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Primary Source Analysis the Communist Manifesto

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Primary Source Analysis the Communist Manifesto
Primary Source Analysis: The Communist Manifesto
By Oliver Stearns
B00559549
The Communist Manifesto discusses the political objectives of communists on behalf of the proletariat class. The ultimate goal of the Communist Manifesto and communism is the overthrow of the bourgeois by the proletariat class and the removal of private property. “formation of the proletariat into a class, overthrow of the bourgeois supremacy, conquest of political power by the proletariat.” (Marx) Marx theorized that all revolutions were related to class struggle and the only way to remove the bourgeois class was the abolishment of private property. “…modern bourgeois private property is the final and most complete expression of the system of producing and appropriating products that is based on class antagonisms, on the exploitation of the many by the few. In this sense, the theory of the Communists may be summed up in the single sentence: Abolition of private property.” (Marx) The abolishment of property is one of the most defining principles in communism it is, however not intrinsic to a communist revolution. “The French Revolution, for example, abolished feudal property in favour of bourgeois property.” (Marx) Marx theorized for a communist society to function properly a list of conditions was required.
1. Abolition of property in land and application of all rents of land to public purposes. 2. A heavy progressive or graduated income tax. 3. Abolition of all right of inheritance. 4 Confiscation of the property of all emigrants and rebels. 5 Centralization of credit in the hands of the State, by means of a national bank with State capital and an exclusive monopoly. 6 Centralization of the means of communication and transport in the hands of the State. 7 Extension of factories and instruments of production owned by the State; the bringing into cultivation of wastelands, and the improvement of the soil generally in accordance with a common plan. 8 Equal liability of all to



Bibliography: Marx, Karl, and Friedrich Engels. "Proletarians and Communists." The Communist Manifesto. London: Penguin, 1985. Print.

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