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Kade Soderstrom

Mrs. Stanford

AP English

09 January 2019

Reader Response on ​The Communist Manifesto

Karl Marx is the founder of Marxism and the forefather of communism, he published his

ideas in a book titled: ​The Communist Manifesto​. Communism is the idea that property is owned

by the public rather than by individual entities. The ideas in this book were fueled by the unfair

treatment of lower-class workers of the industrial revolution. America has taught us that

communism is a foul form of government, but this is a misconception, communism is a theory

that has been misused. In all actuality if communism was used correctly it has the potential to be

the best system of government there is today but leaders in power tend to corrupt a communist

state and send it into destitution and despair.

Karl Marx is a German philosopher, economist, historian, sociologist, political theorist,

journalist, and with the help of Frederick Engels wrote ​The Communist Manifesto. ​His book

contains the theories behind the idea of Marxism. It starts off explaining the difference between

Bourgeoisie, the wealthy capitalist, and the Proletarian, the working class. Marx observes that

the Bourgeoisie increase their wealth by exploiting the Proletarian. They do this by working

these people long hours and paying them as minimally as possible. Even when the Bourgeoisie

increase their profit they do not increase the Proletarianś pay. This profit Marx believes is the
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amount of exploitation. Marx says capitalism is based upon the ownership of property.

Bourgeoisie owns the property and makes money off of it. The core of Communism is based

upon the theory that if the state owns the property rather than individuals then we will have

equality for all.

In order to gain freedom from the Bourgeoisie Marx believed a revolution is necessary.

​ arx states that:

In ​The Communist Manifesto M

If the proletariat during its contest with the bourgeoisie is compelled, by the force of

circumstances, to organise itself as a class, if, by means of a revolution, it makes itself the

ruling class, and, as such, sweeps away by force the old conditions of production, then it

will, along with these conditions, 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.(Marx)

To become one class and one society of people that work to support their own country without

self-righteous business owners people have to overthrow their own government and run it their

self. The result that was expected by Marx was a utopia where people lived in harmony and

worked to support each other and everything was equal, and just. But in all actuality this is not

how communism turned out.

Americans have been taught since a very young age to hate the idea of communism

because of the negative impacts it has produced. Communism became a breeding ground for

totalitarianism and oppression. In countries like Soviet Russia people were oppressed and the

quality of life was horrible. The problem with Communism is that is it can give the politician's a

tremendous amount of power. Soviet Russian politicians were able to manipulate people into
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believing life is idealistic. Soviet Russia did not practice Marxism they were a dictatorship

running off of the foundation of Communism. Marx did not foresee communism becoming what

it is today.

If communism was used correctly society as a whole would be living the best quality of

life. People would be working together as a whole to better society. People get paid based on

their abilities and people will live in harmony. But in order to do this you need the correct culture

and good leaders in charge that are able to hold power without exploiting their own people.

There is one country that has been very successful with a form of communism, China. China has

one of the biggest economies in the world and is very competitive with the United States in this

day and age. The reason communism is so successful in China is that the culture is unique. The

Chinese people tend to think group first, rather than self first. This mindset has resulted in China

excelling in technology and economic growth in recent years. Although communism will not

work for every country it has been successful in China.

America for example would not survive under Communist rule. America is too selfish

and competitive to be Communist. From the time Marx published his ideas Capitalism has come

a long way. Back when he published his book there was a lot more of a wage gap with capitalism

and the opportunity to become wealthy was next to nothing. Today there is a lot more

opportunity for success because of the laws that were enacted after his death. Those laws

abolished child labor, made a minimum wage, added mandatory paid days off, lowered the

amount of hours to forty a week, raised working conditions, and also made working conditions

safer. These were the issues that Marx had with Capitalism that have been solved today. Marx
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believed that Capitalism would implode from the inside because of the resentment the working

class had of the wealthy. But capitalism lives on today as the healthiest it has ever been.

Overall it may be said that although communism had failed in the past it has the potential

to be one of the best forms of government in the world. Karl Marx's ideas have been tested and

there have been mixed results. Communism has failed the Soviet Union throwing them into a

downward spin into totalitarianism, oppression, economic hardship, and total failure of a

government. On the other hand China has seen much economic growth and technological

growth. Karl Marx introduced the world to the idea of Communism although it did not go as

planned it has been a key piece to the history and the creation of modern society.
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Works Cited

MARX, KARL. ​COMMUNIST MANIFESTO​. VINTAGE, 2019.