Marxian Capitalism: An Analysis of Property, Labour, and Society in the Communist Manifesto

In the context of the Communist Manifesto, Volume I, Chapter II, Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels delve into the complexities of property, labour, and society, specifically addressing claims made by bourgeois society regarding property ownership and labour outcomes. This analysis is crucial for understanding the foundations of Marxian philosophy and its critique of capitalist society.

Property and Anticipation of Marxian Capitalism

Marx and Engels argue that the concept of 'self-acquired, self-earned property,' as promoted by the petty bourgeoisie (petty artisans and small peasants), is anachronistic and increasingly irrelevant in the modern industrial society. They assert that with the development of industry, the form of property that once defined personal freedom, independence, and activity has been gradually eroded:

'The average price of wage-labour is the minimum wage — that quantum of the means of subsistence which is absolutely requisite to keep the labourer in bare existence as a labourer.'

The modern bourgeois private property, on the other hand, is described as capital, which is not a personal form of property but a social power that exists through the collective action of many individuals. The collective nature of capital means that individual property is just a social form of property that can be transformed from bourgeois to common property. This shift does not abolish individual property but changes its social character, removing the class character that plagues modern society.

Wage Labour and Its Implications

The discussion on wage labour is one of the most critical aspects of the manifesto. Marx and Engels argue that wage labour does not generate personal property for the labourer. Instead, it merely creates capital, a form of property that exploits wage labour and can only grow by exploiting new labour.

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'The labour of a slave, treated as a mere means for increasing capital, is very different from the labour of a wage-labourer; the latter no doubt helps to increase capital, but it does so under circumstances that give it quite another aspect and place a different kind of compulsion on the worker-free as well as unfree labor is from the standpoint of its producer of a purely alien nature.'

The wage-labourer's labour merely suffices to prolong and reproduce a bare existence, meeting the bare minimum demands of survival. Therefore, the intended 'appropriation' of the means of subsistence by the wage-labourer is minimal, merely to sustain life. However, in bourgeois society, labour is seen merely as a means to increase and accumulate capital, while in Communist society, the aim is to use accumulated labour to enrich and promote the existence of the working class.

The Transformation of Society

The transformation from capitalist society to a communist one is seen as a shift from the past dominating the present to the present dominating the past. In bourgeois society, capital is independent and has individuality, while the living person is dependent and lacks individuality. The abolition of these bourgeois individualities and freedoms is aimed to be achieved by Marxian communism, where personal property is transformed into social property, eliminating class distinctions.

The bourgeois fear of abolishing private property is based on a misunderstanding of the current condition where private property is illusory for the vast majority while only the few can possess it. Abolishing bourgeois property is aimed to address this inequality, not to eliminate property in general but to undermine the power of capital to control labour.

Conclusion

The manifesto suggests that the Marxist critique examines not just the immediacy of economic relations, but the structural and historical context that frames the relations of production. The transformation from wage labour to a collectively owned society implies a fundamental shift in the nature of work and ownership, aiming to recreate a more equitable and human-centric form of society.

By understanding these principles outlined in the Communist Manifesto, one can appreciate the depth and breadth of Marxian thought and its enduring relevance in contemporary debates about property, labour, and economic justice.

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