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The Communist Manifesto and Das Kapital, both by Karl Marx, are books that criticize
Capitalism, its roots, its effects and its foundations. Throughout the reading, the excerpts form the two
books point at the flaws of Capitalism. Why is it bad? Why is it not helpful to a majority? How is it that
it can overthrown? What should replace it? These and more are the questions that are posed and
subsequently answered by Marx and Engels in the Communist Manifesto and Das Kapital.
The first and foremost thing that Marx and his friend address is the issue of why they think
Capitalism is bad. According to the Communist Manifesto, Capitalism, which resulted from the ancient
feudal society, is a government where the wealth is concentrated among one class of people referred to
Marx says that, “The bourgeoisie has stripped of its halo every occupation hitherto honored and
looked up to with reverent awe. It has converted the physician, the lawyer, the priest, the poet, the man
of science, into its paid wages.” The bourgeoisie turns all occupations into just a source or investment
of money. Doctors, who many consider equal to god because of their power to heal, are seen as people
that charge money. Lawyers who are seen as people possessing dense knowledge are known only for
their money. Everything is reduced the value of the person in money or capital. This is the main reason
for Capitalism being 'bad'. Capitalism reduces the value of every person, regardless of his professions,
The bourgeoisie is the upper class and the proletarians are the lower or working class, the social
“The lower strata of the middle class-- the small tradespeople, shopkeepers, and retired tradesmen generally, the
handicraftsmen and peasants – all these sink gradually into the proletariat, partly because their diminutive capital
does not suffice for the scale on which Modern Industry is carried on, and is swamped in the competition with
the large capitalists, partly because their specialized skill is rendered worthless by new methods of production.”
These proletarians are pushed to the edges of poverty because their pay is not sufficient to keep them at
par with rich bourgeoisie. This itself causes problems. Moreover, Marx points out, “...machinery
obliterates all distinctions of labor and nearly everywhere reduces wages to the same low level.” This
increase in use of machinery leaves many people jobless. This is why Capitalism is not supportive of a
majority of the population of the society. Marx puts it beautifully in the following sentence, “ This is
the workers paradox; work harder, produce more, but get fired in the end because they produced too
much.”
Given the conditions there is only one logical result; rebellion. Driven by poverty and hunger,
groups of proletarians come together in groups that Marx calls trade unions and go up against the
bourgeoisie. Even though they are successful sometimes, the majority of their efforts are futile against
the powerful wealth of the bourgeoisie. Marx though, clearly says that if this capitalism continues, the
population of the proletarians will keep increasing and therein lies their power to overthrow the
bourgeoisie. He says, “ The real fruit of their battles lie not in the immediate result, but in the ever
Marx then ventures a question. What will the proletarians do once they have overthrown the
bourgeoisie? This is where the concept of communism comes in. He says that Capitalism, run by the
bourgeoisie, should be replaced by Communism, run by the people. He sums up the Communist theory
in one sentence: “Abolition of private property.” He says that Communism is better because the
bourgeoisie will have almost no power and given that, the proletarians will benefit a lot.
During the time, Marx and Engels wrote this book, there was an age of revolutions dawning in
Europe. An age where proletarians everywhere rebelled against their respective upper class or
bourgeoisie. The reason The Communist Manifesto became a huge hit is because it showed these people
a way to get past the upper class and get what they wanted. It also told them what to replace the flawed
system with in order to help themselves. But this work was not a hit among all the people. Obviously
the Capitalists were annoyed with this work. They were afraid that if something like this gained too
much momentum it would be enough to over throw the bourgeoisie. But this step by step manual on
how to replace Capitalism was used by many in the later years to control an absolute monarchy. Hitler