This is the third time I have read The Communist Manifesto, and each time I have read it I’ve taken something new. The first time I read it, it was a struggle just to figure out what Marx was talking about. The second time I began to pick apart the properties of communism as presented by Marx and Engels, but still I didn’t see the applicability of it. This time around I was interested in what I found to be a dichotomy between the positivity of the outlook in the Manifesto verses the complete hell communism has proven to be in practice.
At times they write in philosophical jargon that I think could be phrased more succinctly and clearly, but behind this veil of academia the book almost seems like a fairy tale. When I think communism, I can’t help but think of Nazi concentration camps. I suppose I could see an abuse of this structure if it was completely used as an end to power and control, but in its intentions, the Manifesto presents a progressive and hopeful scenario. The abolishment of the class system, and thus equality among the masses, the stripping of the social class character from property, such that everyone has a right to their own land, public education for children: these sound like good ideas on paper. In fact, most everything in the Manifesto sounds good in theory, except maybe the new connotations surrounding the family, which while in a way I get, I still don’t care for it.
So if communism sounds so good on paper, why hasn’t it worked? Could it ever work? I know I couldn’t answer those questions here, but at least in dealing with the problem of this rift between what communism should be in theory and what it has been in execution, I think the answer is not too hard to find. Humans are fallible. Some tend to crave power, and even if communism as put forth by Marx and Engels is a benevolent idea, there are always individuals and groups willing to misconstrue something that was originally intended for the betterment of mankind as a whole in favor of bettering their individual existences (as they perhaps see it) with money, power, reputation, and so on. I like the ideas presented by Marx and Engels for the most part, I just don’t see how the system could ever get around power-hungry would be emperors.
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Good blog. I agree that the Manifesto is not the easiest thing to read no matter how many times you read it. I see new things and undestand things differently every time I read it. I agree that it seems like a fairy tale, but I have to disagree with your statement that - "When I think communism, I can’t help but think of Nazi concentration camps." Communism and the Nazi are polar opposites. The Nazi belief is that power should be held by an elite few, unlike communism's view of equal power. Overall I agree with your view though, people are fallible and that's why it wouldn't work.
ReplyDeleteI agree with you that ideally communism as a theory is extremely practical and very may well work in the proper environment. However, the semi-Utopian society needed for the implementation is almost impossible. I too used this opportunity to re-read the manifesto. I feel that like yourself, I was able to better understand much of the arguments this time around (I was in high school the first time. I too disagree with the Nazi-Communism parallel but I can see where the whole dictatorship could throw one off...
ReplyDeleteI agree with you. In reading the Communist Manifesto communism sounds like a great idea and like it could solve a lot of problems people are still having today with government. The problem is that when you have a structured society such as this you are always going to have people with the wrong intentions trying to gain power. If there could be a society where everyone could be equal and no one tried to fill the power void the points Marx makes would make a great society.
ReplyDeleteLike you, I think that every time I read the Manifesto, a different part calls to me. And, while I still can't find the ultimate solution to be feasible, I find his critique of capitalism (what he sees as the problems with the system) more compelling every time I read it. I do think that work is a part of the "essence" of mankind and that feeling unfulfilled in our work causes real problems for us as people and I believe that the capitalist system contributes to that. I am not sure that any other economic system would actually solve that problem but I do think that the alienation of labor is a problem that still plagues our society today. By focusing so much on what Marx got wrong, I think that we can fail to see what he got right.
ReplyDeleteAnd to echo the other comments, I don't follow the link to concentration camps at all. Are you suggesting that both system result in totalitarian governments?