Manifesto of the Communist Party

Karl Marx and Fredrick Engels

Background

Karl Heinrich Marx (May 5, 1818 – March 14, 1883) German philosopher, political economist, historian,

sociologist, humanist, political theorist and revolutionary credited as the founder of communism.

Friedrich Engels (28 November 1820 – 5 August 1895) German social scientist and philosopher, who

developed communist theory alongside his better-known collaborator, Karl Marx, co-authoring The Communist Manifesto (1848).

The Manifesto is more a political tract than anything else (advocating a turn to communism), but there is a lot in it that can be unpacked if you understand what Marx advocated

The Manifesto First published in 1848 One of the world's most influential political

manuscripts. Commissioned by the Communist League it laid out the League's purposes and program.

Does not lay out the form of communism so much as it criticizes capitalism and details class struggle

Social Classes p. 3 "The history of all hitherto existing society is the history

of class struggles." P. 3 “Our epoch, the epoch of the bourgeoisie, possesses,

however, this distinct feature: it has simplified class antagonisms. Society as a whole is more and more splitting up into two great hostile camps, into two great classes directly facing each other — Bourgeoisie and Proletariat.” First, what does he man by “class”? Second, is this accurate? What about pre-history? Third, are there really only two classes?

According to Marx, there are only two classes and they are distinguished by their relationship to the “means of production.”

So, let’s look at “social classes” and “means of production”

Capitalism

Capitalism is, in a nutshell, private ownership of the “means of production” Means of production are the tools necessary to

manufacture goods or provide services

Entrepreneur& Capital

(bourgeoisie)

Factory(means of

production)

Workers(proletariat)

Profit for capitalists

Value

$$ - Ford Durango

Work put into it

Profit for capitalists

The value of a good or service in capitalism is equal to the time put into it plus the profit generated for capitalists.

But value comes exclusively from one source: exploitation of the proletariat.

How does exploitation work?

Cost = $20 in raw goods, sales, etc.

Profit = $80

1 workerRaw

goods1 pair of

$100 shoes

Cost = $100 in raw goods, sales, etc.

Pay for worker = $100

1 workerRaw

goods10 pairs of $100 shoes

Cost to Bourgeoisie = $200Profit to Bourgeoisie = $800

Wage Labour P. 15 “The average price of wage-labour is the

minimum wage, i.e., that quantum of the means of subsistence which is absolutely requisite to keep the labourer in bare existence as a labourer. What, therefore, the wage-labourer appropriates by means of his labour, merely suffices to prolong and reproduce a bare existence.”

What do they mean here?

Social Class according to Marx

Two classes, depending on relationship to means of production

Either you own the means of production = bourgeoisie Or you own your “labor power,” which is used to run

the means of production = proletariat

Factory(means of

production)

Entrepreneur(bourgeoisie)

Workers(proletariat)

Social Class Is there anything wrong with Marx’s

understanding of social class? How many classes are there? What about small business owners or working

professionals? Where does a plumber fit into Marx’s distinction if

he owns his own business? So, was Marx right about there only being two

social classes?

Social Class Max Weber argued that class was a

combination of property, prestige, and power. Is this a better way of thinking about social

class? Why do you need all three in order to

understand social class? Usually, if you have one, you can get the others…

Property PowerPrestige

Bill Gates - Property He has property - $58 billion as of 2008 Does he have prestige?

Just spoke at TED What about power?

Property

Power

Prestige

Bill Clinton - Power He had power as president Does he have property?

Made $35,000 per year as governor of Arkansas prior to running for president

Standard speaking fee today - $150,000; makes around $10 million per year

What about prestige?

Property

Power

Prestige

Michael Phelps - Prestige Gained prestige as an Olympic athlete Does he have property?

Makes millions via endorsements Net worth is somewhere around $6-$10 million His contract with Speedo, which has been extended through 2009, is

estimated to be worth about $9 million. What about power?

Property

Power

Prestige

Social Class Weber’s distinction makes a lot of sense But it isn’t the only way to distinguish the

different groups within a hierarchy Class generally is used to refer to the groups

within a quasi-meritocratic hierarchy Not all hierarchies are meritocratic

Why do we use “class” in quasi-meritocratic hierarchies but not in other hierarchies?

Does “class” include more than just your relationship to the means of production and your power, property, and prestige? Are there different cultures in different classes?

Systems of Social Stratification - Slavery

Causes Debt, crime, war

Justifications later became – race, ethnicity, religion, gender, etc. – ideological justifications

Conditions Was, at times, temporary (to pay off debt) Not necessarily inheritable Not necessarily powerless

Slavery in the New World Bonded labor; indentured servitude

Slavery Today Does it continue today? Child soldiers; sex trade

No “classes” involved

Systems of Social Stratification - Caste

Status in the social hierarchy is determined by birth; generally life-long

India’s Religious Castes Brahman – priests and teachers Kshatriya – rulers and soldiers Vaishya – Merchants and traders Shudra – Peasants and laborers Dalit – outcastes; degrading laborers (clean up waste) Abolished in 1949, but still continues at some levels

South Africa - apartheid Divided by “race” – blacks, whites, mixed, and Asians;

determined social status in hierarchy and jobs – ended in 1990s

U.S. Racial Caste System Informal/formal system – considered “higher status” if white;

for some groups, this continues until today (hate groups)

Systems of Social Stratification - Feudalism

Estate – feudalism: 3 estates Nobility – owned everything (except, maybe,

churches) Clergy – kind of existed independently Commoners – owned as part of the land

Feudalism was replaced by the class system of capitalism (more below)

Class Still a hierarchy (think of the pyramids at the

beginning) But more open – usually based on

possessions, power, prestige Allows some fluidity – movement between

statuses

Social Class - Summary Marx is referring to two social classes:

bourgeoisie and proletariat Today, we think of social classes as existing in

more open hierarchical societies (quasi-meritocratic)

We also think of them as having many characteristics and that there are more than just two

Origins of Capitalism Pp. 3-4 “The discovery of America, the rounding of the Cape, opened up fresh

ground for the rising bourgeoisie. The East-Indian and Chinese markets, the colonisation of America, trade with the colonies, the increase in the means of exchange and in commodities generally, gave to commerce, to navigation, to industry, an impulse never before known, and thereby, to the revolutionary element in the tottering feudal society, a rapid development.”

As mentioned, Europeans developed capitalism first Prior to capitalism, the primary economic system in place was a feudal

system How did capitalism come about?

Co-existing with feudalism was mercantilism, which is basically exchanging of goods for profit

Feudal manors were almost entirely self sufficient, reducing the need for trade The developments of new technologies (faster ships) and new markets led to a shift

as the merchants began to accumulate such substantial amounts of wealth that they began to replace the nobles

The most important development at the end of Feudalism was the emergence of the dichotomy between wage earners and capitalist merchants

So, capitalism is the end result of mercantilism conqueringfeudalism

French seaport, 1638.

Government in Capitalism p. 4 "The executive of the modern state is but

a committee for managing the common affairs of the whole bourgeoisie." What does he mean here?

Is government in capitalism nothing more than a “legitimated” means of protecting the wealth of the bourgeoisie? The basis of our legal system is the right to own

property Property crimes and personal crimes both assume

that something can be owned (you own your person; women didn’t always)

The Right to Own Property

Urukagina, the king of the Sumerian city-state Lagash, established the first laws that forbade compelling the sale of property. The Cyrus cylinder of Cyrus the Great, founder of the Achaemenid Persian Empire, documents the protection of property rights.

The Ten Commandments shown in Exodus 20:2-17 and Deuteronomy 5:6-21 stated that the Israelites were not to steal. These texts, written in approximately 1300 B.C., were a blanket early protection of private property.

Aristotle, in Politics, advocates "private property." In one of the first known expositions of tragedy of the commons he says, "that which is common to the greatest number has the least care bestowed upon it. Every one thinks chiefly of his own, hardly at all of the common interest; and only when he is himself concerned as an individual." In addition he says that when property is common, there are natural problems that arise due to differences in labor: "If they do not share equally enjoyments and toils, those who labor much and get little will necessarily complain of those who labor little and receive or consume much. But indeed there is always a difficulty in men living together and having all human relations in common, but especially in their having common property." (Politics, 1261b34)

The right to “own property” is a right we have constructed over the years. Humans didn’t always think of this as a right.Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Property#Property_in_philosophy

The Power of Capitalism Marx and Engels recognize that capitalism is powerful:

p. 5 “The bourgeoisie, wherever it has got the upper hand, has put an end to all feudal, patriarchal, idyllic relations. It has pitilessly torn asunder the motley feudal ties that bound man to his “natural superiors”, and has left remaining no other nexus between man and man than naked self-interest, than callous “cash payment”. It has drowned the most heavenly ecstasies of religious fervour, of chivalrous enthusiasm, of philistine sentimentalism, in the icy water of egotistical calculation. It has resolved personal worth into exchange value, and in place of the numberless indefeasible chartered freedoms, has set up that single, unconscionable freedom — Free Trade. In one word, for exploitation, veiled by religious and political illusions, it has substituted naked, shameless, direct, brutal exploitation.”

What is he arguing here? Is this not the actual argument of Osama bin Laden? Are those who oppose Osama bin Laden implicit advocates of

capitalism?

The Power of Capitalism P. 5 “The bourgeoisie has stripped of its halo

every occupation hitherto honoured 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 wage labourers.” What is the major complaint of doctors? Too little

time with patients? Why is that the case?

Family Under Capitalism P. 5 “The bourgeoisie has torn away from the family its sentimental veil,

and has reduced the family relation to a mere money relation.” What does he mean here?

P. 17 “Abolition of the family! Even the most radical flare up at this infamous proposal of the Communists. On what foundation is the present family, the bourgeois family, based? On capital, on private gain. In its completely developed form, this family exists only among the bourgeoisie. But this state of things finds its complement in the practical absence of the family among the proletarians, and in public prostitution. The bourgeois family will vanish as a matter of course when its complement vanishes, and both will vanish with the vanishing of capital. Do you charge us with wanting to stop the exploitation of children by their parents? To this crime we plead guilty.” Very odd, this; bourgeoisie families were not emblematic of familial

exploitation; they were the forerunners of today’s families where parents give to their kids

It was the proletariats who exploited their kids – though they did this because they were being exploited

Humans have done this for millennia on farms

The Power of Capitalism P. 5 “It [Capitalism] has accomplished wonders

far surpassing Egyptian pyramids, Roman aqueducts, and Gothic cathedrals; it has conducted expeditions that put in the shade all former Exoduses of nations and crusades.” Why is this?

Competition

P. 5 “The bourgeoisie cannot exist without constantly revolutionising the instruments of production, and thereby the relations of production, and with them the whole relations of society.” Why?

1927 Ford Model T

2009 Ford Taurus

Improvements in Production

Inherent in capitalism is competition – you compete with other bourgeoisie to provide goods and services that people want at a price they can afford.

You also want to reduce cost of production to increase profit.

1913 Ford assembly line Modern assembly line

Can any nations withstand capitalism? P. 6 “The bourgeoisie, by the rapid improvement of all

instruments of production, by the immensely facilitated means of communication, draws all, even the most barbarian, nations into civilisation. The cheap prices of commodities are the heavy artillery with which it batters down all Chinese walls, with which it forces the barbarians’ intensely obstinate hatred of foreigners to capitulate. It compels all nations, on pain of extinction, to adopt the bourgeois mode of production; it compels them to introduce what it calls civilisation into their midst, i.e., to become bourgeois themselves. In one word, it creates a world after its own image.”

Why is capitalism so effective at spreading? There is a reward for being a capitalist; what is it?

Capitalism and Cities P. 6 “The bourgeoisie has subjected the

country to the rule of the towns. It has created enormous cities, has greatly increased the urban population as compared with the rural, and has thus rescued a considerable part of the population from the idiocy of rural life.”

Is capitalism also responsible for the development of cities?

Why do we have large, densely populated cities?

Capitalism and International Dependence

P. 6 “Just as it has made the country dependent on the towns, so it has made barbarian and semi-barbarian countries dependent on the civilised ones, nations of peasants on nations of bourgeois, the East on the West.”

How does this work? Are the less-developed

countries dependent on the developed countries?

Peripheral

Semi-peripheral

Core

Accumulation of Wealth P. 6 “The bourgeoisie… has agglomerated population,

centralised the means of production, and has concentrated property in a few hands.”

How does wealth accumulate into the hands of few in capitalism?

What does this have to do with politics and government? Government can attempt to redistribute wealth, but it

depends on the values of those in power Conservatives prefer to use government to protect the

property of those who have it (and to increase it) Liberals prefer to use government to redistribute wealth

from those who have it (the bourgeoisie) to those who need it (the unemployed and proletariat)

The Unemployed

The Employed

The Unemployed in Capitalism

pressure

pressure

pressure

pressure

The Boss?

What’s his/her motivation?

wages

pro

ductiv

ity

The Unemployment Rate refers to the number of people who (1) want and (2) can work who are unable to find jobs.

It’s usually expressed as a percentage of the total potential labor force (e.g., 5% to 10%).

Where does the pressure come from?

The Employed are under two major pressures…

In capitalism, the unemployed are: (1)A tool of capitalists to exert

pressure(2)A necessity to keep wages down

and productivity up

Capitalism - Summary So, up to the middle of page 7 has basically

been a summary of capitalism: An economic system in which some people use

capital to build means of production then hire others for their labor power.

They make their money by exploiting workers Capitalism is extremely powerful because it:

Has inherent motivation Harnesses the power of lots of money and many

workers Governments in capitalistic economies exist to maintain

capitalism

So, now he turns to the criticisms of capitalism

What’s wrong with capitalism? Marx argues that there are inherent “contradictions”

within capitalism You make a profit by exploiting your workers by paying

them less than they are worth But you ultimately have to sell the product or service,

probably to other workers who are also exploited If you can’t sell the product or service because no one

has any money because they are all paid too little, what do you do?

This is one of the “contradictions” of capitalism Marx and Engels refer to this as “the epidemic of over-

production” (p. 7) Why is this a problem? How does this result?

The Problem of Over-Production

What regulates production in capitalism? Demand

But what regulates demand? Wages and salaries

What regulates salaries? What people are willing to work for

but at the same time what capitalists are willing to sacrifice

If you can’t make money off an employee, it makes no sense to hire him/her.

So what happens when wages and salaries go down?

Is this the source of inflation? If salaries don’t constantly go up in

a capitalistic system, capitalists cannot continue to make a profit

Profit

Wages and

Salaries

Demand

Production

Works fine until one becomes negative

Inflation and GDP What is “inflation”?

Growth in the money supply in an economy without a commensurate increase in the supply of goods and services Fun with numbers (http://www.westegg.com/inflation/) When I moved to Costa Rica in 1996, $1.00 ≈ 200 colones; when

I left in 1998, $1.00 ≈ 300 colones A new professor in Sociology in 1970 would have made around

$9,130.94, compared with around $50,000 today. A $200,000 house in 2006 would have cost $37,653.34 in 1970.

What is gross domestic product or GDP? Total goods and services produced by a country

What is “GDP per capita”? Goods and services over population

What do inflation, GDP, and GDP per capita indicate?

Global Inflation Rates - 2007

The Contradiction of Capitalism

So, capitalists need workers to make money to buy goods

But capitalists don’t want to give workers lots of money because it cuts into their profits

Is this a contradiction?

needTo buy

this

need To buy this

But don’t want to give them

this

Solutions? The easy solution is to expand into additional

markets How does this solve the problem?

First, you can build factories in locations where you can pay workers less, then sell the goods to places where workers make more

Second, you increase demand among those in the new markets

Solutions? But what happens when expansion ends –

when you’ve exploited every possible market? It is a constant balance between wages for

workers and cost of goods

Current economic crisisBanks want

profit

They create loans people can’t repay

Loans work as long as home prices go up

Home prices stop going up

and fall

People can’t refinance to

pay back loans

Loans go bad (people can’t repay them)

Home prices fall faster

Banks begin to lose money on bad loans

Banks lay off people

More people can’t afford

homes and other goods

Other companies

see profits fall

They lay off workers

Government steps in to

stop the cycle?

Is this an illustration of a contradiction in capitalism?

Capitalism is its own Grave-Digger P. 8 “But not only has the bourgeoisie forged the

weapons that bring death to itself; it has also called into existence the men who are to wield those weapons — the modern working class — the proletarians.” What do they mean here?

P. 8 “In proportion as the bourgeoisie, i.e., capital, is developed, in the same proportion is the proletariat, the modern working class, developed — a class of labourers, who live only so long as they find work, and who find work only so long as their labour increases capital. These labourers, who must sell themselves piecemeal, are a commodity, like every other article of commerce, and are consequently exposed to all the vicissitudes of competition, to all the fluctuations of the market.”

Criticism of Capitalism P. 8 “Owing to the extensive use of machinery, and

to the division of labour, the work of the proletarians has lost all individual character, and, consequently, all charm for the workman. He becomes an appendage of the machine, and it is only the most simple, most monotonous, and most easily acquired knack, that is required of him.” Species being

P. 8 “Hence, the cost of production of a workman is restricted, almost entirely, to the means of subsistence that he requires for maintenance, and for the propagation of his race.” What is the key factor in determining someone’s salary?

Criticisms of Capitalism P. 9 “The less the skill and exertion of strength implied in

manual labour, in other words, the more modern industry becomes developed, the more is the labour of men superseded by that of women. Differences of age and sex have no longer any distinctive social validity for the working class. All are instruments of labour, more or less expensive to use, according to their age and sex.” What do they mean here?

P. 9 “No sooner is the exploitation of the labourer by the manufacturer, so far, at an end, that he receives his wages in cash, than he is set upon by the other portions of the bourgeoisie, the landlord, the shopkeeper, the pawnbroker, etc.” What do they mean here?

Criticisms of Capitalism P. 9 “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 specialised skill is rendered worthless by new methods of production. Thus the proletariat is recruited from all classes of the population.”

Were they right on this point?

Unions He notes that the proletariat are not fans of

capitalism They strike back by sabotaging machinery Destroying cheaper imported goods

P. 10 “Thereupon, the workers begin to form combinations (Trades’ Unions) against the bourgeois; they club together in order to keep up the rate of wages; they found permanent associations in order to make provision beforehand for these occasional revolts. Here and there, the contest breaks out into riots.” What is the purpose of unions?

Unions P. 10 “This organisation of the proletarians

into a class, and, consequently into a political party, is continually being upset again by the competition between the workers themselves. But it ever rises up again, stronger, firmer, mightier. It compels legislative recognition of particular interests of the workers, by taking advantage of the divisions among the bourgeoisie itself.”

Was he right? Has union membership increased or

decreased over the years in the US?

Union membership, 1964-2007.

1964

1967

1970

1973

1976

1979

1982

1985

1988

1991

1994

1997

2000

2003

2006

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

35

union membership

Source: http://unionstats.gsu.edu/MonthlyLaborReviewArticle.htm

Problems with Capitalism P. 10 “Altogether collisions between the classes of the old society

further, in many ways, the course of development of the proletariat. The bourgeoisie finds itself involved in a constant battle. At first with the aristocracy; later on, with those portions of the bourgeoisie itself, whose interests have become antagonistic to the progress of industry; at all time with the bourgeoisie of foreign countries. In all these battles, it sees itself compelled to appeal to the proletariat, to ask for help, and thus, to drag it into the political arena. The bourgeoisie itself, therefore, supplies the proletariat with its own elements of political and general education, in other words, it furnishes the proletariat with weapons for fighting the bourgeoisie.”

What’s the implication here? In order to better compete against other capitalists, capitalists need an

educated workforce. That results in the proletariat realizing their exploitation. Thus, capitalists’ needs lead to their own undoing?

The Communists The Communists in this pamphlet are a political party

interested in: (1) In the national struggles of the proletarians of the

different countries, they point out and bring to the front the common interests of the entire proletariat, independently of all nationality.

(2) In the various stages of development which the struggle of the working class against the bourgeoisie has to pass through, they always and everywhere represent the interests of the movement as a whole.

P. 11 “The immediate aim of the Communists is the same as that of all other proletarian parties: formation of the proletariat into a class, overthrow of the bourgeois supremacy, conquest of political power by the proletariat.”

The Communists P. 14 “The distinguishing feature of

Communism is not the abolition of property generally, but the abolition of bourgeois property.”

P. 14 “In this sense, the theory of the Communists may be summed up in the single sentence: Abolition of private property.”

Goal of Communism P. 15 “We by no means intend to abolish this

personal appropriation of the products of labour, an appropriation that is made for the maintenance and reproduction of human life, and that leaves no surplus wherewith to command the labour of others. All that we want to do away with is the miserable character of this appropriation, under which the labourer lives merely to increase capital, and is allowed to live only in so far as the interest of the ruling class requires it.”

Freedom Under Capitalism P. 15 “By freedom is meant, under the present

bourgeois conditions of production, free trade, free selling and buying.” Is this true?

Private Property Under Capitalism P. 15 “You are horrified at our intending to do

away with private property. But in your existing society, private property is already done away with for nine-tenths of the population; its existence for the few is solely due to its non-existence in the hands of those nine-tenths. You reproach us, therefore, with intending to do away with a form of property, the necessary condition for whose existence is the non-existence of any property for the immense majority of society. In one word, you reproach us with intending to do away with your property. Precisely so; that is just what we intend.”

Aims of Communism P. 16 “Communism deprives no man of the

power to appropriate the products of society; all that it does is to deprive him of the power to subjugate the labour of others by means of such appropriations.”

Laziness? P. 16 “It has been objected that upon the

abolition of private property, all work will cease, and universal laziness will overtake us. According to this, bourgeois society ought long ago to have gone to the dogs through sheer idleness; for those those of its members who work, acquire nothing, and those who acquire anything do not work. The whole of this objection is but another expression of the tautology: that there can no longer be any wage-labour when there is no longer any capital.”

Public Schooling P. 17 “The Communists have not invented the

intervention of society in education; they do but seek to alter the character of that intervention, and to rescue education from the influence of the ruling class.”

Public schooling is advocated by communists Why?

Women and Communism P. 18 “The bourgeois sees his wife a mere

instrument of production. He hears that the instruments of production are to be exploited in common, and, naturally, can come to no other conclusion that the lot of being common to all will likewise fall to the women.” Marx was actually something of a feminist

P. 18 “Our bourgeois, not content with having wives and daughters of their proletarians at their disposal, not to speak of common prostitutes, take the greatest pleasure in seducing each other’s wives.”

Political Entities Under Communism P. 18 “The Communists are further reproached

with desiring to abolish countries and nationality. The working men have no country. We cannot take from them what they have not got. Since the proletariat must first of all acquire political supremacy, must rise to be the leading class of the nation, must constitute itself the nation, it is so far, itself national, though not in the bourgeois sense of the word.”

Why do the bourgeoisie like countries? They protect their right to own property and give

them advantages

Communism and Religion P. 19 “The charges against Communism made

from a religious, a philosophical and, generally, from an ideological standpoint, are not deserving of serious examination.”

What is Marx’s view of religion?

freeing the oppressed from the panacea of religion

Communist Understanding of Religion – Graphically Depicted

religion

government

Oppression and panaceacapitalists

activist

Communism and Political Views P. 19 “What else does the history of ideas

prove, than that intellectual production changes its character in proportion as material production is changed?”

Do people’s political views change as they get more money? What about when they have less money?

Ten Steps to Communism

1. Abolition of property in land and application of all rents of land to public purposes.

2. A heavy progressive or graduated income tax.3. Abolition of all rights of inheritance.4. Confiscation of the property of all emigrants and rebels.5. Centralisation of credit in the banks of the state, by means of a national

bank with State capital and an exclusive monopoly.6. Centralisation of the means of communication and transport in the hands of

the State.7. Extension of factories and instruments of production owned by the State;

the bringing into cultivation of waste-lands, and the improvement of the soil generally in accordance with a common plan.

8. Equal liability of all to work. Establishment of industrial armies, especially for agriculture.

9. Combination of agriculture with manufacturing industries; gradual abolition of all the distinction between town and country by a more equable distribution of the populace over the country.

10. Free education for all children in public schools. Abolition of children’s factory labour in its present form. Combination of education with industrial production, &c, &c.

Which have taken place in the US?

Socialism – The Alternative to Capitalism

Socialism Public (i.e., government, which is the same

thing) ownership of means of Production Central planning Distribution of goods without profit motive

Democratic Socialism

Government

determines

wants needs

resources people

competition

workers

dict

ates

Factory(means of

production)

Goods are owned by gov.

Goods go back to workers

Goods: Capitalism vs. Socialism

$$ - Lada-VAZ

Work put into it

$$ - Ford Durango

Work put into it

Profit for capitalists

Capitalism

Socialism

Ideologies of Capitalism and Socialism

Capitalists Market demand should determine products and

prices Profit is good

Why?

Socialists Profit is immoral

Why?

Item’s value based on the work that went into it

Government protects workers from exploitation Which system is better?

Criticisms of Capitalism and Socialism

Capitalism Leads to social inequality Tiny top layer exploits vast bottom layer Few who own the means of production reap

huge profits No concern for consumers or exploited

(Nealey’s White Liniment) Socialism

Does not respect individual rights Others control people’s lives Give everyone an equal chance to be poor

Without Market Regulation…

Convergence of Capitalism and Socialism Does either capitalism or socialism exist today

in its pure form? Why not?

Convergence theory Capitalist countries and socialist countries are

growing more similar Why?

Where is the US today? Where is Russia?

Laissez-Faire

Capitalism

Socialism

Communism?

Where does communism fit in all of this? Theoretical communism is the same as

socialism The communism that generally develops,

however, is different: The Communist Party becomes something of

an oligarchy – a ruling class The Communist Party owns everything, not

the people It then adopts many of the ideas of socialism

– production is based on centralized control, not demand

Revolution? So, why haven’t we seen a revolution in the

US and other developed countries? P. 11 “The lower middle class, the small

manufacturer, the shopkeeper, the artisan, the peasant, all these fight against the bourgeoisie, to save from extinction their existence as fractions of the middle class. They are therefore not revolutionary, but conservative.”

Bourgeois Socialism P. 27 “A part of the bourgeoisie is desirous of redressing social grievances in

order to secure the continued existence of bourgeois society. To this section belong economists, philanthropists, humanitarians, improvers of the condition of the working class, organisers of charity, members of societies for the prevention of cruelty to animals, temperance fanatics, hole-and-corner reformers of every imaginable kind. This form of socialism has, moreover, been worked out into complete systems… A part of the bourgeoisie is desirous of redressing social grievances in order to secure the continued existence of bourgeois society. To this section belong economists, philanthropists, humanitarians, improvers of the condition of the working class, organisers of charity, members of societies for the prevention of cruelty to animals, temperance fanatics, hole-and-corner reformers of every imaginable kind. This form of socialism has, moreover, been worked out into complete systems.”

This is basically what we have today in the US P. 28 “Free trade: for the benefit of the working class. Protective duties: for the

benefit of the working class. Prison Reform: for the benefit of the working class. This is the last word and the only seriously meant word of bourgeois socialism. It is summed up in the phrase: the bourgeois is a bourgeois — for the benefit of the working class.”

Isn’t this basically how these ideas are sold to the American public today? Almost seems like Republicans and capitalists are reading Marx, doesn’t it?

Capitalism and Stratification Does capitalism lead to stratification? What checks and balances do we have on

capitalism in the U.S.? Regulation, anti-monopolization legislation

Why does capitalism seem to be winning around the world? Capitalism leads to competition Competition (think evolution) leads to change,

generally toward more advanced technologies Competition gives capitalist countries the edge over

non-capitalist countries – in both money and technology Capitalism (and overspending) destroyed Soviet

communism

How Do Elites Maintain Stratification? Do elites try to maintain stratification systems?

Why would they? How do they do it?

Ideologies and Force Religion?

Eternal life Media?

Hugo Chaves in U.S. media Who owns the media companies in the U.S.? NBC – owned by GE; CBS – was owned by Westinghouse, now by

National Amusements, Inc.; ABC – Walt Disney company; Fox – News Corporation

All of these companies own businesses other than news; Why? Force?

Kill or imprison those who criticize Free press – necessary?

Comparative Social Stratification

Social Stratification in Great Britain Slightly different from the U.S. – bigger

middle and lower classes, small upper class Social Stratification in Former Soviet

Union Membership in the communist party

translated into the elite Everyone else was supposed to be the same

But this didn’t work, either – people recognized differences and tried to compensate for them

However – people were pretty equal (though that mostly translated into everyone being poor), including women

History of Socialist Thought The end of the book is basically just a history

of socialist thought Does mention that aristocrats are not fans of

the bourgeoisie, so they try to show solidarity with the proletariat

What about Christian socialism?

Call to Action! P. 32 “The Communists disdain to conceal

their views and aims. They openly declare that their ends can be attained only by the forcible overthrow of all existing social conditions. Let the ruling classes tremble at a Communistic revolution. The proletarians have nothing to lose but their chains. They have a world to win.

WORKING MEN OF ALL COUNTRIES, UNITE!