The Communist Manifesto part 3 and 4 response (Jeff Barnard)

In this week’s reading, we continue with the Communist Manifesto and how it was trying to prove that communism was better. In the third part, they seem to give a long history lesson on how aristocracies of England and France used the government in dishonest ways to suppress the Bourgeoisie by spreading omens of a terrible future if they remained. It goes on and talks about how the communists and French Socialists overcame the “one-sidedness” and spoke based on the will of truth. This part, to me, seems to show that the communists are only interested in the truth and want to help the people as opposed to their government. I think that this was a good tactic to use because it makes Communists seems like a more honest bunch of people that are interested in shedding off bad forms of control.

The fourth part is short and sweet saying that the Communist supports any and all groups that are going against corrupt government. It is clear that this part is the rallying section of the Communist Manifesto and to show that they encourage revolution if it is needed. Having now read the entire thing, it’s clear that the first few parts were specifically written to address the problems of government and the next parts were to provide a better solution or alternative. I can see how this would be an effective tool to promote themselves as the saviors from corrupt government. The Communist Manifesto parts 3 and 4 are meant to be a promotion of communism and the support to overthrow what the people feel is ruining their lives.

Eric Zimmermann - Manifesto

Throughout the reading it was obvious that its main focus was to address the issues that are apparent in modern society. It "describes" an ideal way to remove individual success and replace it with an overall success of society. It evaluates the limits of how far one person/group can be pushed before they essentially push back, and a revolution is started trying to overthrow those individuals who are at the top of the "food chain". I thought this reading was especially interesting and look forward to reading the next chapters.

Phil Grasso-Manifesto

This reading focused on the different levels of class and how they have changed over time. Moving from a communal guild oriented society to one that is controlled by the bourgeoisie, or upper-middle class manufacturer. these owners rely heavily on the labor of its workers, the lower-middle class proletariat. What Marx is suggesting is that the abolition of such sects, would increase communal wealth for everyone. Everyone has the opportunity to succeed together and not at the expense of someone else. As the bourgeoisie grow and grow the peasants, artisans, shopkeepers and other small manufacturers become weaker and weaker, thus expanding the gap in class. How far can the oppressed be beaten and battered before they get their fair share of the "pie". Revolution is next in line for those feeling that they are treated unfairly. By eliminating the upper sects and restoring community involvement, the scale will even out.

Communist Manifesto: Dan McCafferty

The communist manifesto touched upon more modern issues in society and discussed ways of fixing them. There were several ideas that were very precise but the main goal was to get communities to work together as a whole rather than individual units living with each other. Today this is nearly impossible due to the population and modern way of living. This issue was one not really mentioned in Marx but I also feel that it was irrelevant to his issues. They also talk about the way that some cultures and beliefs are being taken away or vanishing. I do believe this in modern society, I feel like a new culture in general is coming to be. Almost like everything that we used to know is merging into one. I feel like the art side of this reading was to realize that we should stay rebellious with our actions but at the same time we need to keep it organized. In tie with the idea of coming together as “one” in a society, the idea of abolishing private property seemed a little strange to me. I get the idea because it materialized certain things but I believe it was a step too far. I enjoyed the reading but some of the reasoning and ideas behind the concept seemed a little drastic.

Danielle Inducci-Communist Manifesto

Karl Marx presents ideas in this chapter about Communism and how becoming a communist society would fix the flaws of modern society. He is an intelligent man who presents valid arguments when he is trying to convince others of his crazy plans. One main idea of his was eliminating private property, allowing the community to come together and work side by side. Marx istrying to create a Utopian society through taking down dividers and making everything identical. This would force everyone to be equals and would get rid of all individuality. However many people would never allow themselves to be equally accessible to the community. Everyone has a right to their privacy and would like to keep it that way. This is Marx way of getting people to think outside the little box of society and branch out and explore different ideas and opportunities. This is very similar to how artists should and try to think when creating new and interesting work.

Keith Croshaw - Communist Manifesto

The writing starts out as expected talking about the oppressed and the oppressor. I found it interesting the diversity of the writers of the Communist Manifesto, although historically it makes sense. I find it interesting how the writing states that the proletariat and the bourgeoisie have been growing further and further apart since for some odd reason I’ve been feeling like many sub-levels of the main classes have been melding together over time. Perhaps I just haven’t though about it enough to see through the haze.

Another interesting aspect of this first chapter is how they feel that the bourgeoisie has stripped down “he physician, the lawyer, the priest, the poet, the man of science, into its paid wage labourers.” Upon reading that statement I never would have thought any differently about these disciplines. Everyone respects people in these positions but I always have thought of them as just another job, and I wonder if I would have before capitalism. The writing also goes on to say that capitalism has done the same thing to the family, saying a family is just a money relation now; which is apparent now and even more apparent back before child labor laws were placed into affect. It is always very interesting to me taking a step back and looking at how I, and those around me live our daily lives and the meanings behind all of our actions.

Jess Adamitis Reading 7 Response

The bourgeoisie: the upper middle class of modern capitalists who are the employers of wage labor and the industrial owners. The proletariat: the lower middle class of wage laborers who sell their labor for money to live. According to the Communist Manifesto the bourgeoisie is destined to fall and that by creating the proletariat it had also created the weapon that will be used against it.

The bourgeoisie will ultimately become corrupted and seek to turn all virtues of life into an object of monetary value. It forces the growing community to rely on it and molds the world in its own image. Hence the proletariat, who turn their hard work into that of wage labor to be used and exploited by the bourgeoisie.

However the constant exploitation of the worker can only lead to one thing: revolution. The worker will turn on the bourgeoisie individual who has taken so much advantage over them and destroy the industrial instruments of production which compete with the proletariat. They seek to make their class known and not be out-competed by the industrial machines. As the grow they will group and form unions to fight against the bourgeoisie and keep up the rate of wages. The bourgeoisie fall to the proletariats is inevitable.

Personally I don’t have much to say on this reading. Marx describes this competition as akin to a war zone and perhaps it is. I wonder if the proletariats created art to help support their revolution and what it could look like. I think it would be similar to motivational posters. Perhaps during Thursday’s discussion there will be some art presented that reflects these ideas.