The Manifesto of the Communist Party

The history of all hitherto existing society is the history of class struggles.

The Communist Manifesto is not the pinnacle or authoritative rendition of Marx’s ideals meant for academic study; rather, it is more a work of propaganda meant to carry the quintessence of the Marxist message to the masses. Moreover, the value of its current study is not so much in its content as for its attempt to understand and interconnect the plight of the human world in general terms and the methodology used to solve its problems. By surveying the history of various countries in relation to current affairs of their time, the authors go so far as to assert certain natural truths about human nature. By splitting society up into two major groups, the bourgeois (middle class) and the proletariat (the working class), Marx bases the study of human affair and condition on the effects of economy. More specifically, he traces back any struggle, change, and development in society to the use of economic factors as agents of either oppression or empowerment. According to the manifesto, by ultimately eliminating economic inequity, or class struggle, humanity would find itself in an ideal state of existence—this state would be fostered and nurtured by communism. The manifesto’s authors draw an outline or guide to communism, describing the natural transition that occurs over stages in any given society (see chart 1.1 for a visual representation). As seen it the text, the only different in the societies would be as to there stage of socio-economic development.

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As to its relevance to world history, the manifesto essentially generalizes the human experience based on the history of various countries (in Europe) and provides an explanation for the course of human civilization. Thus the Marxist theory is applied not only to economics, but stands as a means to interpret and predict history, society, and politics. Subsequently, this work provides the reader with lenses to look through at the world’s past and future. Although centered on European civilization, it is an attempt to understand the universal dynamics that are shared in changing all societies. Perhaps this explains why Marxism has been adopted by people in areas outside of Europe, reaching as far as China and the southern most parts of Africa. Nevertheless, by excluding these countries in its initial discourse it fails to account for diverse conditions existing outside “non-Western” society— conditions that were adapted and considered latter by neo-Marxist.

By studying so-called “primitive communist” societies, Engels tried to prove that it was as natural for humans to view wealth in socialist terms as was the prevailing attitude toward acquisition. This is another attempt to conceptualize human nature in terms of historical relevance. However its narrow area of study limits its applicability to other societies—although this has been argued against. The Communist Manifesto is an endeavor to explain the advancement of human civilization through paradigms and models rooted in economic variables. This seems to be an oversimplification and generalization that falls short in embracing countless factors that vary from one society to another, namely religious and culture diversity. Moreover, its deviance in relation to prevailing trends and attitudes of society make some of its theories obsolete or abrasive, such as the theory of a “community of women”. Its merit primarily rests in its efforts to relate and understand the similarities in human history through a new model of thinking.