The Relevance of the Communist Manifesto Today - Article Example

The relevance of the communist manifesto today For anti-capitalists, the Communist manifesto is not just a document that presents the history of the struggle of the proletariat and the transition from capitalism to socialism but rather they believe that the manifesto is a guide to a way of life that continue to inspire them to continue the struggle for a more equitable and fair society. After more than 150 years of existence, many anti-capitalists find the message in the communist manifesto as still valid and true in our present times. For most anti-capitalists, the relevance of the manifesto in the day to day struggles of the working class could not be overly emphasized. The opening statement of the manifesto which states “The history of all hitherto existing society is the history of class struggles1” is definitely something that anti-capitalists all over the world still believe in. Even in our modern times where freedom and democracy is said to rule society, we still see the clash between classes of people. The rich and poor are still on the opposing sides of society and exploitation of the weak and the helpless is still very much evident. In the words of Marx and Engels more than 150 years ago “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…2” Although slavery has been eradicated in most parts of the world, there still exist a gnawing gap between those who has money and those who don’t. The gap is very much evident in the case of Third World Countries where the poor has limited access to different types of basic services3. On the other hand, anti-capitalists still believe that the manifesto holds a kind of truism especially in our modern economy. As globalization forces nations to open up their economy and be a part of a bigger economic system, anti-capitalists see the predictions of Marx and Engels coming to life. “The need of a constantly expanding market for its products chases the bourgeoisie over the whole surface of the globe. It must nestle everywhere, settle everywhere, establish connections everywhere.4” The greatest effect of globalization in the economy is the increase in competition. Technically, competition could benefit the consumers as it put pressure on the manufacturers it continually innovate, however, globalization could have a lot of adverse effects on the economies of countries all over the world. Many anti-capitalists around the world see globalization as a threat to the working class. Globalization could create a conflict of interest where the advancement of technology will create lesser demands for human labor. According to Marx and Engels, the labor sector and the capitalists (bourgeoisie) grow hand in hand. However, as the capitalists sector grows, the jobs created by this sector become more and more mechanized thus there is a disproportional growth between the supply and demand of labor. “In proportion as the bourgeoisie, i.e. capital, is developed, in the same proportion is the proletariat, the modern working class, developed – a class of laborers, who live only so long as they find work, and who find work only so long as their labor increases capital.5” With the advancement in technology, there is a great possibility that traditional work will disappear. The disappearance of traditional work in favor of highly specialized work may result into an economic debacle. As millions of unskilled labor will be out of work, the gap between the rich and the poor will widen even more. Since companies are more concerned with profitability, they will naturally opt for technologies that are less costly and produces maximum outputs over the traditional human labor. In many countries today, cheap labor is slowly being replaced by technologies which are considered to be more reliable and efficient.6 As the large volume of cross border capital flows in both the developed and the developing countries, this phenomenon created what we call “push” factor (Eswar S. Prasad et al(2003). Since developing countries needed the capital investment of developed countries to spur its economy, developed countries pushed the developing countries to create new policies that open the economy of the country to foreign interventions. The liberalization of capital and domestic stock markets and the privatization of the most industries in the third world countries resulted (Eswar S. Prasad et al (2003). For the anti-capitalists, the liberalization of policies in these countries created a new sphere of struggle where the working class is in constant conflict with the capitalists. As fiscal policies of these countries changes in favor of accommodating new inflow of capitals form highly industrialized nations, the working class struggles to hold their ground. However, as predicted by Marx and Engels, the struggle for self-preservation by the working class is an uphill battle. “All old-established national industries have been destroyed or are being destroyed. They are dislodged by new industries, whose introduction becomes a life and death question for all civilized nations7,…” As the velocity of trade increases and the new wants are created, it is but little wonder that many traditional industries are vanishing from the face of the earth. Aside from compromising the economic sovereignty of the nation, the cross border flow of capital also pose a serious threat to the world economy. In Asian crisis in the late 1990’s illustrated how volatile the economy becomes when we try to create a unified economy. Note that when the economic crisis in hit the Asian countries of Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia and the Philippines, it also affected the other parts of the world. In fact, Japan which is considered as the second strongest economy of the world also suffered from the economic crisis8. Another area where anti-capitalists see the manifesto as very much relevant in our present times is the “induction of women into the industrial work force9” and the fact that women are now becoming another source of cheap labor. According to a study conducted by the International Labor Organization (ILO) as of March 2007, female labor for the last 10 years is about 40% of the total workforce in the world10. According to the ILO study, more women are employed in agriculture and are receiving low wages. Poorer countries such as those located in North Africa, the sub-Saharan Africa, East Asia, South Asia and some parts of the Middle East, women are primarily working in the agriculture sector11. With introduction of more women in the work force, the employment balance is tipped again. Since women are becoming a source of cheap labor, more employers are now exploiting women for manual jobs (Oostendorp, R.H, (2004). For anti-capitalists, the use the exploitation of women as a source of cheap labor is definitely unacceptable and is contrary to the socialist principles espoused by Marx and Engels in the Manifesto. The Communist manifesto continues to be a source of inspiration and guidance to anti-capitalists in the world. With the belief that socialism is still preferable over capitalism, anti-capitalists continue their struggle to fight what they believe is the ills of the capitalist system. Indeed, “The history of all hitherto existing society is the history of class struggles12” and for the anti-capitalists and other sectors who are oppressed by the present capitalist system, this will continue to be so until such time when they have achieved a truly equitable society which for them would come in the realm of socialism. References: 1. Marx and Engels (1848) Manifesto of the Communist party retrieved 28 March 2007 http://www.marxists.org/archive/marx/works/1848/communist-manifesto/ 2. The Communist Manifesto: Globalisation, The Nation-State and Class Struggle retrieved 28 March 2008 http://cpim.org/marxist/199804_marxist_cmanifesto_pk.htm 3. Percy, John. The relevance of the Communist Manifesto Today retrieved 28 March 2007 http://www.dsp.org.au/links/back/issue10/percy.pdf 4. Eswar S. Prasad, Kenneth Rogoff, Shang-Jin Wei, and M. Ayan Kose (2003) Effects of Financial Globalization on Developing Countries. Some Empirical Evidence International Monetary Fund 5. Globalization and the World Market retrived 28 March 2007 http://www.aucegypt.edu/src/globalization/labor_Market.htm 6. Oostendorp, R.H, (2004). “Globalization and the Gender Wage Gap”, World Bank Policy Research Working Paper No. 3256, Washington, D.C., 7. http://www.unfpa.org/swp/2000/english/press_kit/press_release2.html 8. International Labor organization (March 2007) Global Employment Trends for Women retrieved 29 March 2007 http://public/english/employment/strat/download/getw07.pdf 9. http://www.converge.org.nz/pirm/nutech.htm Read More