My First Manifesto
In my spare time I've been trying to polish off some more classic writing. What with Occupy Wall Street being in the news so much it seemed a good time to take a look at the flipside of Capitalism. So I listened to a reading of the Communist Manifesto AKA the Manifesto of the Communist Party. Now let me share with you my thoughts.
Good:
* If you ever want a stinging refute of the downsides of capitalism you're not going to do much better.
* Marx and Engels do make it a point to say that not all wealthy people are bad and that some of them honestly will try and help working people. Would that some people today could keep this in mind.
* Says rights for women are good.
* Condemnation of child labor.
* Points out why unions are good.
Bad:
* Pretty in favor of *violent* revolution.
* Very worrisome take on whose property is okay to just take: more or less anyone the Communists think have too much.
* Freely admitting that "despotic" measures will have to be put in place for a time after a Communist revolution.
* A lot of "Germans are fuck ups" talk. Funny since Marx and Engels were German but seems very unneeded.
Sadly, it didn't really answer the thing I've never understood about Communism. Workers are usually the among the least educated people in a society. So if they're in charge who's going to make sure the trains run on time and all those other things vital to a society that require a good deal of education. Blast the bourgeoisie all you like, but even communists are going to need lawyers, diplomats, doctors and scientists and guess what rung of the social ladder most of them hang out on.
Good:
* If you ever want a stinging refute of the downsides of capitalism you're not going to do much better.
* Marx and Engels do make it a point to say that not all wealthy people are bad and that some of them honestly will try and help working people. Would that some people today could keep this in mind.
* Says rights for women are good.
* Condemnation of child labor.
* Points out why unions are good.
Bad:
* Pretty in favor of *violent* revolution.
* Very worrisome take on whose property is okay to just take: more or less anyone the Communists think have too much.
* Freely admitting that "despotic" measures will have to be put in place for a time after a Communist revolution.
* A lot of "Germans are fuck ups" talk. Funny since Marx and Engels were German but seems very unneeded.
Sadly, it didn't really answer the thing I've never understood about Communism. Workers are usually the among the least educated people in a society. So if they're in charge who's going to make sure the trains run on time and all those other things vital to a society that require a good deal of education. Blast the bourgeoisie all you like, but even communists are going to need lawyers, diplomats, doctors and scientists and guess what rung of the social ladder most of them hang out on.