Communism: The Communist Manifesto By Karl Marx

Marx saw capital and liberal democracies as the fundamental reasons for the low standards of living and the low social conditions of workers. Karl Marx in particular is especially concerned with the political assumptions behind these two ideologies. According to him, these two types of government should be replaced by communism, since communism would provide for a more equal and socially just society. Although this statement may seem unusual, since we tend to associate communism with Stalin and China, the type of communism implemented in these countries is different from the communism that Marx and Engels envisaged in their Communist Manifesto. Marx and Engels’ vision of communism is based on the principle of equality among the people and freedom

For Marx, Communism is the perfect alternative to liberal and capitalist democracies. Marx describes Communism as being the “affairs of the people” (Marx Karl, On the Jewish Question, 63), since the detachment between the state/government and the people is abolished. On the contrary, the community will lead the people. In Marx’s Communism there is also no division of labor, and consequently no division of classes, instead everyone will be equal. In capitalist and liberal democracies, since men cannot change their conditions whenever they want, men are obliged to continue the work that they first performed. In capitalist societies workers cannot choose the work they would like to perform, but they perform a job only because in this way they are securing a wage, whereas in communism workers can choose on a daily basis what type of work they would like to perform, and they can change it every day, since in communism there is no “exclusive sphere of activity”. (Marx, Karl. “The German Ideology.” Karl Marx: Selected Writings. Ed. David McLellan. 2nd ed. Oxford: Oxford UP, 2000. 185. Print.). Moreover, Marx claims that communism leads to the emergence of the “social power”. (The German Ideology, page 185) which entails a natural form of cooperation between the individuals. Thus, Marx believes that Communism is the best type of government that a society can

Men are guided by self-interest and so they will always pursue their own benefits first, and they will help others only if it is in their convenience. Marx states that men cooperate naturally through “social power”, but this power can also lead men to fight, since individuals that have different ideas will tend to argue with each other. Marx also talks about the power of the people, which is one of the principles on which democracy is founded. However, people do not always know what is best for them and for the society as a whole since, in order to govern, you do not need only experience, but you also need political and economic knowledge. People’s power would be good initially, but as soon as the first problems emerge then a community would not be able to efficiently decide on the best course of action. When problems develop, people will try to solve them according to their own interests, so there will be the necessity of a supranational authority which creates new laws and then executes them. Without such authority, the community would not be able to come to an agreement and especially they would not be able to enforce the laws. Marx’s communism does not take into account also immigration. In conclusion, communism as described by Marx would represent a perfect type of government, where the citizens have the power, and where everybody is equal. However, this does not represent the truth. Men