The Communist Manifesto
A Road Map to History's Most
Important Political Document
Why Marx? Why now? Why this when so many of your other books
have had to do with religion or faith or ethics? Simple. While I love
Kierkegaard, there is no economic or political philosophy called
Kierkegaardiansism. And I do love some Camus, but again, there is no Camus-ism.
Marx on the other hand, has been so influential in both politics and economics
that he has his own brand. Marxism.
Marx & Engels
Listen, you "pinko commie" or "capitalist pig": everything you know (or think you know) about Marx is wrong.
Of course there is no better time to study Marx than now, when capitalism is
going through the throes of desperation with the market collapse, the housing
bubble, the Euro crisis. Marx and Engels has a lot of things to say to us at the moment.
Lets not kid ourselves. Just because the Socviet experiment failed, does not
necessarily mean that Marx was wrong on everything. In fact, you will learn
that Leninism and Stalinism were not at all what Marx intended.
If you're new or “sort of but not really” familiar with
Marx and Engels , I suggest you get this book. Once you start reading the simplified
explanations and extra examples, you will attain an understanding that surpasses
whatever you knew before. When I began reading this version, it kind of
irritated me. Big pages, all that. I kept thinking, “This is The Communist Manifesto, not a
Douglass Copeland novel!” However, the editor places important information and
notes that help to explain the Manifesto.
Particularly important are the various definitions. Hey, we
live in a different time under different circumstances than Marx, so it makes
sense that we need some context and contextual cues to help us find out what he
is saying. Better yet, the notes and explanations are right there, no need to
flip back and forth to an index.
Plus there's a great introduction, a Howard Zinn afterward and a Q&A section at the end for the simpletons who try to dismiss Marx & Engels as idiots and their ideas as ridiculous.
I am a good capitalist, but there is something wrong with capitalism. Marx and Engels remain the best critics of our imperfect economic system, that - as everyone should be able to admit thanks to recent events - in still in need of vast improvements.
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