HIS 120 Lecture Notes - Lecture 11: The Communist Manifesto, Proletariat, Bourgeoisie
COMMUNIST MANIFESTO
BOURGEOISIE—have property, have the means of production, owns the wealth, middle class, not necessarily
rich……… produce their own gravediggers because they create conditions where the proletariat realized that
they are oppressed, fight against each other and fall down to the proletariat when they lose
Peasants---farmers so they do own land….poor and oppressed… marx hates them
PROLETARIAT—wage laborers, do not own property, working class, not necessarily poor
MEANS OF PRODUCTION—materials/machines/assets required to make things
“the history of all hitherto existing society is the history of class struggles” – there is always a lower class that
is taken advantage of by the higher class, the higher class owns everything…. Social and economic….the
oppressed and the oppressor….the haves and the have nots…. Battle over the means of production
DOMESTIC WORKERS---- maids, neutral, will eventually become proletariat
Marx’s view-----black and white, no grey….reeducate people away from selfish orientation
COMMUNIST END GAME---equality, no class, no private property, no religion, money-less, no means of
production, violently overthrow first, need revolution
REVOLUTION NOT REFORM ----- need revolution/violence because bourgeoisie will not give up unless
forcefully taken…methods have been tried and never worked
MARX & BOURGEOISIE ---- does like them…. But accepts that they did play a key revolutionary role in getting
from medieval society to industrial society….. in some places it is important to ally with them to overthrow
them
MARX & FAMILY ---- family exploits children… inheritance keeps factories/money/status in families which is
not fair
“YOU CANT CHANGE HUMAN NATURE” ----- marx would say there is no such thing as human nature…human
nature is just a byproduct of the environment --- if you change the environment, human nature will adapt and
change
THREAT OF SEIZING PRIVATE PROPERTY----they’ve taken from the church so we can take from them…only 10%
of society…. they didn’t earn it
REVOLUTION→COMMUNISM ---- proletariat violently overthrow bourgeoisie.. proletariat have power with no
exploitation no family no private property etc…democracy…no government/police
Document Summary
Peasants---farmers so they do own land . poor and oppressed marx hates them. Proletariat wage laborers, do not own property, working class, not necessarily poor. The history of all hitherto existing society is the history of class struggles there is always a lower class that is taken advantage of by the higher class, the higher class owns everything . Social and economic . the oppressed and the oppressor . the haves and the have nots . Domestic workers---- maids, neutral, will eventually become proletariat. Marx"s view-----black and white, no grey . reeducate people away from selfish orientation. Communist end game---equality, no class, no private property, no religion, money-less, no means of production, violently overthrow first, need revolution. Revolution not reform ----- need revolution/violence because bourgeoisie will not give up unless forcefully taken methods have been tried and never worked.
