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The Evils Of Communism: Karl Marx And Frederick Engels

2732 Words11 Pages

INTRODUCTION
Communism was initially a philosophy of history that outlined why capitalism was destined to fail and why socialism would replace it. It was a scientific theory of society which explained how the present order of society was formed and how it would be transformed into a better order of society in the course of history.
Karl Marx and Frederick Engels came up with the theory of Communism. After scientific research and investigations, they came to the conclusion that social changes were not accidental but followed definite laws. Social development was moving in the direction of a social revolution which would result in the establishment of a classless and stateless communist society. He studied the physical organisation of human …show more content…

According to him, “Drunkenness, debauchery, theft and other evils were the result not of original sin or of individual character defects but of a deformed social system.” The evils of capitalism could only be cured through cooperative production and a reformed education system.
Many other thinkers tried to create schemes to propagate socialism but none were as influential and long-lived as Marx’s theory of Communism. Marx was born to Jewish family in the German Rhineland. He earned a doctorate in philosophy but was not able to take up an academic post because of his Jewish Ancestry in the presence of an anti-Semitic society. This is why he turned to the field of journalism and moved to France. Here he met Friederich Engels who would become his political partner for the next 40 years.
Marx’s career as a journalist brought to significant changes in his views and opinions. First, he began to notice the social and political aspects of economics. Second, he became a radical who knew that no government reforms could change the rotten social and political system of his day. Marx’s publications were censored and confiscated, and the German government even issued a warrant for his …show more content…

This is because capitalism has three significant disadvantages. The first is that capitalism is outdated. Capitalism was useful at one point but its usefulness eventually ran out which would lead to the establishment of a freer Communist society.
The second reason is that capitalism leads to isolation. According to Marx, under capitalism the workers were isolated for four different reasons:-
• The workers are labourers who do not own the means of production or the products they create which is why they are isolated from the product.
• Under capitalism, the creativity of the workers is completely destroyed. They act as mere a machine which is why they are isolated from the production process.
• In a capitalist society, the workers lose their ability to create and appreciate items of nature. All their senses are dulled or remain undeveloped because of the intense working conditions.
5
• Capitalism isolates workers from one another and also encourage them to compete against each

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