The Communist Manifesto Essay Example

Philosopher Adam Smith claimed that, unlike the agrarian systems of the past where society was stagnant, the goal of capitalism and modernization was to accumulate wealth would be beneficial to society. He dubbed this theory the invisible hand. Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels disagreed in their widely known book, The Communist Manifesto. In their book, they showcased how the upper class — the bourgeoisie — accumulated wealth to build factories and kick-start modernization. Despite the amount of wealth brought in by the faster means of production, the standard of living decreased in the mid-nineteenth century. The contrast led to a paradoxical situation where there was so much poverty and misery in factory-run cities during that period.

Before analyzing why the bourgeoisie had a big focus on the Communist Manifesto, one must know what society was like before the dawn of modernization. Since the dawn of humanity, society did not change until industrialization and modernization. Most people were farmers raising crops on their land and trading them. In this system of aristocracy, it was difficult for people to leave their social class. As the lecture put it: “A skilled laborer—a weaver, perhaps, or a blacksmith—in seventeenth-century England, France, or China spent roughly the same number of hours a week at his trade… as his ten-times great-grandfather did during the time of Augustus. He earned the same number of coins a day and bought the same amount, and variety, of food” (Thompson, Lecture 1). By contrasting these two vastly different periods, we can see how, ultimately, society has remained constant with no massive changes. Society was stagnant, but then something changed. Using ships, countries such as the Netherlands and England traded globally. They were not satisfied with living like their predecessors; they wanted more. As the lectures put it, “Profit was the motive: this was the world of capitalism, increasingly what we would now call a globalizing world” (Thompson, Lecture 1). To speed up production and the travel of goods, the steam engine was made, a machine that allowed travel faster than ever before. Factories showed up around cities such as Manchester, allowing for production to happen faster than ever. Thanks to capitalism, these new cities were experiencing unprecedented growth. Marx and Engels dubbed the people who ran the factories the 'bourgeoisie'. Adam Smith’s invisible hand theory was shaping up to be true, but as philosophers such as Marx and Engels noticed there was an ugly side to modernization and the bourgeoisie. 

Marx and Engels studied the bourgeoisie in-depth at the beginning of the communist manifesto to analyze the detrimental effects the upper classes imposed on the lower classes through the process of modernization. Marx and Engels state that “the bourgeoisie… has left remaining no other nexus between man and man than naked self-interest, than callous 'cash payment'” (Marx and Engels, Ch1). The only thing on the mind of the bourgeoisie is money, to the detriment of the working class. The founding principle of capitalism is profit over everything, so focusing on anything else would only lessen the bourgeoisie's business profits. This was achieved through having “Masses of labourers, crowded into the factory, are organized like soldiers… Not only are they slaves of the bourgeois class, and of the bourgeois state; they are daily and hourly enslaved… by the individual bourgeois manufacturer himself” (Marx and Engels, Ch1). Marx and Engels observed how the working class was constantly micromanaged to ensure that everything went according to the plan of the bourgeoisie owner to make the most potential money from their hard labor. In return for hours of mind-numbing work, the workers are paid a meager wage.

In the present day, these kinds of practices are difficult for business owners to perform as labor laws have been ratified, allowing for better conditions for workers. Unfortunately, this was not the case during Marx and Engels’s period of modernization. There were no labor laws or unions to protect workers. This allowed the bourgeoisie to underpay workers, hire women and children for cheap, and overwork them. They earned so little that they were forced to live in cramped, dirty, and polluted areas. Marx and Engels state that 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” (Marx and Engels, Ch1). People that were once farmers, blacksmiths, and other professions created entire goods, such as tools and crops. However, the Manifesto argues that once factories were built, these people were driven to work in them, repeating the same task day after day. Before, the average person could express themselves through their jobs, but now they were just an extension of the machines. Life was so miserable that people such as Engels, the son of a texture manufacturer, observed the grueling work the working class experienced under the bourgeoisie. Cities including Manchester saw astronomical growth during the beginning of modernization through factories thanks to the bourgeoisie. However, Marx and Engels noticed how poorly the working conditions of the working class were under them. Capitalism may have been better for the industry, but it was not good for the people. Adam Smith’s invisible hand was not working. 

The achievements and activities of the bourgeois illustrate the paradoxical view of Marx and Engels. Although capitalism was bringing in more resources, the bourgeoisie was hoarding most of it, disproving the invisible hand theory. Modernization was supposed to make society better for everyone. Before modernization, if a farmer did good work, he could buy more land to build a house, produce more goods, etc. The communist manifesto asks, “But does wage labour create any property for the labourer? Not a bit. It creates capital” (Marx and Engels, Ch1). Under the bourgeoisie, Marx and Engels noted that not only are the workers overworked, they do not get properly rewarded for it. To become a factory owner, one needs to own land, which is difficult to accomplish when working under the bourgeoisie, who suck out all the energy of the workers for their gain. 

Is modernization helping these people through capitalization? No. Marx and Engels have realized that it is worse for the working class through their observations. The invisible hand was not working. In reality, it was making it worse for the workers. Marx and Engels beautifully summarize how the “Modern industry has converted the little workshop of the patriarchal master into the great factory of the industrial capitalist. Masses of labourers, crowded into the factory, are organized like soldiers… they are daily and hourly enslaved by the machine, by the overseer, and, above all, by the individual bourgeois manufacturer himself” (Marx and Engels, Ch1). By comparing working in the factories to working under a patriarchal master in an aristocratic society, Marx and Engels emphasize that despite the modernization brought in by the industrial revolution and the bourgeoisie, nothing has changed for the average person. The Communist Manifesto claims it has gotten even worse, with constant surveillance, long hours, and organized in such a way that they are efficient as a machine and lose their humanity. This comparison shows the paradoxical image Marx and Engels have about the bourgeoisie, as they contrasted the bourgeoisie's achievements with their treatment of their workers. 

Despite originating from the bourgeoisie, Marx and Engels sided with the working class. They devote many paragraphs to analyzing their paradoxical view of the bourgeoisie. The bourgeoisie kick-started modernization to increase profits and productivity, and philosopher Adam Smith’s invisible hand theorem states that people trying to earn more money will indirectly help society. Marx and Engels prove this is not the case, as the bourgeoisie’s goal for wealth ruined the lives of the working class through long hours and meager pay, exploiting them for labor. No wonder Marx and Engels called for the working class to revolt back against them.

In the modern-day, does the view of the Communist Manifesto still hold up today? We still live in a capitalist society with innovation and billionaires. However, there are labor laws to prevent the exploitation of workers, like back in the day. Unfortunately, we still have companies such as Amazon exploiting workers to make their business more efficient. Marx and Engels’s paradoxical view still holds up today and requires fixing through unions or better labor laws.