The Communist Manifesto

 For this third blog post, I read the Communist Manifesto by Karl Marx. My first impression of it was a small red book with an introduction that was WAY too long (half the actual book, and keep in mind the width of it is about half an index finger measured vertically). When I started to get to the content, the closest thing I could find to a character was a guy called the “bourgeoisie”, who seemed to be messing with a guy called the “proletarian” and the “communists”. The whole plot  was basically how “bourgeoisie” was screwing up others' lives! 0/10, would not recommend. 

Bad jokes aside, I actually did enjoy the book a lot. As I said above, the intro was quite lengthy, but once I got to the good part, smooth sailing was inevitable. I came to this book with a mindset of skepticism, as it seemed as if it was brainwashing propaganda meant to make the reader hypnotize themselves in Communism. Of course, my skepticism was well deserved, as my predictions turned out to be true.  However, I was not expecting it to be fun to read. 

For the first section or so, Karl Marx expertly explains how the Bourgeoisie (middle-upper class) utilize the proletarian class (working class) to get things done. As he puts it, the Bourgeoisie have the proletarian class work for the capital, so that any work they do loses its individuality and uniqueness. Individuality becomes a part of the capital. This makes it so that the proletariat loses their ability to think for themselves. However, when the production rates go up, there will be no need for the proletarian to work more, so the bourgeoisie must find a way to spend the excess resources. This kind of reminds me of 1984, as a big plot point in that book is when the government spends resources on war so that its citizens will always have to work more and have no time to question their conditions (well, I guess except Winston). 

For the third part, Marx underlines how, from the birth to the death of the proletariat, they are in a constant battle with the bourgeoisie. I don’t want to spoil it, but to give a brief description, the workers have an uphand, however because they quarrel with each other, the bourgeoisie can use them, in their confusion, to fight other bourgeoisie’s of other countries. However, Marx likes to emphasize that the proletariats will win. 

At first, it is hard to grasp how the communists relate to the proletarians. But as the reader, well, reads on, you can see that they both have many common interests. Well, kind of only one, which is to overthrow the bourgeoisie and establish the proletariat as the dominant class. However, communists strive to get rid of private property, to give everyone a place to live, to eliminate the concept of owning something. He believed that the proletarians should have the means of production, rather than the bourgeoisie. 

Personally, I enjoyed reading it. It was pretty fun, how Marx described the conflict between the two classes. I didn’t agree with the message of having no private property, but perhaps that is because I am a narrow-minded bourgeoisie that likes the idea of having your own things. Regardless, I would recommend this book for anyone who would like to see the brewing ideas of the 19th century intelligent people. It is basically a collection of ideas from Marx, and is fun to read if you like reading other people’s minds!