‼️ The Communist Manifesto by Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels ‼️

 60/∞

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📚 Length: 288 pages

🔊Audiobook: 1 hours 17 minutes

Why you should read this book?

💡 To prove you are not afraid to fight the bourgeoisie and social injustice caused by their careless exploitation of the proletariat

💡 To find out how people could be more equal again

💡 To realise that the threat of communism is the way to keep the bourgeoisie at check

"Workers of the world, unite! You have nothing to lose but your chains!"

The generation of my parents must have had read this book. It was obligatory, there was no escape to it. You do not read the book, you get expelled from the school, period. Your future was absolutely shattered, then. Anybody who was to succeed in the country run by a communist regime, was obliged to read and celebrate The Communist Manifesto. Even though they had to pretend to like it. I guess this makes this book quite unpopular with the generation located in the former Eastern Block and post-communist countries.

What leads me to read this book is something different than a pure critique of communism. I am searching for a solution. A solution to the western housing crises, to inequality between the poor and rich, the inability to afford your own home, the inability to have a family and rise kids like a normal human being. For all that I indicate one and only: the capitalist regime.

In the West it is slowly becoming a norm that you have to work 2-3 jobs, just to pay your rent. The West is failing its people by ever increasing number of homeless in the streets (see Gaffs by Rory Hearne - reviewed by Der Kaiser 👑). While a few (the capitalist, esp. the business owners) are profiting, the normal people keep to struggle. The capitalist and politicians elected by them also fail to address the inflation. Who care the middle class and the poor are getting even poorer? They do not care, because they have more than enough money at their disposal!

I have lived in the West long enough to see that the capitalist exploitative system is causing an immense amount of injustice and inequality. It causes even more injustice and inequality in so call post-communist countries which used to be in so called Eastern Block. The problem, or shall I say disease of post-communist countries is the wage inequality. Most of the citizens of post communist countries get paid 1/2 or less of what workers in the West earn. This injustice must be mended, unconditionally! We ought to suffer no longer.

…

Karl Marx invites all the workers to unite and create a new communist super-state. The state where are no borders and it is purely run by the proletariat (the working class).

At first Marx talks about historical development of the bourgeois exploiting the proletariat. He mentions Ancient Rome, Ancient Greece and the feudal system in Europe. Marx points out that 'labour' ment different things in different historical periods. For example, the ancient Greece and Rome stood on the labour of slaves. Therefore, their work equalled to nothing, because it was for free.

The capitalist system is imperfect as it is characterised by periods of growth and crashes. This leads to the constant production of economic crises. In communism there are very little crises. For example the first and the second oil Crisis did not affect communist countries at all.

The capitalist system is based on exploration of the workers by the bourgeoisie. In the modern context, anybody who doesn’t have his own clients, his own business and is only selling the work he or she does to the bourgeoisie, could be considered a member of the proletariat and is the subject of exploitation.

Another way the bourgeoisie exploits the proletariat is through property rights and the fact that the proletariat has to pay rent to the bourgeoisie. In this context the bourgeoisie is becoming ever richer and richer, while the proletariat poorer and poorer as the rent and prices go up and never down. In this scenario the proletariat has no chance of escaping the system, because if everything is getting more and more expensive, the proletariat struggles to save up for a mortgage deposit and escape the evil cycle of capitalism.

Working class is being constantly exploited by the capitalist as the prices go always up, but not the wages. This is called the inflation. Hence the workers are always forced to work more and put in longer hours, only to get the same wage regardless the fact they doubled down on their efforts.

The extended hand of the capitalists (the bourgeoisie) is the police, the army, the prison system which is used to enforce the will of the bourgeoisie, not of the proletariat (the workers).

Marx invites all to abolish personal property rights and goes even to the extremes as abolishing the family. I only add, that I think that abolishing the family is a bit extreme view and it is not possible. The human society stands on the existence of family as the foundation of all human relationships. Moreover, it could be argued that the property rights were limited under the communist regime. You do not own your house or apartment. It is given to you by the government. In communism, you are still allowed to own things like car, your own belongings and so on. Here it really depends how much of an extreme view you want to apply on the property rights.

In the ideal communist state, the factories (means of production) must be owned by the people of that country and the effort of all equals the reward for all.

Kaiser’s Verdict: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ (fairly recommended read)

The language of this book is a bit outdated. E.g. It uses words such as the spectre (the ghost 👻), but it is understandable as this book was first published in 1867 and it has barely changed since then.

I think you will especially benefit from reading The Communist Manifesto when you are being exploited by landlord, your employer and your politicians are doing fuck all to even attempt to decrease the inflation and to address the social injustice in your country.

If you are in such situation, you have nothing to loose, but your chains as Marx and Engels put it. I agree with them! You cannot steal from those who have nothing left!

It is important to mention you are likely to meet the most adherents of communism in countries like Ireland, where are young people completely locked out of the housing market and they are seeking solution to their problem. As the old proverb has it: who seeks, shall find.

I have seen enough in the Western European countries to note that many foreign workers and immigrants are currently being exploited to the bone. They are not even treated like human beings by the bourgeoisie, but only as ‘mere’ tools for the production. This makes me extremely pissed off and I want to see these issues being addressed.

The only way out is to unite and fight the bourgeoisie. The bourgeoisie is not scared of anything else, but the state of anarchy, where the property rights are not respected and one can take whatever one wishes. This is the only moment when the bourgeoisie loses control over the proletariat and proletariat is free to act in its own interest. Communism should be used as a boogy man to scare the bourgeoisie in cases where the needs of proletariat are being overlooked. Which happens all the time and therefore the threat of the revolution shall constantly loom over bourgeoisie!

Otherwise we already know that communism does not work. People get tired of constantly attempting to build something and getting it forcefully nationalised. Eventually, they start to run off and the communist state files bankruptcy.

But there is something romantic about revolution, about mending the injustice. In my own opinion, the communism helps to wipe out the differences between the individual classes. Sadly, once all property gets redistributed one way or another, it always leads to cumulation of capital by a certain members of the society and consequent discrimination of the other classes.

Nevertheless, the bourgeoisie shall know there are only few. The proletariat is greater in numbers and it as a fact more powerful than the bourgeoisie. Therefore, the bourgeoisie shall be constantly taking steps to make the proletariat happy in order to avoid the revolution. The bourgeoisie, shall keep increasing the wages of the proletariat, keep providing housing and making sure everybody is alright. If the bourgeoisie does not act in this way, they shall be removed by the proletariat and new leader shall be found.

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Coming Up Next:

Capital: A Critique of Political Economy Vol. 1 by Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels

Peace 🧘‍♂️✌️🌱