Customer Reviews

The Communist Manifesto

5 star:		(88)
4 star:		(28)
3 star:		(21)
2 star:		(13)
1 star:		(44)

 

 

In reading some of the reviews below, it becomes quite evident that many of the readers who gave this book a low rating have never actually read the book. People generally think they understand communism based on their knowledge of the Soviet Union, or North Korea, or China, or Vietnam, etc. Based on this "knowledge," they judge Marx's ideas to be either unrealistic or just plain bloody without reading the book itself. The reality, however, is that one cannot know communism through the experiences of 20th century history since communism as Marx and Engels envisioned it has not existed on this planet. Furthermore, one cannot understand Marx's ideas only through the reading of this book.

The Communist Manifesto was written as a political pamphlet, and thus is written like a piece of propaganda. Marx does not discuss in great deal some significant points in his theory. He doesn't discuss the dialectic in great detail, nor does he discuss his view on human nature a great deal. Most people are unaware of Marx's view on human nature, and this has led to him being labeled an "idealist," and communism labeled "utopian."

This book gets 4 stars from me for two reasons. Based on historical importance alone, this book should receive 5 stars. Given its amazing significance, it seems ridiculous to me that someone could give this book one or no stars. I may not be a Christian, but I'd give the Bible 5 stars just because of its tremendous historical importance. That being said, I only give the Manifesto 4 stars because, as a representation of Marx's ideas, it is incomplete, and I think in many ways, it contributes to the general lack of understanding of Marx that is so common today. People think they understand the philosophy of communism after reading just the Manifesto, and that false sense of knowledge only makes them seem that much more ignorant.

Far too many misconceptions and urban myths about Marxism have been created and disseminated by people who lacked understanding of what Marxism is all about, or how Communism works. The Communist Manifesto is a good introduction to Marxist political theory and the first stepping stone in understanding Communism, but it is a very short read and leaves many questions unanswered. I strongly suggest you also buy other books by Marx, Engels, Lenin, Trotsky, etc.

One of the most enduring myths about Communism is that it "doesn't work" because of some inherent failure in "human nature", most often greed. The endurance of this myth is living proof that "a lie told often enough becomes accepted truth".
In reality, Communism does NOT rely on people sharing their possessions out of the kindness of their hearts. It relies on people sharing their possessions because they know that they will all benefit from it. Communism does not go against "human nature" (if such a thing even exists - we certainly haven't found any greed gene in our DNA) and it does not try to fight against greed. Greedy people will know that they have more to gain by respecting the system of communal ownership than by tearing it apart. They are better off in communism than capitalism (just like the vast majority of all people).

For my Russian friend, I strongly recommend Leon Trotsky's "The Revolution Betrayed". Many Russians never had a chance to read what Stalin's opponents within the Communist movement had to say about his repressive police state. I am from Eastern Europe myself, and I know very well that what we had before 1989 was far removed from Communism and Socialism. The Soviet Union was never communist, and it never even claimed to be - it claimed to be in the process of building communism. Unfortunately for them, you cannot build communism without democracy. Both Communism and Socialism are inherently democratic systems. The Soviet Union claimed to be socialist, but socialism means economic democracy (public control over the means of production). Did the people control the means of production in the USSR? Did the people control anything in the USSR? I think not.

The USSR was as "communist" as the Democratic People's Republic of Korea is "democratic". Stalin called himself a communist and a champion of democracy. He was neither.

For Christians, I recommend a more thourough read of the Bible:

"And all that believed were together, and had all things common;
And sold their possessions and goods, and parted them to all [men], as every man had need."
- Acts 2:44-45

Jesus Christ was, in many ways, the world's first communist.

An excellent book. It is short and to the point. It may still happen in the future. Capitalism is surely not the last economic and social order of history. Stalin was definitely not a Marxist. Please don't confuse Marxism with Stalin and his gross abuses. Highly recommended. Humans are generally too selfish to implement everything he advocates..... at least in the present time!

You are muddling up Communism and Socialism. Marx wrote in 1848, when the word 'Communism' had no unfortunate connotations. However, Stalinism came to change the meaning of the word. Currently, what Marx called Communism is closest to our word Socialism.

Everybody who read this book should read "The Road to Serfdom" afterwards. Here, the winner of the Nobel Prize in Economics F. Hayek takes apart the Philosophy propagated by K. Marx and other socialists, and shows that collectivism without exception must lead to the loss of personal freedom and wellbeing. Read it, it is an easy to read political (not economic) book, and it will change your outlook. It even may make you an individualist.

Yes, a specter certainly is haunting Europe... and Asia... all over the world. The specters of millions upon millions of dead, murdered by the hateful grabage contained in this vapid little book. Not worth the paper it's printed on.

It is absolutely chilling to see people endorse this book or give it any praise. That people should be screaming for enslavement and collectivism is beyond me. Proud as I am to live in a free country, I do recognize that censorship of this book would be a tacit agreement of the principles in the book itself. The communistic thought and system died an ignomonious death in the Soviet Union and it's demise was long overdue. Basically this primer on slavery touts a dead political system. Yet there are those among us, no matter how few their number, who believe that their thinking and living would best be done for them by a collectivist society, instead of by themselves, and it is for that reason that all freedom loving men and women jealously defend their right to freedom of thought. May the death of communism be an oppurtunity for dancing and rejoicing in the street and may this book be always be remembered as the centerpiece of the failed and defeated political system it was.

The Communist Manifesto finds Kind Uncle Karl and his longtime companion Joseph taking a whimsical tour of Industrial Revolution England. There, with the help of a few pieces of disposable furniture, and Joseph's deep pockets, Uncle Karl is able to follow his dream and declare Revolution.

Uncle Karl and Joseph manage to evade the sinister Boo-shwa Conspiracy, as they look for their proletariat friends (including the lovable "Che" and the wise-cracking "Vladmir"). Together, they must overcome the odds, unite a people, and find a way to feed Uncle Karl's starving children.

Read the book that made olive-drab fatigues popular! Be a hit at your next college pot-party. And don't forget to pick up Das Kapital - Uncle Karl's magnum opus, in which he proves that while there may be limited means of economic production in the world, there's no limit on German words!

I have nothing against propaganda, in the proper sense of the word. That is, I have nothing against trying to get out your point of view. However, when you take any political work, especially one that's something of an introduction for those new to a particular socio-political phylosophy, and you insist on including an "introduction" that doesnt' even try to hide the fact that it's claiming that the entire book is full of [junk], well, that's just disgusting. In my mind, all it really does is lend more credibility to the 150-year-old document.

I recommend getting a different publication of this book. In fact, I recommend finding your local underground bookstore and getting it there, if only for the experience.

I gave this book a score of 1, but only because the "introduction" pisses me off to no end. I highly recommend that anybody read the Communist Manifesto itself, even if it is arguably written in an outdated way.

If you buy these rants because it's required reading at school, welcome to the club: I too had to waste my youth going through this short but oh-so-boring book.

However, if you buy it because it's your kind of Holy Gospel, wake up and smell the coffee! The Party's over and no one is complaining!