Class Conflict In The Communist Manifesto By Karl Marx

Karl Marx critiques the ideologies of capitalism, more specifically the necessity of class conflict through the texts The Economic & Philosophic Manuscripts of 1844, Capital, The German Ideology and predominantly in The Communist Manifesto. He calls for an eventual societal restructure that is less dependent on morality, but a restructure through the use of logic. Marx argues that the opposing interests of the bourgeoisie and proletariat as a necessity for capitalism to function will have negative long term effects. Initially, a capitalist economy will lead towards innovation , appearing to move away from the structural flaws of feudal society, but over time the system will break down causing the a decrease in profit margins for the bourgeoisie, but more importantly the immiseration and exploitation of the proletariat workers through the commoditization of their labour and the commoditization of themselves . Marx proposes that the only way to break free from this cycle is through revolution subsequently creating a classless society called “communism”(!); a societal system where the means …show more content…
He states that mode of production can be understood as M-C-M’ where the purpose of gaining capital is reinvestment to keep producing more and more goods. The bourgeoisie class, the employers, benefit greatly from this system as they own the means of production whilst the proletariat class, the workers, sell their labour for wages and have no means of production. There is an exploitative relationship between the workers and employers. For the employer to add value to their goods, the labourer has to work longer than it takes to make a daily living wage, and gaining essentially nothing than the security of their employment for their extra time as is the basis of surplus