Blog #10

“The Communist Manifesto” by Karl Marx language is written in such a way that I hard a fairly difficult time understanding all of his reasoning and logic. There were some points that went reinforced throughout the entire piece, however, and that was that there were two classes in society (the bourgeoisie and the proletariat). These two classes contrasted each other dramatically both politically and economically. Throughout the piece he paints a picture of each class by discussing the value of each and the roles each played in a society.
The bourgeoisie class, for instance, was a class as he described as a small class who dominated many. The term he actually used a lot was oppression by one class over the other, which in this case was the bourgeoisie oppressing the proletariat (Jacobus 358).
It was their economic condition, which was that of wealth, that allowed them to possess both the political and economical power. As Marx puts it, “It has converted the physician, the lawyer, the priest, the poet, the man of science, into its paid wage laborers.” This statement demonstrates the amount of money the bourgeoisie class must have possessed and the ideal that all can be brought. This class also was in charge of creating new modes of production to increase production and thus profit.
The economic condition of the proletariat was complete opposite almost. They only made enough wages to survive on and worked long hard shifts at factories (Jacobus 362). Since they only made enough money to survive they did not own property like the bourgeoisie, couldn’t live comfortably like them, and were not in political power as a result.
Thus, the economic conditions of the bourgeoisie and the proletariats was dramtically different with one being extremely rich and the other extremely poor.


Works Cited
Marx, Karl. “The Communist Manifesto.” A World of Ideas: Essential Readings for College Writers .Ed. Lee A Jacobus. 7th ed. New York: Bedford/St. Martin’s, 2006. pp.356-376.