Karl Marx and Frederica Engel’s, The Communist Manifesto Karl Marx and Frederica Engel’s define class by the attributes of a group of people or members involved. Since industrialized cities were expanding, much of the working class was in poverty. According to Marx, the triumph of one class would pave the way for the future freedom of the rest of society. The wealthy oppressed the slaves, plebeians and laborers. As new technology immersed, market forces gained strength, which allowed the middle classes to gain wealth and power from trade and manufacture.
This challenged the per class authority and the old rulers. The bourgeoisie property owning class and the proletariat industrial working class clashed and created a class struggle. To Marx and Engel’s, this meant that the capitalist bourgeoisie class exploited the proletariat. The work done by the proletariat allowed for a large amount Of wealth for the bourgeoisie, and the product created in the factories were sold for more than the value of the labor. The capitalist, who has control over process of production, makes the profit, whereas the workers do not benefit from their own labor.
The class struggle of the 19th century Europe differs from class struggle in previous eras because “the manufacturing system took its place” (263). The feudal system was monopolized by closed guilds, and modern industry took the place of the middle class. Class struggle under feudalism differed drastically from non-feudal systems. The feudal industry and the developed productive forces were no longer well matched, and were torn apart. The bourgeoisie are factory owners, who own and control the means of production and employers of laborers.
Marx and Engel’s characterize the argosies as “the sorcerer who is no longer able to control the powers of the nether world whom he has called up by his spells. ” This class gets through a crisis by “enforced destruction of a mass of productive forces… The conquest of new markets, and more thorough exploitation of the old ones” (263). The bourgeoisie symbolize the social class whose societal concerns lie in the value of property and conservation of capital, in order for their economic stance in society to remain dominant.
Since the bourgeoisie society is made up of capitalists who are solely interested in the personal accumulation of wealth at the expense of the ordinary worker, it is no wonder why they will ultimately be doomed. Marx and Engel’s believe they will keep exploiting the workers to accumulate more wealth. However, this comes at a price, and will create a larger class of workers that will create a larger disparity in wealth between the two societies (bourgeoisie and proletariat). The proletariat will grow so large and unhappy with what has become of their lives that they will go against their masters, aging away means of production.
This inevitability is a force of human nature bound to lead to self-destruction. Marx and Engel’s believed that the material world controls the ideas of human beings rather than the reversed. Ideas are created due to the interaction of humans with the physical world. Marx claimed that the cause of historical change is the struggle between the two distinct classes. This originates from the differences between their material conditions: distribution of wealth. This struggle will result in total destruction of the lasses and finally form a communist society.
Such awful conditions for the working class enabled much sympathy from others in addition to the workers themselves. The Communist Manifesto said that equality with working conditions and livable circumstances was the most fair. This idea allowed for a great amount of followers and popularity. All workers shared a miserable working environment and overall life, so when the document stated that inequality must be eliminated, it strongly linked the working class together with those who empathetic with them.