The Communist Manifesto (1848), clearly outlines the core principles of Marxism and Communism. It also discusses historical class struggles, counter-revolutions and alienation. The manifesto is set in the period of the Industrial Revolution. It outlines how economics can define and degrade human relationships. Marx and Engels both support and partially contradict Friedrich Engel’s dialectic theory.
In capitalism, a commodity fetish can be described as a concept that exists in which products are monetized separately from the man who initiated and started the production process. Marxists use Hegel’s philosophy to analyze the past and predict the future. This is because Communism has a materialistic nature. According to Marx and Engels, class struggle is at the heart of history. Marx and Engels start by saying that the history of all societies up to now is the history of class struggle. The Marxist document goes on to tell a story from the dawning of Greco Roman civilization until the date of the manifesto’s publication. History is deeply rooted in conflicts of ideologies. These ideologies are a result of different groups trying to maximize wealth and power and opposing groups fighting to resist one school of thought. Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel wrote the Hegelian dialectic. This famous formula holds that a thesis is a statement and an antithesis produces a synergy of two opposing ideas. Hegel’s concept is the base of Marx and Engels arguments. However they enhance it by adding a class conscious materialistic perspective.
Conflict can be sparked by opposing ideas. Marx and Engels reaffirm that the history of society in general has been marked by the growth of class antagonisms (The Communist Manifesto). Harmony among the social classes is still threatened by the pyramidal structure of society or its gradation. If workers do not demand their rights, and make it a point to take control of their resources and be socialistic, they will continue to struggle because of the cyclical, repetitive formation of history. The social class dynamic is still based on the production and possession. While Marx and Engels have been around since the Cold War, their predictions of Cold War clashes between bourgeois-run societies (democratic capitalism) and communist-run societies (communist socialists), are similar. The Cold War saw bitter conflicts between ideologies. A synthesis ended the war in 1991, and the war was over. Marx and Engels’ argument for materialistic changes to remove divisive classes structure proved valid to a degree and led to a post Cold War reality.
A post Cold War view interprets the events that happened after the Cold War. They occurred between 1945 and 1991, when the U.S.S.R. was defunct. The Cold War refers to the covert and indirect war between the Democratic-capitalistic U.S.A. Both countries supported opposing political ideologies. They also developed different economic systems. The characteristics of the U.S. are reflected in the Communist Manifesto, which outlines capitalism, lopsided wealth concentration, urbanization, taxation, and central government. After the Cold War, barriers like the Berlin Wall (1989), the USSR (in 1991) and Apartheid in 1993 were disintegrated. In 1991, Russia emerges as the U.S.S.R. Its economy is transformed from a government-owned sector to privatization. This still allows for huge riches for a few. The manifesto’s observer sees that the utopian idea of Communism eventually fails. He or she turns to capitalism, free trade, and exploited industries, where “the commodity form acts like a veil that hides exploitative relationships” (Goodman). Rapid industrialization, de-humanized commerce, and liberalization after the Cold War ended saw a boom in communist China and Communist Russia. It’s hard not to feel that even after the Cold War, capitalists still thrive on the exploiting of human beings. Mega multinational corporations are able to profit from low labor costs in Asian countries like India or China. As a way to protect competition and monopolization, free trade agreements have become very popular.
Since capitalism is a liberal Christianity-based system, Communism is a more Atheist-leaning one. Religion has an influence on business and doctrine. Post Cold war has seen a lot of wars, which have denied its desire to achieve (Communist), peaceful ends (Communist manifesto).
The economic framework places the commodity idol in “the commodity fetishism-the dominance of society using “intangible” as well as tangible items” (Debord). A commodity fetish is one who worships a magic object, or has a deeply held idea. The validity of an object is only relevant to its production or sustainability. The economic world has become obsessed with commodity, which has led to the loss of reverence for occupations and the reduction of their value. The world has become a marketplace filled with images, tools of labor and commercial products. It is no longer a place with intrinsic, intangible or incalculable value. Debord points to the fact that the commodity fetish refers to a principle in capitalism where all are tools of labor, less or more expensive to use…These laborers must sell themselves as a commodity (The Communist Manifesto). The economic focus revolves around an inverted vision on money.
Inversion is used because money, although a means to an objective, can also be symbolic of the ultimate goal. Marx is believed to have inverted Hegel’s theory that the mind or consciousness of man is the breeding ground of alienation and dehumanization. Hegel maintains reality is not formed only in the mind’s abstract mentality, but also in its materialistic manipulation by social classes. Marx is not interested in changing consciousness. He prefers to revolutionize the corrupt economic system that leads to the destruction of workers and instability of society. This also results in the commodification and devaluation of once-cherished values, vocations, people and their lives. Marx also agrees that the melding together of compounded violence will produce a synthesis. It is an ideology which combines elements from both former entities. The difference lies in the introduction of dialectics into socio-economic discourse. This requires material considerations. The product or synthesis is also known as dialectical materialism, or socialism. This system allows social classes to benefit from revolutions and reforms. Marx and Engel stress in their Communist Manifesto that reformation is achieved “by changes to the material conditions of exist” (The Communist Manifesto). Communists make philosophy into a weapon to fight the material world that is capitalism. They consider that “Critical Utopian Socialism” and Communism have an inverse relationship with historical development. Because history is filled with class tensions, utopian socialist Communism strives to remedy these antagonisms by reconciling all socio-economic classes.
Today, war and class struggle continue in our society. When society is organized, class struggle and group classification will naturally occur. Many of the older social and governmental systems such as feudalism, monarchy, slavery and monarchy have been lost, but remnants of elitism are still prevalent. The three basic social rungs that make up the social tiers of social inequality are the wealthy, the middle class and the working-poor. These classes can further be subdivided to include the wealthy-middle and the poor middle classes. While class distinctions can take many forms depending on country and history, the global community is able to create a similar social class. Social class is defined by racial dynamics, demography, political systems and gender roles. The upper and privileged have more privileges. This includes higher education, better property, more power and access to more facilities. Conversely, the lower social classes would be denied opportunities and benefits. Although the old hierarchies are gone, the current social class system thrives in capitalistic industry, free trading and the exploitative relationship of poor workers with wealthy owners. They create and manage a system to maintain their social status while continuing to trample rights on the poorer classes and deprive them of their possessions.
The Communist Manifesto makes social justice an impossible goal.
In practice, it can withstand opposition from dominant forces and established social order. However, as opposing philosophies merge and become one, it will crumble. The equation includes freedom factors, as well as social classes fighting for equality, property and freedom. The Communists are aware of the flaws in the stance of their opponents. Ideals and people have been reduced to commercialized concepts, economic, and political relationships.
