'A spectre is haunting Europe - the spectre of Communism.'
Thus begins Marx&Engels Communist Manifesto, this evening's quick read. (Pro tip: the Penguin Little Black Classics edition is very cheap)
'All the Powers of old Europe have entered into a holy alliance to exorcize this spectre: Pope and Czar, Metternich and Guizot, French Radicals and German police spies.'
The manifesto's intention is to present Communist views to tackle 'this nursery tale of the Spectre of Communism'.
At its best, the Manifesto reads like the grandiose introduction to a world-changing adventure story, or the scene-setting prologue at the start of an actioney video game. (In particular, I am reminded of the Race Intro narrations from World of Warcraft: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QQN5PgnBgU0) We are given a simplified overview of history, and empowering call to get out there and save the world:
'The history of all hitherto existing society is the history of class struggles.
Freeman and slave, patrician and plebeian, lord and serf, guild-master 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 a revolutionary reconstitution of society at large, or in the common ruin of the contending classes. [...]
Let the ruling classes tremble at a Communistic revolution. The proletarians have nothing to lose but their chains. They have a world to win.'
The Manifesto's criticisms of the capitalism are often still applicable: wage repression and the declining living standards of the working classes, etc, etc. And some of the suggested improvements are still appealing, eg. a progressive tax system. And there are some good lines throughout, eg. 'Political power, properly so called, is merely the organised power of one class for oppressing another.'
But the manifesto obviously has problems. A sizable section deals with responses to Communism's critics: this section does not seem at all large enough given the failures of Communism in the previous century. The tone of the authors often feels too confident, like prophets assured that their visions of the coming Utopia have come from some Proletarian Deity.
Perhaps the worst thing is how simplified it is; I haven't read anything else by Marx or Engels, but I'm assuming the manifesto was their way of getting their ideas a wider audience, by dumbing it down and making it accessible to anyone: the manifesto is to their other work what Brian Cox's 'Wonders of the Solar System' is to, say, Sir Roger Penrose's 'The Road to Reality'.
I get the feeling that if you replaced 'bourgeoisie' with 'Corporate Overlords', then a lot of it could once again be be very popular with those leaning to the left. If you replaced 'bourgeoisie' with 'Liberal Metropolitan Elite', then a lot of it could be popular with those leaning further towards the right.
I would write more, but I'm getting sleepy. In summary: it's a historically important read which has some good bits and you can get through it in one sitting; I have not been converted to Communism.
