Wednesday, February 26, 2014

The Communist Manifesto: Marx's Revolution on the Horizon?

Good day my friends out there in Cyberspace as well as those I am fortunate enough to see in person. Still trying to get back into the habit of writing regularly. Unfortunately inspiration has been lacking and thus my writing suffering. However, I have exciting news: I started reading books again! And with books come ideas and ideas are something worth writing about; even if they're only for my own self-reflection. The first book I started reading, this will be my second time reading it, is The Communist Manifesto.
The last time I read it, I was still a little young and didn't retain and cannot recall much of what I read. This time around I am older, have lived some life and gained some knowledge and wisdom. I am not completely finished, despite it being a rather short piece of writing, but I have been stricken with some thoughts so far that I'm going to share here now. Please enjoy and feel free to leave your own insights. Here we go:
Marx wasn't wrong about the proletariat eventually taking control of the means of production and replacing capitalism with socialism; he just had no way to realize the lengths that the bourgeois would go, or the amount they would part with, to keep the proletariat under control. Marx thought he might see the fall of capitalism but he was mistaken and did not realize this until later in life. He did not take into account that the bourgeois would evolve as the means of production also evolved. With new capital wealth, the bourgeois, over time, could easily part with old forms of capital and hand them down to the proletariat ensuring their happiness and staving off revolutionary change by convincing them of increased prosperity disguised only as alms. I think that now, today, in our present time, Marx would be more excited than ever to see what is happening. Capitalism is collapsing globally as the proletariat are becoming aware that the gifts they thought they were receiving were nothing but alms devised as a curtain to keep them veiled from the real destruction and appropriation being undertaken by the bourgeois. The proletariat is rising and the bourgeoisie should be afraid because the revolution Marx spoke of, wrote of and dreamed of could be just beyond tomorrow's horizon.

Democracy, suffrage and law are nothing more than mirages created to convince the proletariat that they have power when in fact they do not. By these means the people can be convinced that true change can be effected through non-revolutionary means. In these three social creations, the bourgeois have tamed the revolutionary spirit of the proletariat.

People will remain conservative until suffering forces them to break from the norm. As long as the bourgeois can maintain a balance of suffering versus reward in the eyes of the proletariat during the accumulation of wealth/capital, they will continue to retain their authority and power.

Communism is nothing more than a Democracy without the illusion of vote. A member of the bourgeois (upper class/wealthy) being the representative and ruler over the proletariat (working class) for the better of society.

Capitalism is de-evolving. During it's initial onset and subsequent growth over the last century it took in members of the lower class and spit them back out as the working class creating economic and social prosperity. However, capitalism has arrived near or past it's ability to continue being productive to the evolution of society. The evolution of technology has caused a shift in the means of production and the necessity of the proletariat. This is causing the forceful reduction of individuals from the working class to the poor class; reversing the initial and long term growth gained through Capitalism.*

Some interesting quotes from Marx & Engels:

"Higher wages are in fact not a contradiction of capitalism or a defeat of it. On the contrary, they protect capitalism and actually make it work better."

"In a great society, a few men will aspire to run things and the great majority will allow them to do it."
"The working class cannot simply lay hold the ready-made State machinery and wield it for its own purposes."

I hope you enjoyed some of the thoughts that came to exist while I was reading this interesting piece of political literature. While I may not hold true Communist nor Capitalist values, there are values and ideas from both I can support and agree with. There is definitely a sociological paradigm shift on the horizon and from it we may the rise of a new form of government and economic system; a lack thereof; or something we may not even recognize. The future is near and we should all be excited.

*some ideas borrowed and expanded upon by the author

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