'The proletarians have nothing to lose but their chains.'
Marx and Engels's revolutionary summons to the working classes- one of the most important and influential political theories ever formulated.
I can't deny that communism fascinates me a great deal to begin with but to read this pamphlet if you like outlining the flaws in capitalism that I found to be quite gripping.
It was written at a poignant time in history and addresses the criticism of communism set by fearful capitalists. It doesn't really outline in great detail what communism is, or how it functions but its mostly trying to persuade the reader of the inevitable collapse of capitalism.
Marx expresses strongly that the only way out of this society is a revolution that would be incredibly violent by nature. If anything reading this now has made me realise that just about anything can happen in today's society, and with current affairs it's not hard to imagine a revolutions Marx talks of.
Regarding Marx' own background of being a Prussian Jew he was heavily influenced by the corruption of the capitalist system of his day. The exploited workers of the working class that could barely survive on a wage that brought nothing but danger to their lives in sweatshops of the factories in the big cities, while the wealthy owners counted up their capital. A social injustice to Marx, and one can see where Marx is coming from with this gap continuing to grow and grow across the world.
A lot of his ideas are disagreeable but perhaps his thinking wasn't all wrong...
I found this to be a fascinating read and I'm so glad I finally got round to it.
