Marx

I found this reading to be quite boring and hard to understand but from what I do understand it seems that the bourgeoisies were considered the middle class at that time. They owned property and were considered wealthy. The proletariats on the other hand were the opposite. They were considered the lower or working class at that time. They were the ones who possessed skilled labor. It seems that the bourgeoisies in a way were running a monopoly because they were the only ones who could own property. The proletariats did not have the option of owning property at all, but at the same time most had a hard time working for the bourgeoisies. The proletariats were very hard working and were forced to endure hard labor in order to provide for their families. It was very hard for them to find work and with the industrial revolution making its way it became even harder for them to find jobs. The proletariats were being replaced by machines and their labor was no longer needed. It seems as if Marx’s whole point of communism was to, in a sense, take away the power that the bourgeoisies had and create more opportunities for the proletariats “The immediate aim of the Communists is the same as that of all the other proletarian parties: formation of the proletariat into a class, overthrow of the bourgeois of supremacy, conquest of political power by the proletariat” (Marx 368). It also seems like communism was supposed to make everything equal, even if that meant taking away property and many other things from the bourgeoisies. It’s basically almost as if communism was supposed to help those who couldn’t help themselves.

Marx, Karl. "The Communist Manifesto." A World of Ideas: Essential Readings for College Writers. Ed. Lee A. Jacobus. Trans. Samuel Moore. 7th ed. New York: Bedford/St. Martins, 2006. pp353-379.