesarrily exist but I don't know if that would ever be possible.
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I also think it is interesting how little contradictions are found throughout the article. They explain how there needs to be a push for a classless society yet they acknowledge that under the present capitalist system, classes are inevitable.
I enjoyed the analogy that the authors made about how the modern bourgeois is like a sorcerer "who is no longer able to control the powers of the nether world whom he has called up by his spells." This falls under the idea of the manifesto where capitalism and/or free trade results in exploitation of the proletariat. The laborers are turned into a commodity, an article of commerce that is controlled by fluctuations of the market and, ultimately, the bourgeoisie.
The one idea from the article was that the proletariat struggle with the bourgeoisie from birth. There are stages in their "life" where struggle occurs. The first starts with birth. When I read this the first time I could picture a little "proletariat" baby in the whom preparing to fight against the bourgeoisie.
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