Wealth and Poverty: A Study on Communism and the Communist Manifesto

1640 Words4 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Karl Marx works on religion

Communism. The word sparks dread in the hearts of many Americans raised during the Cold War. What seems to be the basis for a potential utopian society in theory, so far has never, in practice, realized the desires of its institutors. Perhaps the reason communism has never been successful in effect lies in its most basic foundations. After all, a house, as most Texans can attest to, no matter how finely built, cannot stand careful scrutiny for cracks if its foundation is built on shifting soil. In The Communist Manifesto, Karl Marx addresses each of the popular objections people have, or had, towards communism. This essay seeks to explain whether he deals fairly with them all, and whether his arguments are, in the end, persuasive to a reader from an opposing position. Also, it shall attempt to give reasons why communism fails in accomplishing its purpose. Though Marx addresses many of the objections against communism in his The Communist Manifesto, he is not always fair in his treatment of them, nor does he succeed in winning over readers from opposing viewpoints. Additionally, he fails to address one of the most important oppositions, which is its preliminary presupposition that men are not inherently sinful.
For the most part, Marx attempts to address each objection; however, he declares “The charges against Communism made from a religious, a philosophical, and generally, from an ideological standpoint,” to be “[un]deserving of serious examination” (Marx 472). This statement exhibits hasty judgment and lack of understanding. The small portion of the world which does not follow some sort of religion, certainly follows some form of philosophy. Philosophy is described as “the critical examination of the grounds for fu...

... middle of paper ...

...uments.

Works Cited

Bacon, Frances. “The Four Idols.” A World of Ideas. Jacobus, Lee A. 9th edition. Boston: Bedford/St. Martin's, 2013. Print.
Bobjam. “Why the Pilgrims Abandoned Communism.” Free Republic. 22 Nov. 2004. 28 Feb. 2014.
Carnegie, Andrew. “The Gospel of Wealth.” A World of Ideas. Jacobus, Lee A. 9th edition. Boston: Bedford/St. Martin's, 2013. Print.
Marx, Karl. “The Communist Manifesto.” A World of Ideas. Jacobus, Lee A. 9th edition. Boston: Bedford/St. Martin's, 2013. Print.
Orwell, George. Animal Farm. New York: New American Library, 1956. Print.
“Philosophy.” Oxford Dictionaries. Web. Oxford University Press. n.d. 3 March 2014.
The Editors of Encyclopædia Britannica. “Philosophy.” Encyclopædia Britannica. Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc. 26 Nov. 2013. 3 March 2014.
The Holy Bible, New International Version. Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2005. Print.

Show More
Related

  • Essay On Low Income Inequality

    1146 Words  | 3 Pages

    gap in income-after federal taxes and transfer-more than tripled between the top 1 percent of the population and everyone else.” As seen in our society, the distribution of wealth is unfair and unjust, which has increased income inequality and will eventually create poverty. As a result, the number of people living in poverty is increasing rapidly. It may seem that income inequality is inevitable, but there are solutions to lessen the gap, like investing in education, hiring American workers instead

    Read More

  • Transition from Communism to Democracy: A Case Study of Russia’s Democratic Transition

    1940 Words  | 4 Pages

    Transition from Communism to Democracy: A Case Study of Russia’s Democratic Transition Communism is a political system that has been used time and time again, where all property is publicly owned and people are paid according to their needs and abilities. Many countries used this political system in the years following 1917–such as Croatia and Russia–and is still used today. The ideology of Communism or more specifically Marxism is shown in the book The Communist Manifesto. Karl Marx, writer of The

    Read More

  • Communism and Capitalism: Strange Bedfellows

    2608 Words  | 6 Pages

    What is it about communism that makes many people scurry and cringe? In America, the mere word might as well be banned from the dictionary. The only time it is used is when talking about new aggressive movements by totalitarian communist countries. American’s tolerance level for communism is zero to none. Is communism so horrific that the thought of some forms being successful is out of the question? In society today, capitalism is the leading economic system. When compared to other systems, few

    Read More

  • The Five Stages Of Karl Marx As A Conflict Theory

    1305 Words  | 3 Pages

    the most deprived children grow up believing in free enterprise and “fair competition” only to be condemned to lives of poverty,—or at least constant financial anxiety.” (Archetypes of Wisdom: e9 pg 376). Consequential we are constantly bombarded with propaganda from the time we are born until the day we die, co-opting us to believe in a system that promises us the illusion of wealth and

    Read More

  • Theme Of Socialism In The Jungle By Upton Sinclair

    1297 Words  | 3 Pages

    beginning of the twentieth century, the debate between socialists and capitalists has raged. In The Jungle, by Upton Sinclair, he portrays capitalism as the cause of all evils in society. Sinclair shows the horrors of capitalism. In The Gospel of Wealth, by Andrew Carnegie, he portrays capitalism as a system of opportunity. However, both Carnegie and Sinclair had something to gain from their writings; both men had an agenda. Capitalism and socialism both have advantages and pitfalls; when capitalism

    Read More

  • Utopia Essay

    3248 Words  | 7 Pages

    every member of the society is working simply for the common good, there being no belief in luxury, and everyone knowing how to grow food, there is no need to have a currency system. Since there is no system or currency, then there is no place for wealth to manifest thus one less prompter of greed. There is also no system of trading in Utopia, so truly everyone is one equal grounds, with the same capabilities and possessions as everyone else. This helps to eliminate the many causes of inequality,

    Read More

  • The Similarities Between Communism And Communism

    1209 Words  | 3 Pages

    1.0 Communism Communism is an economic system where, in theory, ownership of everything (e.g. goods, industrial products, businesses, farm produce, etc.) is collectively by the Government and the payment of income is only based one’s need. In communism, individuals have little say or on say at all on what to produce, not even owning anything since ownership is only by the Government. Communism is a socio-economic structure based on classless, stateless society where the means of production are on

    Read More

  • Why Does Class Important To The Social Class?

    1599 Words  | 4 Pages

    of people sharing a similar status, power and amount of wealth. People belonging to the same class have a very similar influence on the society and the people around them. Classes in the society are mostly unequal and people are divided on the amount of economic wealth that they possess. There have been occurrences of most exceptional inequalities, that range from extreme wealth to life ending poverty. Where the people with the most wealth mostly belong to the upper classes and the ones that are

    Read More

  • Comparing Karl Marx and John Stuart Mill

    4542 Words  | 10 Pages

    difficult to support his growing family. He finally settled in London in 1849, where he lived in poverty while studying and developing his economic and political theories. Above all else, Marx believed that philosophy ought to be employed in practice to change the world. Although it at first had little impact on the varied revolutionary movements of the mid-19th century Europe, the Communist Manifesto was to become one of the most widely read and discussed documents of the 20th century. Marx sought

    Read More

  • Four of the Major Economists' Theories

    2610 Words  | 6 Pages

    Four of the Major Economists' Theories “Economics is the science which studies human behavior as a relationship between end and a scarce means which have alternative uses’ seems to capture the essence of Microeconomics, but does not convey much of the spirit of Macroeconomics.” - L. Robbins Although most economists cannot come to agreement on the definition of economics, the preceding quote from l. Robbins, in my opinion, seems to just about sum it up. Since the beginning, when man first

    Read More

More about Wealth and Poverty: A Study on Communism and the Communist Manifesto

Open Document