Today we share the political philosophy of Karl Marx (1818-1883) from his famous work ‘The Communist Manifesto’, which was originally published in 1848. Karl Marx was a philosopher, economist, and sociologist known for his theories on capitalism, communism, and historical materialism. Some of the key philosophies of Karl Marx include:
Communism – Marx envisioned a classless society where the means of production are collectively owned. He believed that communism would eliminate exploitation and create a more equitable and just society.
Dialectical Materialism – Marx applied Hegel’s dialectical method to materialist philosophy. He viewed history as a series of contradictions and conflicts that lead to social change and progress.
Theory of Surplus Value – Marx proposed that the value of goods is derived from the labor put into them. He argued that capitalists extract surplus value from workers by paying them less than the value they produce.
A Top Level Review Of ‘The Communist Manifesto’
‘The Communist Manifesto’, written by Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels, outlines the principles of Communism and critiques capitalism. Some key points from ‘The Communist Manifesto’ include:
Abolition of Private Property – ‘The Communist Manifesto’ advocates for the abolition of private property and the establishment of communal ownership of the means of production to eliminate class distinctions.
Bourgeoisie and Proletariat – ‘The Communist Manifesto’ describes the relationship between the bourgeoisie (capitalist class) and the proletariat (working class), highlighting the exploitation of workers by capitalists for profit.
Critique of Capitalism – ‘The Communist Manifesto’ criticizes capitalism for its inherent contradictions, inequalities, and exploitation of the working class, predicting its eventual collapse due to internal conflicts. Marx believed that capitalism inherently leads to inequality, alienation, and crises.
Historical Materialism – ‘The Communist Manifesto’ presents a historical analysis of class struggles, arguing that throughout history, societies have been defined by the conflict between oppressor and oppressed classes. Marx believed that the history of society is shaped by the material conditions of production. He argued that economic factors, such as class struggle and the means of production, drive historical change.
Role of the State – ‘The Communist Manifesto’ argues for the eventual withering away of the State as communism is achieved, envisioning a society where governance is based on the principle of “from each according to his ability, to each according to his needs.”
Quotes From ‘The Communist Manifesto’
Quotes are organized by topic and excerpted from the Sweet Water Press edition of ‘The Communist Manifesto’ published in 2021 and featuring an introduction from Bob Weick.
Autonomy
“In place of the old local and national seclusion and self-sufficiency, we have intercourse in every direction, universal inter-dependence of nations. And as in material, so also in intellectual production.” – Chapter 1 – Bourgeois And Proletarians
“In the bourgeois society, the past dominates the present; in Communist society, the present dominates the past. In bourgeois society capital is independent and has individuality, while the living person is dependent and has no individuality.” – Chapter 2 – Proletarians And Communists
“The ruling ideas of each age have ever been the ideas of its ruling class.” – Chapter 2 – Proletarians And Communists
Groups
“The history of all hitherto existing society is the history of class struggles.” – Chapter 1 – Bourgeois And Proletarians
“The modern bourgeois society that has sprouted from the ruins of feudal society has not done away with class antagonisms. It has but established new classes, new conditions of oppression, new forms of struggle in place of the old ones.” – Chapter 1 – Bourgeois And Proletarians
“The bourgeoisie has stripped of its halo every occupation hitherto honoured and looked up to with reverent awe. It has converted the physician, the lawyer, the priest, the poet, the man of science, into its paid wage labourers. The bourgeoisie has torn away from the family its sentimental veil, and has reduced the family relation to a mere money relation.” – Chapter 1 – Bourgeois And Proletarians
“…specialised skill is rendered worthless by new methods of production. Thus the proletariat is recruited from all classes of the population… The other classes decay and finally disappear in the face of Modern Industry; the proletariat is its special and essential product.” – Chapter 1 – Bourgeois And Proletarians
“All previous historical movements were movements of minorities or in the interest of minorities. The proletarian movement is the self-conscious, independent movement of the immense majority, in the interest of the immense majority.” – Chapter 1 – Bourgeois And Proletarians
“… by the action of Modern Industry, all the family ties among the proletarians are torn asunder, and their children transformed into simple articles of commerce and instruments of labour.” – Chapter 2 – Proletarians And Communists
“In place of the old bourgeois society, with its classes and class antagonisms, we shall have an association, in which the free development of each is the condition for the free development of all.” – Chapter 2 – Proletarians And Communists
Liberty
“Modern Industry has converted the little workshop of the patriarchal master into the great factory of the industrial capitalist. Masses of labourers… are organized like soldiers… Not only are they slaves of the bourgeois class, and of the bourgeois State; they are daily and hourly enslaved by the machine, by the overlooker, and, above all, by the industrial bourgeois manufacturer himself.” – Chapter 1 – Bourgeois And Proletarians
“All the preceding classes that got the upper hand sought to fortify their already acquired status by subjecting society at large to their conditions of appropriation. The proletariat cannot become masters of the productive forces of society, except by abolishing their own previous mode of appropriation, and thereby also every other previous mode of appropriation.” – Chapter 1 – Bourgeois And Proletarians
Social Capital
“Freeman and slave, patrician and plebeian, lord and serf, guild-master and journeyman, in a word, oppressor and oppressed, stood in constant opposition to one another, carried on an uninterrupted, now hidden, now open fight, a fight that each time ended, either in a revolutionary reconstitution of society at large, or in the common ruin of the contending classes.” – Chapter 1 – Bourgeois And Proletarians
“The bourgeoisie… has resolved personal worth into exchange value, and in place of the numberless indefeasible chartered freedoms, has set up that single, unconscionable freedom – Free Trade. In one word, for exploitation, veiled by religious and political illusions, it has submitted naked, shameless, direct, brutal exploitation.” – Chapter 1 – Bourgeois And Proletarians
“… organisation of the proletarians into a class, and consequently into a political party, is continually being upset again by the competition between the workers themselves.” – Chapter 1 – Bourgeois And Proletarians
“Capital is a collective product, and only by the united action of many members, nay, in the last resort, only by the united action of all members of society, can it be set in motion. Capital is therefore not only personal; it is a social power.” – Chapter 2 – Proletarians And Communists
“In proportion as the antagonism between classes within the nation vanishes, the hostility of one nation to another will come to an end.” – Chapter 2 – Proletarians And Communists
“If the proletariat during its contest with the bourgeoisie is compelled, by the force of circumstances, to organise itself as a class, if by means of a revolution it makes itself the ruling class, and, as such, sweeps away by force the old conditions of production, then it will, along with these conditions, have swept away the conditions for the existence of class antagonisms of of classes generally….” – Chapter 2 – Proletarians And Communists
Sovereignty
“The place of manufacture was taken by the giant, Modern Industry; the place of the industrial middle class by industrial millionaires, the leaders of the whole industrial armies, the modern bourgeois… the bourgeois has at last, since the establishment of Modern Industry and of the world market, conquered for itself, in the modern representative State, exclusive political sway. The executive of the modern state is but a committee for managing the common affairs of the whole bourgeoisie.” – Chapter 1 – Bourgeois And Proletarians
“The need of a constantly expanding market for its products chases the bourgeoisie over the entire surface of the globe. It must nestle everywhere, settle everywhere, establish connexions everywhere. The bourgeoisie has through its exploitation of the world market given a cosmopolitan character to production and consumption in every country.” – Chapter 1 – Bourgeois And Proletarians
“The bourgeoisie, by the rapid improvement of all instruments of production, by the immensely facilitated means of communication, draws all, even the most barbarian, nations into civilisation.” – Chapter 1 – Bourgeois And Proletarians
“The conditions of bourgeois society are too narrow to comprise the wealth created by them. And how does the bourgeoisie get over these crises? On the one hand by enforced destruction of a mass of productive forces; on the other hand, by the conquest of new markets, and by the more thorough exploitation of the old ones. That is to say, by paving the way for more extensive and more destructive crises, and by diminishing the means whereby crises are prevented.” – Chapter 1 – Bourgeois And Proletarians
“The working men have no country. We cannot take from them what they have not got. Since the proletariat must first of all acquire political supremacy, must rise to be the leasing class of the nation, must constitute itself the nation…” – Chapter 2 – Proletarians And Communists
“Political power, properly so called, is merely the organised power of one class for oppressing another.”- Chapter 2 – Proletarians And Communists
“The Communists disdain to conceal their views and aims. They openly declare that their ends can be attained only by the forcible overthrow of all existing social conditions. Let the ruling classes tremble at a Communistic revolution. The proletarians have nothing to lose but their chains. They have a world to win. Working Men of All Countries, Unite!”- Chapter 4 – Position Of The Communists, closing paragraph
Final Thoughts
Karl Marx’s The Communist Manifesto remains one of the most influential political texts ever written, continuing to spark debate and discussion over 175 years after its publication. Whether one agrees or disagrees with Marx’s analysis, his critique of capitalism’s contradictions and his vision of historical progress through class struggle have profoundly shaped modern political thought, social movements, and economic theory.
The quotes collected here reveal Marx’s central insights: that economic systems shape social relations, that history moves through conflict between opposing classes, and that capitalism contains within itself the seeds of its own transformation. His prediction that workers would unite across national boundaries to challenge the existing order has echoed through labor movements, revolutions, and political parties worldwide.
Today, as we grapple with issues of inequality, automation, globalization, and economic instability, Marx’s questions remain surprisingly relevant: Who controls the means of production? How is value created and distributed? What is the relationship between economic power and political power? Even those who reject his conclusions often find themselves wrestling with the problems he identified.
Marx’s legacy is complex and contested. His ideas have inspired both liberation movements and authoritarian regimes, both thoughtful critique and dogmatic ideology. But perhaps his most enduring contribution is his insistence that we examine the economic structures underlying our societies and ask whether they serve human flourishing or perpetuate exploitation.
As we face new challenges in the 21st century, Marx’s work reminds us that economic systems are not natural or inevitable, but human creations that can be questioned, critiqued, and ultimately transformed. The debate over his ideas continues because the tensions he identified between labor and capital, between individual freedom and collective need, remain at the heart of our political and economic life.
Thanks for reading!