Capitalism and Proletariat

This essay analyzes the corruptions of capitalism and their effects on the lower section of society as detailed in Marx and Engels’ The Communist Manifesto. It discusses the themes of bourgeois, proletarian revolution, and class struggle, and how exploitation and alienation are the chief themes of the book. The essay also highlights how capitalism affects the civil rights and equitable wealth distribution of the people of society.

Running head: CAPITALISM AND PROLETARIAT
CAPITALISM AND PROLETARIAT
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The aim of this essay is to discuss the focus of Marx and Engels’ in their book The
Communist Manifesto, to analyze the issues of corruptions of capitalism and their effects on the
lower section of the society. The Communist Manifesto is the wider read as well as most
influential political documents in the history of economy and political science. This main focuses
on the relation between the bourgeois capitalists and the result of the social class. This book
deals with the spread of industrial revolution along with capitalist modernity. Analysis of Marx
is quite complex as this includes the theories regarding the evils of capitalism as well as their
resolution. The irrationality, inefficiency and unpredictability of capitalism has affected the
socio-economic setting, socio political and administrative system of the countries and affect the
regulation as well as policy making structure completely. This essay will be capturing the
argument that the book by Karl Marx and Engels to be more focused on the capitalism
corruptions more than detailing just the types of work the proletariat have to do.
The main themes of The Communist Manifesto, include the issues of bourgeois,
proletarian revolution and class straggle. These are also relayed to the variants of socialism as
well as the measures that the proletarians or the Marxists need to seek for achieving their
revolution or after it. According to Lamb (2015) Marx believed that capitalism has a far-reaching
effect on the society but this will be collapsed which is the feature of historical materialism of
Marx. It was principally informed by the sort of economic materialism. Marx in The Communist
Manifesto, has detailed the reasons of his detest of capitalism and recorded countless features of
the capitalism which has given birth of the concepts of alienation and exploration. As mentioned
before, the corruption so capitalism has covered much place in the book which gradually leads to
exploitation of the labor class.

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Exploitation according to Marx and Engels (2005) is the process that the bourgeois use to
force their labors to sell their labor power of these capitalists for lesser than it is worth. It
happens as effect of the living labor of the workers producing the surplus values for these
capitalists and the labors are paid disproportionately lower wages. It is one of the features of
capitalism as through exploitation, the act of procuring the profit in the accumulated labor is
made possible for purchasing the living labor. The authors of this book, have therefore, blamed
the social setting which takes place in any system irrespective of geographic diversity. In the
Communist Manifesto, Marx has connected capitalist exploitation with the class exploitation that
is reinforced by the already existing conditions of this capitalist system of the society. This
problem of exploitation creates a devil’s cycle that forces the proletariats to survive only to be
exploited in the class scale. Exploitation of the proletariat has been connected to the alienation
effect as the authors point out latter to be the result of the former.
As mentioned in the Communist Manifesto, the capitalist system the labors are treated
like machine. Just as the capitalist’s profit from the machines and pay only for the raw materials,
they do the same for the human labors also (Marx & Engels, 2005). In addition to exploitation
and alienation, another evil feature of the capitalist society has been pointed out by Marx. To
Lamb, (2015), the concept of controlling the meaning by the bourgeoisie is the feature that
makes law for all and states that the essential characters or directions are determined by
economic conditions of the existence. For Marxists, the humanity of the labors is also determined
by the bourgeoise that does not match with the actual existence of the labors. Their humanity is
seen as the factor of production. This is where Marx has referred to the third type of alienation
which refers to the alienation from the notion of humanity. As pointed out in the Communist
Manifesto, the proletarians in the capitalist social setting has no individuality but they are the

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mode of production only. Marx has also pointed out that the division of labor has key features of
capitalism that try to make the structure of the labor force to have simpler and more mechanized
roles (Marx & Engels, 2005). Therefore, it can be stated that according to Marxist focus, the
proletariats are doubly alienated by the all-smothering philosophy of the bourgeoisie.
As discussed in his book, Lamb (2015) have pointed out that the concepts of exploitation
and alienation are the chief theme of the book by Marx and Engels but these are the part of the
whole idea of capitalism. This is the reason why the Marxists believe that the society need to be
developed according to the idea of communism where the ill effects of capitalism will not be
present. In such context the common people will have most of the assets that is termed as
primeval common ownership of land (Marx & Engels, 2005). It is the only way the proletariats
can over come the power of their oppressors in the communist social settings.
According to Marx and Engels, there are other ways that the capitalism ruins the social
and economic balance of the society. Marxism gradually leads to the communism is the social
setting that has four essential stages that all focus on the process how the ownership of the
wealth will be transformed into the commons or proletariats who have nothing to lose except
their chains from the hands of the capitalists. To Marx and Engels (2005) the bourgeoise not only
affected the lives of the proletariats but also affected the political rights and rights of citizenship
in the social setting. The bourgeoisie supported by the capitalism mentioned in the Communist
Manifesto, is the root of the social division as well as the class struggle. The bourgeoisie
completely destroyed the original orders of the aristocratic privileges that founded their own
society. These established a new and chaotic civic equality which further battered the indebted as
well as poorly educated after the fresh monarchy collapse scenario. The capitalism affected the

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society and the aristocracy crumbled as it refused for reforming the financial system and
institutions.
In every part of this book, Karl Marx has expressed disagreement with the principles of
capitalism as well as its outcome. He along with Engels have pointed out that capitalism creates
anarchy which will directly ruin itself like other oppressing powers. To the Communist
Manifesto, capitalism relates to the imperialism as this also supports the accumulation of wealth
through exploitation. This is the best method of concentrating capital, employment and power. It
can gradually lead to the complete destruction of the economic freedom. Capitalism leads to the
essential loss of political, economic and democratic power for the majority o global population
of human beings. The reason is however similar to what the exploitation of the proletariat has
been discussed by Marx. It has been believed that capitalism creates a very large concentration of
money in the very small minority of the power elite. Therefore, it can be stated that the economic
power attracts the administrative power and all the laws and regulation are formed to support the
interests of the capitalist and the exploitation of the proletaries are increased.
The Marxism in the world have seen rise and fall of many empires be it a French,
German or British. The nature of all the imperialism has the similar features. All of these are
based on the aim to accumulate power and wealth. They follow the rules of capitalism and
grabbing the capitalist marketplace and gradually the society as well as religion. As mentioned in
The Communist Manifesto, the medieval age and religion were all supporters of feudalism, now
the capitalist are also getting support of religion. This is due to the fact that capitalism creates
scope to use religion to be the mode of exploitation to the lower and weakest part of the society.
capitalism has been characterized by the dominance of hierarchical, bureaucratic, large
corporations, which are legally required to pursue profit without concern for social welfare. They

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manipulate the power of the government and policies so that the profit mechanism does not go
beyond their reach.
Therefore, it can be stated that except identifying and detailing every aspects of the
oppression of the proletariat, therefore, the Communist Manifesto has pointed out that capitalism
leads to deep as well as structural erosion of the basic human rights. The powerful capitalism
affects the civil rights as the equitable wealth along with the income distribution of the people of
the society. these also effect the democratic political as well as socio-economic power
representation of the individuals and many other human rights and needs of common by
depriving them from all their deserving matters. This is the reason why it can be started that
whatever the initiatives in the capitalist society is the class struggle is inevitable and what Marx
has prophesized in his book that the capitalism will be demolished through the power shift in the
hands of the proletariats, will be evitable.

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References:
Lamb, P. (2015). Marx and Engels' Communist manifesto. London: Bloomsbury Academic.
Marx, K., & Engels, F. (2005). The Communist manifesto: a road map to history's most
important political document. Haymarket Books.