Communist Manifesto and Industrial Revolution the Dominant

Communist Manifesto and Industrial Revolution

The dominant form of economics in the Middle Ages and Renaissance was feudalism; a patron system in which land was owned by royalty or the Church and leased to workers who, in turn paid rent via the products they grew or produced. However, with increased urbanization and tradecraft, ties to a feudal lord or castle were becoming rarer, thus necessitating a different form of monetary exchange. With the advent of steam power and machinery, especially in the 18th and 19th century, major changes in agriculture, mining, manufacturing and transportation literally revolutionized Europe and changed the socioeconomic and cultural conditions within almost every European country. Indeed, the onset of the Industrial Revolution impacted daily life for almost every individual, and changed the course of history, too (More, 2000). Geographically, the Industrial Revolution arose out of England and utilized the vast amounts of natural resources to allow for major changes in agriculture, manufacturing, mining, and transport. Technology, for instance, advanced enough so that processes that were previously reserved for manual labor (draft-animal-based economies) began to mechanize -- as with textile production. Combine this shift in philosophy with a vast improvement on moving goods to and from market and the use of steam and water power and clearly, a revolution was on the horizon (Lorenzen).

Marx and Engels were primarily addressing the social issues arising from feudalism into the Industrial Revolution. Essentially, this revolution replaced an economy based on manual labor to one dominated by industry and machine power (e.g. steam power fueled by coal, etc.). This transition, along with a rise in population growth and urbanization created a number of social issues: child labor, class structures, intense poverty, slum and ghetto housing conditions, lack of sanitation, lack of access to education, disease, hunger, unsafe conditions, no insurance for injury, and a general disregard for the health and humanity of the working class. Marx saw this as the fault of a system which rewards some for exploiting others. Indeed, Marx saw that the only way for capitalism to flourish was to have a group to exploit -- if that group was not the workers of one's own country, then the system would be exported to a colonial empire and the resources (human and otherwise) would be used by the system to produce wealth for the few (Marx).

Marxism is a political, economic, and socio-cultural view of history and society. It has three major points: a dialectical and materialist concept of history, a critique of capitalism, and the advocacy of a proletarian (worker") revolution. For Marx, most people were not free. Instead, in a capitalist society, an economic minority (the wealthy bourgeoisie) dominates all of society; exploit the working class (proletariat) for economic gain. The proletariat, for the bourgeoisie, are nothing but labor, or a means of producing wealth. For a truly free society to exist, the working class must overthrow the bourgeoisie, repeal private property, and extend an international revolution in which the productive capabilities of a given society are transferred into collect ownership. Once this happens, classes will be abolished, thus no class struggle, and individuals will be able to actualize, "each according to their ability," within societal structures.