1848. The Communist Manifesto is published in London. It is written by Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels. It can only be understood within the historical context of those times.
The world had changed. Producing for self-support had changed into mass production. The Industrial Revolution and its technological development had changed the world into a market.
Production had become mass production and the means of production were in the hands of a small elite. Society had changed into an owner of means of production class, a middle class, and a vast class of those who only had to offer their labor force.
According to Marx changes in society's economic base affect changes in its superstructure, that is, the way people think about their society and its political organization.
How people in those days thought about their society was demonstrated by the fact that in almost every European country the working class had started revolting for better living conditions.
Marx and Engels assert that capitalism is marked by the exploitation of the proletariat, the working class of wage laborers, by the ruling bourgeoisie.
The "Manifesto" concludes that capitalism does not offer humanity the possibility of self-realization, instead ensuring that humans are perpetually stunted and alienated.
However, it theorizes that capitalism will bring about its own destruction by polarizing and unifying the proletariat, and predicts
that a revolution will lead to the emergence of communism, a classless society in which "the free development of each is the condition for the free development of all".
And here I want to leave the Manifesto for a moment and move to our present. The prediction that capitalism will bring about its own destruction has not yet happened.
To be honest, on the contrary. In my own country, as in a number of other European countries and in the US the political balance has shifted to the right instead of to the left.
So, for the moment, Marx was wrong. How can that be? Capitalism should implode by itself, but what we have seen, especially since the 1980s, is almost a victory of capitalism with its neo-liberal politics.
Even worse, instead of a revolution, we see nowadays a shift to the right. In the Netherlands, people are flabbergasted by the fact that the far-right PVV party has become the biggest party in parliament now.
Why do right-wing parties appeal so much to the general public today? The US and its Trump and GOP are a perfect example of this move towards a politics that even shows fascistic traits.
The party program, the "platform" as it seems to be called in US terms, if I am not mistaken, of this PVV party that won the recent elections is loaded with 100% right-wing unconstitutional goals and claims.
What is happening? How should we understand this development? What causes it? Is this the heading of mankind in the Western World? Where did socialism go? Why is it a curse word?
So many questions to answer. Where did Marx err in his historical materialist analysis of the history and future of society? We really still have a lot of work to do to clarify this issue.
Thank you for your attention again.....
The floor is yours....
Main Sources:
MacMillan The Encyclopedia of Philosophy, 2nd edition
TABLE OF CONTENT -----------------------------------------------------------------
1 - 100 Philosophers 9 May 2009 Start of
2 - 25+ Women Philosophers 10 May 2009 this blog
3 - 25 Adventures in Thinking 10 May 2009
4 - Modern Theories of Ethics 29 Oct 2009
5 - The Ideal State 24 Febr 2010 / 234
6 - The Mystery of the Brain 3 Sept 2010 / 266
7 - The Utopia of the Free Market 16 Febr 2012 / 383
8. - The Aftermath of Neo-liberalism 5 Sept 2012 / 413
9. - The Art Not to Be an Egoist 6 Nov 2012 / 426
10 - Non-Western Philosophy 29 May 2013 / 477
11 - Why Science is Right 2 Sept 2014 / 534
12 - A Philosopher looks at Atheism 1 Jan 2015 / 557
13 - EVIL, a philosophical investigation 17 Apr 2015 / 580
14 - Existentialism and Free Will 2 Sept 2015 / 586
15 - Spinoza 2 Sept 2016 / 615
16 - The Meaning of Life 13 Febr 2017 / 637
17 - In Search of my Self 6 Sept 2017 / 670
18 - The 20th Century Revisited 3 Apr 2018 / 706
19 - The Pessimist 11 Jan 2020 / 819
20 - The Optimist 9 Febr 2020 / 824
21 - Awakening from a Neoliberal Dream 8 Oct 2020 / 872
22 - A World Full of Patterns 1 Apr 2021 / 912
23 - The Concept of Freedom 8 Jan 2022 / 965
24 - Materialism 7 Sept 2022 / 1011
25 - Historical Materialism 5 Oct 2023 / 1088
The Discussion
[13:16] .: Beertje :. (beertje.beaumont): Thank you Herman
[13:16] Gemma (gemma.cleanslate) whispers: It is quite frightening
[13:16] herman Bergson: yes Gemma
[13:16] Max Chatnoir: I think that Trumps trick was to convince people that he is speaking for them.
[13:16] Gemma (gemma.cleanslate): ha yes
[13:16] Max Chatnoir: That he truly represents them.
[13:16] Gemma (gemma.cleanslate): ha
[13:16] Max Chatnoir: When they come after me, they are coming after you.
[13:16] Gemma (gemma.cleanslate): mostly due to upside down thinking
[13:16] Max Chatnoir: Therefore you have to give power to me.
[13:17] Particle Physicist Bejiita (bejiita.imako): One of the main reasons in general people vote on the right including here in Sweden is an often common promise made by the rights = WE WILL LOWER THE TAXES
[13:17] herman Bergson: Indeed Max....
[13:17] Gemma (gemma.cleanslate): billionaire who never dug a ditch
[13:17] Gemma (gemma.cleanslate): or ironed a shirt
[13:17] Gemma (gemma.cleanslate): makes no sense
[13:17] Max Chatnoir: I wonder if that is the argument also used by other dictators.
[13:17] Gemma (gemma.cleanslate): it seems so
[13:18] Max Chatnoir: Only I can fix it.
[13:18] Gemma (gemma.cleanslate): the new Argentina President
[13:18] Gemma (gemma.cleanslate): exactly what he is saying
[13:18] herman Bergson: Yes Max...THAT is the argument...
[13:18] Gemma (gemma.cleanslate): almost a clone
[13:18] Max Chatnoir: Why would anybody believe that only one person has all of the solutions?
[13:18] herman Bergson: first they install fear....
[13:18] Max Chatnoir: When so much cooperation is necessary?
[13:18] Particle Physicist Bejiita (bejiita.imako): aaa yes the Hitler way of doing things
[13:19] herman Bergson: the communist, marxists and other are threatening to take over....
[13:19] herman Bergson: but I CAN STOP THEM
[13:19] Max Chatnoir: An argument against cooperation?
[13:19] .: Beertje :. (beertje.beaumont): fear of losing power I think'
[13:19] Particle Physicist Bejiita (bejiita.imako): yes
[13:19] Max Chatnoir: Definitely.
[13:20] herman Bergson: Where did socialism go???
[13:20] Max Chatnoir: So communism argues that everybody should work togehter.
[13:20] herman Bergson: The ideal of sharing....offer chances to everyone?
[13:20] Max Chatnoir: And socialism argues that People who have more should share?
[13:20] Max Chatnoir: Is that more or less right?
[13:21] Max Chatnoir: Or more or less left, :-)
[13:21] herman Bergson: The idea that we are all equal is nonsense as a general idea
[13:21] Particle Physicist Bejiita (bejiita.imako): thats how i see it, then Soviets implementation of it ruined it all and made communism a negative thing just as Nazism ruined the Svastika symbol turning it into a symbol for evil
[13:21] herman Bergson: but that we all have equal rights isn't
[13:21] Particle Physicist Bejiita (bejiita.imako): but communism by itself is a good thing as i get it, all just working together
[13:22] Particle Physicist Bejiita (bejiita.imako): have not detail studied it
[13:22] Gemma (gemma.cleanslate): well socialism maybe
[13:22] Gemma (gemma.cleanslate): communism goes too far
[13:22] Max Chatnoir: But the communist countries all became dictatorships, no?
[13:22] herman Bergson: I don't thinl communism is a working model for human society
[13:22] Max Chatnoir: Some people just have to control everybody.
[13:23] Particle Physicist Bejiita (bejiita.imako): something in between maybee
[13:23] Particle Physicist Bejiita (bejiita.imako): but well
[13:23] Gemma (gemma.cleanslate): democratic socialism
[13:23] Particle Physicist Bejiita (bejiita.imako): no idea but the capitalism system is no good for sure
[13:23] Max Chatnoir: I like the idea of do what you can do or like to do, and then share.
[13:23] herman Bergson: yes Gemma....
[13:23] Particle Physicist Bejiita (bejiita.imako): everything driven by greed
[13:23] Gemma (gemma.cleanslate): it is not completely bad
[13:24] Particle Physicist Bejiita (bejiita.imako): u need a balance
[13:24] herman Bergson: The quintessence is that you a e willing to share or not in a society....
[13:24] Max Chatnoir: Well, acquiring stuff is nice, so it makes a good driving force.
[13:24] Max Chatnoir: For doing something well.
[13:25] herman Bergson: The Neoliberals dont want to...be a winner or a looser id their adagium
[13:25] Particle Physicist Bejiita (bejiita.imako): ok speaking of capitalism, now something very strange happened, i got a commercial i heard on sound cloud before today, how did sound cloud know i was in second life and sent the same ad into the stream here? It even was a swedish commercial
[13:25] Gemma (gemma.cleanslate) GIGGLES!!
[13:25] Gemma (gemma.cleanslate): ...LOL...
[13:25] Particle Physicist Bejiita (bejiita.imako): weird
[13:25] Max Chatnoir: Sound cloud sent it INTO SL?
[13:25] Max Chatnoir: Into the media stream?
[13:26] herman Bergson: please Bejiita...don't be so naive...:-)
[13:26] Particle Physicist Bejiita (bejiita.imako): yes onto the stream
[13:26] Particle Physicist Bejiita (bejiita.imako): same as i heard today before while working on the lathe at work
[13:26] Gemma (gemma.cleanslate): people say something out loud and their phone sends an ad about it
[13:26] herman Bergson: they read every keystroke you made in this world and everywgere :-)
[13:26] Gemma (gemma.cleanslate): alot!
[13:26] Max Chatnoir: But the media stream is selected by somebody, right?
[13:26] Particle Physicist Bejiita (bejiita.imako): maybe just a coincidence but i took a clear notice
[13:26] Particle Physicist Bejiita (bejiita.imako): well
[13:27] Max Chatnoir: Did set the media stream for your place?
[13:27] Max Chatnoir: Did you set...
[13:27] Particle Physicist Bejiita (bejiita.imako): no
[13:27] herman Bergson: Anyway...we have work to do....
[13:27] Max Chatnoir: Yes, we do, and FAST!
[13:27] Particle Physicist Bejiita (bejiita.imako): as said maybe a coincidence but i found it a bit strange since my sound cloud account dont know anything about my Second Life account
[13:27] herman Bergson: How could Marx be so wrong....?
[13:28] Gemma (gemma.cleanslate): there is still the issue of the brains of conservatives and liberals being physically different
[13:28] Particle Physicist Bejiita (bejiita.imako): hmm i guess so Gemma
[13:28] Max Chatnoir: That's right, Gemma. I have heard that also.
[13:28] herman Bergson: lol...ah yes Gemma...there was some scientific research on that, I remember
[13:28] Gemma (gemma.cleanslate): there is much
[13:29] Max Chatnoir: Conservatives tend to be more fearful.
[13:29] herman Bergson: Oh yes...
[13:29] Gemma (gemma.cleanslate): Max we need to be aware
[13:29] herman Bergson: I'''get to thaat in the next lecture
[13:29] Gemma (gemma.cleanslate): here in class our definition of conservative and liberal is not correst
[13:29] Particle Physicist Bejiita (bejiita.imako): indeed
[13:29] Particle Physicist Bejiita (bejiita.imako): conservative = fear of change
[13:29] Gemma (gemma.cleanslate): correcgt philosophically
[13:30] Gemma (gemma.cleanslate): us Liberals especially
[13:30] herman Bergson: go on
[13:30] Gemma (gemma.cleanslate): USA that is
[13:30] Max Chatnoir: Right, Gemma. Conservative can mean a lot of things.
[13:30] Gemma (gemma.cleanslate): yep
[13:30] Gemma (gemma.cleanslate): neo liberal
[13:30] Max Chatnoir: I would certainly like to conserve democracy!
[13:31] Gemma (gemma.cleanslate): is also different
[13:31] Gemma (gemma.cleanslate): takes a while to adjust
[13:31] herman Bergson: Thank you Max :-)
[13:31] Particle Physicist Bejiita (bejiita.imako): aaa yes that I want also
[13:32] herman Bergson: Well....
[13:32] .: Beertje :. (beertje.beaumont): democracy is fragile
[13:32] Particle Physicist Bejiita (bejiita.imako): true indeed
[13:32] Max Chatnoir: And education is helpful.
[13:32] .: Beertje :. (beertje.beaumont): yes Max
[13:33] herman Bergson: I guess we are sitting on a social, philosophical nerve here now...:-
[13:33] Gemma (gemma.cleanslate): that is very very necessary
[13:33] Gemma (gemma.cleanslate): education that is
[13:33] Max Chatnoir: ... if it doesn't turn into propaganda.
[13:33] herman Bergson: May slogan...
[13:33] Gemma (gemma.cleanslate): seems many fall for the fascist leaning are not educated
[13:33] Particle Physicist Bejiita (bejiita.imako): hmm
[13:34] herman Bergson: EDUCATION....EDUCATION....!!!!!
[13:34] Particle Physicist Bejiita (bejiita.imako): ah
[13:34] Gemma (gemma.cleanslate): or not aware of liberal arts education being mind opening
[13:34] Max Chatnoir: Like teaching students that slavery helped teach slaves new skills.
[13:34] Gemma (gemma.cleanslate) GIGGLES!!
[13:34] Gemma (gemma.cleanslate): ...LOL...
[13:34] Gemma (gemma.cleanslate): yes
[13:34] Gemma (gemma.cleanslate): that is a new one isnt it
[13:34] Max Chatnoir: Not helpful!
[13:34] herman Bergson: lol
[13:34] Gemma (gemma.cleanslate): terrible
[13:34] Particle Physicist Bejiita (bejiita.imako): hmm
[13:34] herman Bergson: So helpfulll , dlavery
[13:35] herman Bergson: slavery
[13:35] Max Chatnoir: And while we're teaching them new skills, we absolutely forbid the slaves to learn to read.
[13:35] herman Bergson: Well. muy intellectual slaves...
[13:35] herman Bergson: Let's dismiss class...
[13:35] Gemma (gemma.cleanslate): ok
[13:35] Gemma (gemma.cleanslate): ♥ Thank Youuuuuuuuuu!! ♥
[13:35] Particle Physicist Bejiita (bejiita.imako): ㋡
[13:36] herman Bergson: We need a nice weekend :-)
[13:36] Particle Physicist Bejiita (bejiita.imako): wel a good one again
[[13:36] bergfrau Apfelbaum: ty Herman and class!
[13:36] Max Chatnoir: Thanks, Hermann.
[13:36] bergfrau Apfelbaum: yay
[13:36] Gemma (gemma.cleanslate): see you soon
[13:36] Particle Physicist Bejiita (bejiita.imako): indeed im gonna have a blast this weekend
[13:36] herman Bergson: and today I got my anti-corona shot..:-)
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