Marx & Engels Summary

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“Nothing to Lose but Their Chains” Karl Marx & Friedrich Engels Marx and Engels outline what the revolution will be like in “Nothing to Lose but Their Chains.” They start with Communists being criticized for desiring to abolish the ability to obtain private property. However, laborers do not acquire property; they create capital, which is controlled by bourgeois and used to exploit them. The capital represents a social power, and by changing it to a common property simply changes the social character, by losing its class character. This idea challenges bourgeois freedom, and is why they disapprove of it. Despite the bourgeois claim, Communism does not keep people from appropriating the products of labor; instead it keeps them from oppressing others in the process. They then address objections to Communism. It is believed all work will stop if private property is abolished, if that is the case, bourgeois society would have already been overcome by laziness. Those who work have nothing, and those who have everything don't work. It is also thought that Communism will destroy all intellectual products. The Bourgeois misunderstand that the disappearance of class culture does not mean it is the disappearance of all culture. They move on to the Communist plan to abolish family. The modern bourgeois family is based on capital gain. The Communists don’t deny this; they specifically want to stop the exploitation of children by their parents. Also, they do not want to completely abolish the education of children, but rather to free it from the power of the ruling class. The proletariats have no family ties and their children are educated to become another generation of laborers. Country and nationality are also to be abolished by Communism. They argue that since working men have no country, it cannot be taken away. The history of reason proves nothing other than
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