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hey Spectre is haunting Europe the
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specter of communism
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[Music]
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if we're gonna summarize the Communist
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Manifesto it's important we briefly
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cover the context in which the communist
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manifesto was written in 1847 when Karl
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Marx and Friedrich Engels wrote the
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piece socialism and communism were not
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clearly defined concepts everyone had
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their own eclectic ideas about what
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these terms meant all trying to address
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the problems which had been produced by
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a fully blooming capitalist society
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problems were still dealing with today
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the only thing that was commonly
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understood by these terms was something
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beyond the present state of things and
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for people in high society at the time
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whose wealth and property owed its
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existence to the present state of things
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socialism and communism were vague and
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threatening concepts especially
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communism which had developed a strong
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association with the working-class
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emerging at the time who owned nothing
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and had no strong ties to the current
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order now what Karl Marx and Friedrich
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Engels set out to do in the communist
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manifesto was to properly define what
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that something beyond the present state
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of things meant and they do something
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very interesting as opposed to laying
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out grand principles of eternal truth
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and universal morality upon which the
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future society shall be constructed Marx
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and Engels point out that to accurately
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understand what can come next you need
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to understand how and why human
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societies change and understand the
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material conditions that exist right now
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and although both Marx and angles use
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the terms socialism and communism
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interchangeably to refer to a society
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beyond capitalism they adopt the label
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communism specifically because of its
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unique association with the working
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class who as we'll come to see are
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absolutely key to understanding and
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achieving a post-capitalist society the
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working class is key to understanding
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what communism is and how to achieve it
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the history of all hitherto existing
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society is the history of class struggle
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this is their theory of how human
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societies change known as historical
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materialism the history of human
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societies is propelled by the conflict
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of material interests between the
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classes and this whole first section is
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dedicated to tracing history using a
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historical materialist approach so we
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have to understand historical
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materialism if the section is going to
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make any sense
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historical materialism starts from the
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fact that for societies to exist they
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need to be able to produce things the
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necessities of life like food and
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shelter without production there is no
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society the things we use to produce
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things which would include things like
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tools land minerals machinery are known
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as the means of production how people
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relate to the means of production gives
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us their class position and with that
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their objective material interests a
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farmer whose relation to the land and
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tools his ownership is going to have an
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objective material interest in good
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weather good crop yields minimal wear on
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tools etc now let's say there's a lord
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who actually owns the land and tools and
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in exchange for allowing the farmers to
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farm safely on his land the Lord takes a
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portion of the crop yields it is in the
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material interest of the Lord to take as
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much of the yield as possible while the
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material interest of the farmers is to
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keep as much of the yield as possible
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here we have an irreconcilable conflict
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of material interests between the
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classes our culture's laws moralities
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ideologies religions Wars coos
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revolutions and so on are all products
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in the final analysis of our societies
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classes and their struggles to advance
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their material interests struggles
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between different classes and struggles
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between different factions of the same
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class who hold particular material
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interests that can come into conflict
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with one another the conflict of
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material interests between the Lord and
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farmers oppressor and oppressed has no
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resolution under the current order a
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fight that each time ended either in a
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revolutionary reconstitution of society
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at large or in the common ruin of the
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contending classes so the oppressing
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class struggles to hold together this
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relationship of exploitation for as long
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as possible
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but the struggle can only end in one of
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two ways either the oppressed succeeds
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in overthrowing the oppressors and
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establishing a new order that advances
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and enshrines of their material
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interests or both competing classes are
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brought to ruin somehow marks and angles
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then turn to the transition from
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feudalism to capitalism using a
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historical materialist approach in
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feudal society as with previous
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societies we have a complicated
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arrangement of many different classes
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but it's from a
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small class of town dwellers that the
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modern capitalist class develops from
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also known as the bourgeoisie these town
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dwellers made their living from commerce
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and trade using their modestly accrued
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wealth to generate more they had a keen
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material interest in developing
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navigational knowledge the study of
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Commerce shipbuilding bookkeeping and so
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on
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the discovery of America and foreign
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conquests opened up new lucrative goods
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to these town dwellers spurring an even
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more intense interest in developing the
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means of exchange navigation
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communication and transportation in the
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search to yield more wealth from amassed
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fortunes these merchants begin to take
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over industry itself investing in
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socialized workshops and the development
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of the instruments of production out
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competing traditional individual
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artisans due to the superior efficiency
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of socialized production as the
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instruments of production developed with
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the development of the bourgeoisie they
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began to come into conflict with the
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existing relations of production in
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feudal society basically property laws
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and into conflict with the aristocracy
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who had a material interest in
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maintaining these feudal relations of
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production for example it convoluted an
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arbitrary feudal judicial system
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although great for local Lords who
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enjoyed special privileges and control
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over local laws hamstrung trade for the
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bourgeoisie and a myriad of internal
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tariffs borders although great for local
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lords inflated prices for the
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bourgeoisie not only this but much of
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the population were still peasants and
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if the bourgeoisie wanted to continue
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producing cheaper and cheaper
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commodities the supply of labour had to
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be increased which meant the traditional
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peasant lore relationship had to be
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disrupted here we have the productive
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power of society society's forces of
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productions that have been developed to
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a point where they are now held back and
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cramped by the relations of production
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we have a reactionary class whose
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interest is to maintain the current
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order for as long as possible despite it
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holding back production and we have a
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revolutionary class who has a material
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interest in fully utilizing the forces
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of production a material interest in
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abolishing the current order and
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carrying out a revolutionary
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reconstitution of
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the English revolution and most famously
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the French Revolution were such
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reconstitution of society by the
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bourgeoisie seizing political power from
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the aristocracy to abolish feudal
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relations and to enshrine capitalist
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relations of production what are the
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capitalist relations of production
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anyways capitalists are those who
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privately-owned and control the means of
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production they hire others to work on
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these means to produce products for a
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market to make a profit workers also
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known as the proletariat do not own the
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means of production they've worked for a
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wage to live workers generate the value
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and the capitalist seeks to take as much
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of the value as possible paying the
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worker as little as possible the worker
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seeks to keep as much of the value they
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generate in seeking higher wages these
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are two diametrically opposed material
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interests in which there is no
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resolution under capitalism now the
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capitalists as we've seen have played an
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incredibly revolutionary role in history
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they've socialized production tying all
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corners of the world together in a
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global web of Industry and consumption
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and they've revolutionized the
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instruments of production creating tools
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and machinery capable of producing far
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beyond the necessary requirement to
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sustain society with extreme efficiency
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through relatively simple operations but
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just as the forces of production were
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hampered by the feudal relations of
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production once before now to the
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productive forces in capitalist society
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have developed to a point where they are
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constricted by the capitalist relations
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of production the productive power of
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society is now being held back by the
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capitalist order and I'll show you what
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I mean by this under capitalism
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production is carried out for private
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profit as products are produced more and
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more efficiently their cost Falls and
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can be sold cheaper to steel buyers from
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other competing capitalists
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unfortunately as competing capitalists
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catch up and manage to sell their
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products at this cheaper price the
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profit rate has fallen and there is a
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scramble to lower costs again innovation
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now becomes the enemy of the capitalist
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in the long run to fight back against
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this tendency of the rate of profit to
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fall
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Buddhists can monopolize markets
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artificially restricting supply and
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hiking prices well above their cost
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completely putting to waste the
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productivity of society they can also
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monopolize intellectual rights holding
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back the general adoption of innovative
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technology but none of this really
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matters when the vast majority of
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workers don't have the money to buy the
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products every capitalist seeks to lower
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labor costs as much as possible but
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still wants buyers debt and the hyper
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exploitation of the global south can
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help bridge this contradiction but it's
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not particularly stable as productive
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industries become less and less of an
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attractive investment due to their slim
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or turn rights capitalists increasingly
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swarm to invest in unproductive
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financial markets and speculative
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bubbles resources wasted in these
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financial schemes and bubbles are
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resources that could have been invested
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to further technological development
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when the speculative bubbles
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periodically pop and capitalists no
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longer see profit to be made capital
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society falls into economic crisis in
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these crises a great part not only of
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the existing products but also of the
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previously created productive forces are
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periodically destroyed the most vulgar
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expression of the capitalist relations
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of production holding back and
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conflicting with the forces of
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production but not only has the
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bourgeoisie forged the weapons that
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bring death to itself it has called into
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existence the men who are to wield those
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weapons all previous classes out
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competed by capitalists and those
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classes deprived of their means of
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subsistence have sunk into the ranks of
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the working class this continuously
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growing propertyless class now
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constitutes the overwhelming majority of
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capitalist society having used a
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historical materialist analysis we can
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now understand what communism is it is
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in the working classes material interest
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to abolish private ownership over the
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means of production putting an end to
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the private appropriation of the
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generated value and to establish common
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ownership of these productive
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instruments and resources such that the
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surplus value generated by the workers
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is owned and controlled by the workers
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everyone's relation to the means of
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production will be equal and thus
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everyone's material interests will be
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the same a classless
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society is possible this will require
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the political overthrow of the
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capitalist class and the establishment
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of a worker state in which the
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instruments of production and society's
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resources are put under the Democratic
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control of the working people and
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capitalist resistance is put down
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following the democratization of the
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economy the full productive power of
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society will be utilized and put towards
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raising the standard of living for all
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workers can be paid proportionately to
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the labor they contribute the more one
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works the more ones paid a necessary
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portion of the total surplus value
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generated will be dedicated towards
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administrative costs social programs
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repair and most importantly towards
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research and development fostering the
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further advancement of the forces of
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production as the working classes one by
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one settle matters with their national
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bourgeoisie the working classes may
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unite internationally unifying the
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productive power of the entire globe at
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a certain point of development when the
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forces of production have become so
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efficient and so ubiquitous human
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society may enter a higher phase of
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communism in which everyone does the
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work they can and takes what they need
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from each according to their ability to
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each according to their need a decrepit
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and feeble States long with no
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antagonists to class suppress and no
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longer having to enforce to each
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according to their contribution can
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complete its total withering away but
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this higher phase of communism is not
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possible without that initial period of
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development the lower phase of communism
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now the rest of the manifesto is a bit
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more historically specific to Marx and
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Engels time so we won't delve anew here
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but luckily we've covered the important
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bits namely historical materialism
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although the communist manifesto is the
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most widely known marxist text it's not
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a particularly good place to start if
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you're looking to get into Marxism for
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that I'd suggest reading socialism
00:13:05
scientific and utopian as well as wage
00:13:07
labour and capital thank you to my
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patrons who've chosen to support me if
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