The Communist Manifesto

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The Communist Manifesto

• The United States of Amerika?

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The Age of Discovery

• According to Marx, what drove the era of
  discovery?
• Do you agree with this?
• If not, what do you think drove exploration?
• What evidence do you have to support your
  conclusion and detract from Marxs?

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Proletariats of the World, Unite!

• Marx places class as being more important than
  nationality that is, the proletariat from
  separate nations share something more fundamental
  than nationality. This does not mean that Marx
  believed nationality did not matter, only that
  the proletariats from different nations had more
  in common than they did with the bourgeoisie in
  their own nation. How true is this statement in
  general?

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The Ruling Ideas

• Marx asserts, The ruling ideas of each age have
  ever been the ideas of its ruling class. Is this
  true in America today? Do the ideas that move the
  country originate from its ruling class, or do
  the people in America actually rule?

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The Ten Desires

• What do Marxists actually want from a state?
• Why these ten things?
• How different was a Marxist state from the states
  of the time?
• How different is one from todays United States?

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Desires of a Marxist State

• 1. Abolition of property in land and application
  of all rents of land to public purposes.

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Desires of a Marxist State

• 2. A heavy progressive or graduated income tax.

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Desires of a Marxist State

• 3. Abolition of all rights of inheritance.

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Desires of a Marxist State

• 4. Confiscation of the property of all emigrants
  and rebels.

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Desires of a Marxist State

• 5. Centralization of credit in the banks of the
  state, by means of a national bank with state
  capital and an exclusive monopoly.

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Desires of a Marxist State

• 6. Centralization of the means of communication
  and transport in the hands of the state.

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Desires of a Marxist State

• 7. Extension of factories and instruments of
  production owned by the state the bringing into
  cultivation of waste lands, and the improvement
  of the soil generally in accordance with a common
  plan.

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Desires of a Marxist State

• 8. Equal obligation of all to work. Establishment
  of industrial armies, especially for agriculture.

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Desires of a Marxist State

• 9. Combination of agriculture with manufacturing
  industries gradual abolition of all the
  distinction between town and country by a more
  equable distribution of the populace over the
  country.

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Desires of a Marxist State

• 10. Free education for all children in public
  schools. Abolition of childrens factory labor in
  its present form. Combination of education with
  industrial production, etc.

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For Friday

• Read Section III of The Communist Manifesto.
• Be answering questions 1-3 on the Blackboard
  discussion board.
• It seems like a good time for a quiz on The
  Communist Manifesto.