How was communism founded by Karl Marx?

Answer 1

I argue that the ideas of German philosopher, economist and sociologist, Karl Marx and his long-time writing and academic partner, Friedrich Engels, envision the immanent and indispensable success of Marxism to revolve around the core belief of alienation. Marx's notion of communism is founded upon the distinction of the alienated environment of labor built on capitalism and a communist culture in which people liberally developed their nature in cooperative production. (Kreis) Marx joined a communist association; in 1847, his "Communist League" met in London. This is where Marx and Engels become appointed to develop documents that are known as Communist Manifesto. The root of these documents became the methodical viewpoint of what is known as Marxism.

Karl Marx and Vladimir Lenin were to two leaders credited with the development of communism. There is even a branch of political philosophy known as Marxism-Leninism, which emphasizes Lenin's thought of Imperialism but is fundamentally an extended form of Marxism. Marx's held the idea that political change could stem from one revolution of violence (Price). His first political ideas were expressed in Communist Manifesto. According to one source, "Marx's idea of Dictatorship of the working class became the dictatorship of the Communist Party, which only claimed to represent the working class.

Marxism is a social/economic philosophy, developed by Marx and assisted by Engels, based on the interpretation of history, Marx's view of capitalism, social revolutions and his view of human liberation. The foundation states that each person should be permitted to benefit from the fruits of their labor but is restricted from the capitalist economy. This capitalist society divides the general public into two classes: the nonworking workers and the nonworking owners. This situation is what Marx refers to as alienation. Alienation is founded on commodity fetishism, which is the belief that inanimate things, or commodities, have human powers able to oversee the pursuit of people (Blunden).

It is easy to see why Marx and Engels would refer to this revolution being centered on alienation. He said that man was thrown in to industrial labor and shaved of all his human rights. There were four main types of alienation that they discussed. Their capitalist/industrial society began to rely less on the labor of the worker and more on the labor of the machinery. The laborer received lower wages, fewer job opportunities and less intimate connections with their work and production. Employees were being paid for their time spent at work rather than being rewarded for their finished product. It was rare for the laborer to see the refined product that their unmerciful work had bore upon them. Not only were they unable to witness and hold pride for the fruits of their labor, the final product did not belong to them to be able to gain profit, it belonged to the industry to gain profit. Workers were alienated from their own working potential of their physical bodies by working in industries; they were forced to labor in unsatisfactory and harsh conditions that required little skill. Last, alienation was reflected in their social relationships with others at work as well as at home because of the exhaustion, fatigue, injury and work hours that were required of the workers (Marx: Estranged Labour). Communism is, he explains, "the positive transcendence of private property, or human self-estrangement, and therefore the real appropriation of the human essence by and for man... the complete return of man to himself as a social being..." (Economic and Philosophical Manuscripts of 1844)

Marx's and Engels view the result of the industrial society and alienation that was brought on by capitalism and describes their theory in Communist Manifesto. It explores the details of the working class the inevitable transformation it undergoes during the Industrial Revolution. It describes the widespread influence of capitalism, which he regards as being unstable, and the communists, which take advantage of this era to promote their parties, association and political foundations. According to their document: At this time, there were two main conflicting classes: the Bourgeois and the Proletariat. The contemporary bourgeois society is fixed in the remnants of the feudal society. As the new scene of industry replaced manufacturers, the modern and powerful bourgeois replaced the middle class workers. But as this class emerged, so did the Proletariat though they could only live as long as they could attain labor and as long as their labor increased their capital.

The communist's theory includes the obliteration of private property. However, Marx points out, laborers do not attain any assets through their labor. The "property" or wealth they manufacture serves to take advantage of them.

It is difficult to distinguish why Marx focused so heavily upon labor being a fundamental role in his speculation of alienation if you do not recognize his concepts about human nature. First of all, Marx wasn't fond of the idea that everyone has a predetermined character that is autonomous of the world they live in. Marx said that human nature was an expression of labor. He was not opposed to the idea of human nature but felt that nature was something that had to be labored upon. Marx frequently reinforced the idea that contrary to animals, we have a history and can build upon our success, which can benefit the laborer. A worker who uses skill, intellect and creativity takes advantage of making nature the work of his own, but those who are lazy, destructive, and all-around negative, deny their potential as well as labor. When we improve our ability work we improve our chances of success which gives rise to class society. When one class is able to emerge, alienation is also able to surface (Cox).

Marx believes a solution to alienation is to eliminate the causes of alienation rather than reforming and organizing the society around it. These steps would include: the abolition of private property and the relationship between private property and the wage labor. Removing these dynamics also removes the other inequality factors that cause alienation thus obligating people to emancipate themselves. A communist society would then emerge to replace this dependant society that must liberate themselves.