Under what circumstances can a communist government/society be created?
Engels: In capitalism, the main principle is to maximize profit and minimize costs. It is a never ending pursuit for profit. Profit making leads to wage increase and food and merchandise shortages, which oppositely causes the profit to lessen. In order to stabilize and increase their profits, the bourgeoisie created and invested in technology. "The feudal system of industry, under which industrial production was monopolized by closed guilds, now no longer sufficed for the growing wants of the new markets. The manufacturing system took its place." (Pg 59) With new manufacturing methods, industries are able to save time, reduce labor costs and produce new goods. This reinforces the differences between classes in the society. Using our pamphlet to exemplify, we mentioned "the place of manufacture was taken by the giant, Modern Industry, the place of the industrial middle class, by industrial millionaires, the leaders of whole industrial armies, the modern bourgeoisie." (Pg 60) With the shift from feudalism to capitalism, it has helped to recognize an alienated class system within the society. The society will gradually split ‘into two great hostile camps, into two great classes directly facing each other: bourgeoisie and proletariat.’
Marx: “Freeman and slave, patrician and plebian, lord and serf, guildmaster and journeyman, in a word, oppressor and oppressed, stood in constant opposition to one another, carried on an uninterrupted, now hidden now open fight, a fight that each time ended, either in the revolutionary reconstitution of society at large, or in the common ruin of the contending classes.” (Pg 58) The class struggle is the essential driving force that will eventually replace capitalism with socialism and later replaced by communism.
With these class struggles, how can the proletariat overcome the authoritarianism of the bourgeoisie?
Marx: The ruling elite continue to exploit their workers in order to gain more profit for themselves. The working class will subsequently become impoverish due to their craving for wealth. This will intensify the situation between the two classes. The exploited workers will rise up against the bourgeoisie; a revolution!
If a revolution does occur, what are the characteristics of a communist state or society?
Engels: Communism is a system of a society in which the community owns all major resources and productions. Everything is shared within the community instead of the individual. There is no need for a government as it is a social order that has no need for a ruler. Nevertheless, there are certain capitalist ideals that have to be eliminated from our society and I believe Mr. Marx can help me emphasis more on these ideals.
Marx: Well thank you, Friedrich. The proletariat revolution has to abolish several factors of what a capitalist government and society would have. But I will only emphasis on certain key factors. Firstly, ownership of private property has to be eliminated. The bourgeoisie only wants to gain more personal assets for themselves. With private property gone, the wealth is distributed among the community. Everyone gets their own fair share of everything. The state produces not what the people want but what the people need. The state acts only for the needs and interest of the people. Secondly, religion has to be abolished. The bourgeoisie invented ‘God’ to make the workers believe that there is a heaven and a hell, promising them that they will have a happy life in heaven on the condition that they act and behave as the ruling class instructed. Hell was made to frighten the workers and Heaven was created to encourage the workers to listen to their bidding. Lastly, education! The bourgeoisie education has to be abolished. In a bourgeoisie society, students are rewarded or punished according to the rules set by the bourgeoisie themselves. Students were taught to acknowledge the bourgeoisie hierarchy. Competitiveness is promoted within schools, eventually leads to the concept of ‘free competition’. With such competitiveness, it gradually increases the class diversity. “It is summed up in the phase: the bourgeoisie is a bourgeoisie---for the benefit of the working class.”(Pg 108) After the proletariat revolution, there will be a period of ‘Dictatorship of Proletariat’. During this period, the revolutionary leaders have to take over and give orders to the workers until they are ready to be self sufficient to govern and survive as a whole. By then, it will be a harmonious and prosperous society without the elements of the bourgeoisie.
In the introduction of The Communist Manifesto, why did you start with sentence, “A specter is haunting Europe- the specter of communism.”?
Marx: The ideology of communism is spreading throughout Europe even as we speak. All major powers in Europe see communism as a ghost that is haunting governments and monarchies. They feel threaten by this powerful force and therefore creating a “holy alliance to hunt down and exorcise this specter. “Communism is already acknowledged by all European powers to be itself a power.” In the end, Communist from various nations will unite as one, conquering the bourgeoisie and form the ultimate society.
Thank you Mr. Marx and Mr. Engels for your time and personal information on Communism.