Communist Manifesto
How does Marx respond to the objection that upon the abolition of private property all work will cease?
"According to this, bourgeois society ought long ago to have gone to the dogs through sheer idleness; for those of its members who work, acquire nothing, and those who acquire anything, do not work. The whole of this objection is but another expression of the tautology: that there can no longer be any wage-labor when there is no longer any capital"
What is the "distinguishing feature" of communism?
"The distinguishing feature of Communism is not the abolition of property generally, but the abolition of bourgeois property. But modern bourgeois private property is the final and most complete expression of the system of producing and appropriating products, that is based on class antagonisms, on the exploitation of the many by the few."
What has the bourgeoisie created? (There are several answers)
**Free trade (exploitation, veiled by religious and political illusions) **Revolution in the mode of (transportation) production and exchange **Political advances (rose economic and politically at the same time) **large cities w increased population
Why does Marx criticize the utopian socialists?
-Because they fail to understand the process of historical change and how socialist objectives might come about -They think that revolution may happen because of their "personally invented forms of action" -Their vision was to attack every principle of society and the disappearance of class antagonisms which were just emerging. It was ultimately fantasy with no practical applications, Their followers were reactionary and not taking political action.
What does it mean to be "revolutionary"?
-Engaged in or promoting political revolution -Those who amplify the differences and conflicts caused by technological advances in society. Revolutionaries provoke differences and violently ram together contradictions within a society, overthrowing the government through the rising to power of the class they represent. After destructing the old order, revolutionaries help build a new government that adheres to the emerging social relationships that have been made possible by the advanced productive forces.
What would a Marxist say about President Trump?
-He is a conservative socialist, and he would only be willing to address the sufferings of the middle class instead of create a total social upheaval in favor of the working class.
Will politics exist in a communist association? Why or why not?
-No, if the proletariat see it fit to make themselves the ruling class they will have destroyed their ruling by eliminating class power. -Will have swept away the conditions for the existence of class antagonisms and of classes generally, and will thereby have abolished its own supremacy as a class
How does Marx respond to the accusation that communists want "community of women"?
-Remove women from the factor of production -Remove women as mere instruments of production -"The communist have no need to introduce the community of women; it has existed almost from time immemorial"
What makes the bourgeois epoch unique? (There are several answers!)
-The epidemic of overproduction -Uninterrupted disturbance of all social conditions -Everlasting uncertainty and agitation (77) -Less complicated than past societies because it is made of two parts -Shifting into two distinct classes (Bourgeoisie and Proletariat) -They further the deteriorating lifestyle of proletariats
What does the Communist Manifesto make manifest?
-The power of the bourgeoisie and that the proletariat have the power to overcome the bourgeoisie -It makes manifest the central ideas of communism and the true intentions of communists.
What does Marx mean by suggesting the bourgeoisie produces its own grave-diggers and how does that involve the proletariat?
-The proletariat are the backbone of capitalism; there would be no capitalism without the working-class laborers. The bourgeois exploits the laborers by selling the products produced by the laborers for more than he pays them to produce the product. And the exploitation of the laborers will cause resentment towards the owners of production. -Capitalism contains its own seeds of destruction. Overtime the capitalist system will continue to create class antagonism between the bourgeoisie and the proletariat. As competition in the capitalist society increases, the bourgeois will drive down wages, forcing the workers into poverty. The bourgeoisie are thus unfit to rule, because they cannot guarantee "an existence to its slave within its slavery." Thus, with the development of Modern Industry, the bourgeoisie produces "its own grave-diggers. At the same time, the proletariat will come to develop an awareness of what is in their own economic interest that is at odds with the bourgeoisie. The proletariat will rise and revolt.`
What does it mean to be "reactionary"?
-To try to turn back the tide of history or to reverse the historical process -- Marx and Engels deem this impossible Maintain a conservative response to change
How does Marx respond to the claim that communists want to do away with private property?
-property relations are subject to change -They want to abolish property that exploits wages, labor, replace with public control -Communist cannot take from the workers what they do not already have. The proletariats do not have private property to begin with therefore they cannot abolish it -"The general cooperation of all members of society for the purpose of planned exploitation of the forces of production, the expansion of production to the point where it will satisfy the needs of all, the abolition of a situation in which the needs of some are satisfied at the expense of the needs of others, the complete liquidation of classes and their conflicts, the rounded development of the capacities of all members of society through the elimination of the present division of labor, through industrial education, through engaging in varying activities, through the participation by all in the enjoyments produced by all, through the combination of city and country - these are the main consequences of the abolition of private property."
Why isn't the Communist Manifesto called a Socialist Manifesto?
-socialism was only a stepping stone to communism if capitalism continued and eventually self-destructed -Because socialism is respectable, but it does not threaten capitalism the way that communism does. -Communism is a revolutionary doctrine.
How long will capitalism last, in your opinion?
......
What do you think will come after capitalism? Can you even imagine another world?
......
What has the bourgeoisie put an end to or destroyed? (There are several answers!)
...has put an end to all feudal, patriarchal, idyllic relations ...exchanged personal worth into exchange value ...stripped of its halo every occupation hitherto honoured and looked up to with reverent awe ...reduced the family relation to a mere money relation ...relationships are based on self interest
What is a social revolution?
A radical transition of relations and mode of production, conditions of production, property relations -- aka society as a whole Fundamental change of power in society- involves a shift of power in society
Marx imagines communism as an "association" that achieves what?
Above all, it will have to take the control of industry and of all branches of production out of the hands of mutually competing individuals, and instead institute a system in which all these branches of production are operated by society as a whole - that is, for the common account, according to a common plan, and with the participation of all members of society. It will, in other words, abolish competition and replace it with association. -An association in which the free development of each is the condition of free development of all
What does the term "bourgeoisie" mean?
By bourgeoise is meant the class of modern capitalists, owners of the means of social production and employers of wage labor (74)
What does the term "proletariat" mean?
By proletariat, the class of modern wage labourers who, having no means of production of their own, are reduced to selling their labour power in order to live (74)
The history of all hitherto existing society is the history of _____________________________.
Class Struggles (74)
How do class struggles end?
Either in a revolutionary reconstruction of society at large, or in the common ruin of the contending classes (74)
How does Marx define "political power" properly so called?
Political power, properly so called, is merely the organized power of one class for oppressing another.
What is a conservative socialist?
Someone who has a desire to ensure the preservation of the bourgeois society by moderating the struggles and dangers bound up with it Want the advantages of the social conditions generated by Modern Industry, without the struggles and dangers that necessarily accompany them
Why did Marx believe that the proletariat was the next revolutionary force?
The Proletariat are connected by improved communication, and by the miserable existence they share in common. They are also in the majority in society, and their numbers are increasing. The most significant trait of the proletariat, however, is that they have nothing to lose. By the nature of being proletarians, they have no power or privileges they must defend. Rather, to help themselves they must destroy the entire system and revolt. "You have nothing to lose but your chains"
The bourgeoisie cannot exist without doing what?
The bourgeoisie cannot exist without constantly revolutionizing the instruments of production, and thereby the relations of production, and with them the whole relations of society.
What puts the existence of the entire bourgeois society on trial?
The commercial crises by their reemergence (79)
Why is the bourgeoisie chased all over the globe?
The need for a constantly expanding market for their products (77)
How is it that the bourgeoisie becomes "unfit" to be the ruling class for a society that cannot live with it?
The weapons with which the bourgeoisie felled feudalism to the ground are now turned against the bourgeoisie itself (79) -"Pauperization" (p. 84) - refers to a destitute person whose life is supported by charity or some sort of public welfare. -Develops faster than population and wealth -Modern labored instead of rising with the progress of industry, sinks deeper and deeper below the conditions of existence of his own class. -Proves that bourgeoisie are unfit to rule, because it cannot ensure the life of their workers -Blames poverty on the people bourgeoisie
Workers are able to work only so long as
they can find work and their labor increases capital. (79)
