Seminar 4: The Communist Manifesto

Some of the points in the Manifesto that I am particularly interested in include the fact that Marx is looking at the matter in a very practical way, talking about changing society rather than taking a laissez faire attitude and letting things work themselves out. However, I am not sure that the changes he proposes are necessarily the best way to go. This may be because I find it extremely difficult to conceive a society like the one that Karl Marx sets out. I have to agree though that his insight into how society is structured and the “machine” of the working class does make sense. It has to be remembered that in the 21st century, in the Western, capitalist world, we now have a balance between work and enjoyment, therefore we can have a job and reap the rewards. Because of this, some of Marx’s ideas are no longer relevant, and the loss of this freedom would discourage many from communism.

We discussed in class that the second section in the Manifesto brings to light the positives of communism, which many of us had written off as a purely negative thing. For example, it would eliminate religion and other such barriers, which would make society, laws and debates much less complicated and controversial. However, the fact that everyone becomes part of the workforce, as just another cog in the machine, is a negative. It could easily happen that personality and individuality gets lost. We looked at China and the Soviet Union as examples of the manifesto at work, and also mentioned Cuba and Venezuela. Taking China, for example, it is very closed off from the western world and this may have encouraged its success. This is because being open to the western world would be likely to inspire doubts as to the fairness of the system and encourage people to want to own things for themselves and to want more from their life. Both China and the Soviet Union have been pretty successful in setting up Communist societies, as have Israel's Kibbutzes in which everyone is equal and the whole community works to provide for everyone. In the western world there have also been several similar communities built up where they trade and barter, however these communities still have to work in a capitalist economy and so are not pure examples of communism. The problem with these communities is that they offer no independence or freedom.

We also tried to figure out why communism has been so successful in these countries; it is relatable to the majority of the population, the manifesto is written in clear, simple layman’s terms and so is easily understood and followed, it feeds upon the grievances of the population and so is popular, and it is very practical. It was also suggested that Communism may be more suited to larger populations, where the economy would be more productive.

It was said that the recent financial crisis might possibly open society up to change like this as people become poorer and more unhappy with the social and economic system that we currently live by. Communism is often seen as a “spectre” or ghost, especially in Europe, underlying and always there, just needing something or someone to give it life. One of the main positives of the Communist Manifesto is that Marx and Engels updated it several times in their lifetimes and so it is still quite valid to society today.