Selections from "Manifesto of the Communist Party," Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels, p. 22.
This polemic, which represents a call to arms to the working people of the world (the proletariat), were the seeds of the communist revolutions that occurred in the 20th century, revolutions that have largely been discredited. Marx and Engels predicted that the revolution would begin "in the most advanced countries." How ironic that they began in largely feudal countries such as Russia, China, and Korea!
"These measures will of course be different in different countries. Nevertheless in the most advanced countries the following will be pretty generally applicable:
Abolition of property in land and application of all rents of land to public purposes.
A heavy progress or graduated income tax.
Abolition of all right of inheritance.
Confiscation of all property of all emigrants and rebels.
Centralization of credit in the hands of the state, by means of a national bank with state capital and an exclusive monopoly.
Centralization of the means of communication and transport in the hands of the state.
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.
Equal liability of all to labor. Establishment of industrial unions, especially for agriculture.
Combination of agriculture with manufacturing industries; gradual abolition of the distinction between town and country by an equitable distribution of the population over the country.
Free education for all children in public schools. Abolition of children's factory labor in its present form. Combination of education with industrial production, and so forth."
IN AROUND 250 WORDS, PLEASE ANSWER THE QUESTIONS ILLUSTRATED BELOW:
Question 1. In time, what do you think would happen if there were an "abolition of all right of inheritance?"
Question 2. While Marx and Engels advocated the "establishment of industrial unions, especially for agriculture," unions of any kind were absolutely forbidden in the USSR. They are also forbidden in China and Cuba today. Why?
Question 3. Marx and Engels advocate many changes in the economy. Could what they advocate be done without the use of force? Why?
Question 4. If farmers are working on land they do not own, will they attempt to specialize or not?
Question 5. Under such a system, what do you think the production possibilities curve will look like?