> Marx was not writing a plan of action, and all that has been proved is that authoritarian assholes are assholes.
The Communist manifesto is literally a plan of action. It calls for an authoritarian government in which all financial assets, credit, real assets, and land are centralized and controlled by the state. It calls for seizure of all personal property of anyone who wants to leave the country. It calls for conscripting the public and forcing them to work in agricultural and industrial armies, also controlled by the state. It calls for state monopolization and control of the press and all forms of communication and transportation, etc. From the Communist Manifesto:
These measures will, of course, be different in different countries.
Nevertheless, in most advanced countries, the following will be pretty generally applicable.
1. Abolition of property in land and application of all rents of land to public purposes.
2. A heavy progressive or graduated income tax.
3. Abolition of all rights of inheritance.
4. Confiscation of the property of all emigrants and rebels.
5. Centralisation of credit in the hands of the state, by means of a national bank with State capital and an exclusive monopoly.
6. Centralisation of the means of communication and transport in the hands of the State.
7. Extension of factories and instruments of production owned by the State; the bringing into cultivation of waste-lands, and the improvement of the soil generally in accordance with a common plan.
8. Equal liability of all to work. Establishment of industrial armies, especially for agriculture.
Given that this comment is almost all a direct quote of Marx himself, and is otherwise an entirely factual and non-judgmental statement, it is curious to see it downvoted so heavily.
It’s especially odd, given that this thread is about whether or not we should read Marx. I’m very curious about who thinks this should be downvoted and why?
The Communist manifesto is literally a plan of action. It calls for an authoritarian government in which all financial assets, credit, real assets, and land are centralized and controlled by the state. It calls for seizure of all personal property of anyone who wants to leave the country. It calls for conscripting the public and forcing them to work in agricultural and industrial armies, also controlled by the state. It calls for state monopolization and control of the press and all forms of communication and transportation, etc. From the Communist Manifesto:
These measures will, of course, be different in different countries.
Nevertheless, in most advanced countries, the following will be pretty generally applicable.
1. Abolition of property in land and application of all rents of land to public purposes.
2. A heavy progressive or graduated income tax.
3. Abolition of all rights of inheritance.
4. Confiscation of the property of all emigrants and rebels.
5. Centralisation of credit in the hands of the state, by means of a national bank with State capital and an exclusive monopoly.
6. Centralisation of the means of communication and transport in the hands of the State.
7. Extension of factories and instruments of production owned by the State; the bringing into cultivation of waste-lands, and the improvement of the soil generally in accordance with a common plan.
8. Equal liability of all to work. Establishment of industrial armies, especially for agriculture.
https://www.marxists.org/archive/marx/works/1848/communist-m...