In the third section of the Communist Manifesto, Karl Marx introduces three variations of Socialist literature; after analyzing the three, I found that the views of Conservative Socialists most closely resemble the ideas expressed in early American writings. According to Marx, the “Socialistic bourgeoisie (wanted) all the advantages of modern social conditions without the struggles and dangers necessarily resulting therefrom”(31). Marx’s discussion of Conservative Socialism criticizes how the bourgeoisie enacted social and economic reforms to preserve capitalism by convincing proletariats to accept their role in society. While these programs appear to benefit the overall welfare of workers, their ultimate purpose was to benefit the bourgeoisie and prolong their exploitation of labor. The main theme of an inevitable revolution is reiterated in this section when Marx affirms that the only way to address the grievances of workers is through reconstructing social and economic relationships. There are several published newspaper examples throughout history that illustrate Marx’s conclusion.
Conservative Socialism is presented as misguided by Marx and we can see how this approach fails to realize that class conflict in unavoidable in the British West Indies. The Slave Trade Act abolished slavery; however, Britain did not immediately convert to a free labor society. Instead, they adopted an apprenticeship system. In 1849, the Barre Gazette of Massachusetts published an article documenting the effectiveness of this newly implemented program in the West Indies. This article states, “in Trinidad the negroes had refused to work, though reasonable wages were offered”. Minimum wages are a common form of policy adopted by governments to increase the overall welfare of low-skill workers. While the landowners in this time period offered wages in return for the exploitation of black labor, these ex-slaves were still not seen as equals in society; therefore, they were not completely free from the oppression of ownership, essentially remaining trapped as apprentices under their previous owners. This demonstrates how landowners in the West Indies adopted the ideas of Conservative Socialists: both were willing to invest more into their labor forces as long as they preserved dominant positions. Marx comments, “an abolition that can be affected only by a revolution, but administrative reforms, based on the continued existence of these relations; reforms, therefore, that in no respect affect the relations between capital and labour” (31). He goes on to elaborate how these reforms may better the lives of workers, but they fail to make any real change in the system in which only a select few individuals own property and wages are too low relative to workers’ contributions into production.
Another region of the West Indies reviewed by the Barre Gazette was Antigua: “the working of the system in Antigua was stated to be still worse. It was in this island that the entire emancipation was adopted without the preliminary measure of apprenticeship.” Even after ex-slaves were given freedom, many chose to not participate in the labor force because the only jobs that were available would place them back under those who originally initially enslaved them. Marx mentions that, “to the bourgeoisie, the disappearance of class property is the disappearance of production itself, so the disappearance of class culture is to him identical with the disappearance of all culture” (24). He highlights the inevitability of a revolution that destroys both the proletariat and bourgeoisie classes through the annihilation of private property. Marx’s idea connects with Antigua’s situation where freed slaves still felt oppressed, since they did not own property and were denied the fruits of their labor. Marx answers the question of whether or not labor creates property for the laborers, by replying, “Not a bit. It creates capital, that kind of property which exploits wage-labour” (22). Marx contends that a revolution would only negatively impact the bourgeoisie since they have total control over all means of production and property. In conclusion, ex-slaves of Antigua should not fear Communism because they have no private property to begin with and their situations can only be improved when property ownership becomes shared.
In 1852, the Berkshire County Whig printed Doing as Others Do, a dialogue of Mrs. Foster convincing her husband to purchase home appliances on credit to have all the luxuries that other families could afford. The Fosters clearly did not have the means of attaining all the goods they desired when the father’s labor salary was their only source of income. However, “the desire to do as other people did; to have things about her as other people had about them, was too strong to be resisted, and obscured all ideas of prudence.” This serves to represent the primary source of class conflict among the bourgeoisie and the proletariat in Marx’s view. Marx explains how “the wage-labourer appropriates by means of his labour, merely suffices to prolong and reproduce a bare existence” (23). Proletariats work in exchange for meager returns that is the bare minimum to maintain the labor force without allowing them to obtain any property of their own. This idea parallels the dialogue from the Berkshire County paper where the only way the Fosters could “afford” the luxuries they desired was when “Mr. Foster found himself burdened with debt – a debt of more than one hundred dollars… whose earning was but twelve dollars a week.” Clearly, it is impossible for families who are in similar situations as the Fosters to obtain any substantial property and climb out of poverty. They remain suppressed and trapped at the bottom of the socioeconomic ladder, unable to move up in society. In the statement: “since the parties to this trading in labour are not equal, the propertyless must submit to the bad conditions laid down by the bourgeoisie (38),” Marx demonstrates how the pattern of appropriation is cyclical. While some believe that communism prevents people from personally attaining property, Marx argues that communism will help balance the available opportunities and capitalism actually prevents equality in personal attainment of property.
Not only do bourgeoisie hold all the purchasing power in a capitalistic society, but they also heavily influence what the proletariat class can purchase. In 1855, the Farmer’s Cabinet newspaper voiced their stance against protectionist laws that encourage consumers to buy American. Farmers expressed their outraged in their published statement: “while it protects the capital of the wealthy manufacturer, and increases his profits, it does not benefit the operative or laborers in his employment, whose wages have not increased by it.” Increasing the demand for American goods through protectionism benefits only a small subgroup of Americans who actually own the production of these goods. American consumers bear the weight of protectionist policies because they are the ones who will struggle with rising prices and stagnant wages. When looking at Marx’s statement that “the development of Modern Industry, therefore, cuts from under its feet the very foundation on which the bourgeoisie produces and appropriates products (21),” it brings us back to protectionist policies that undermine laborers by forcing them to purchase inferior goods at artificially inflated prices; however, the proletarians are responsible for all means of American production in the first place, without them, there would be no goods to sell back to Americans.
Common citizens voicing their frustrations against the bourgeoisie who experience all the benefits of proletarian labor is a common underlying theme evident in the various newspaper articles. In addition, it aligns with Marx’s conclusion regarding inevitable revolution in these particular societies. Political reforms will not deter society from approaching a revolution that rewrites both social and economic relations as long as the classes continue to exist. Conservative Socialists fail to understand that the appropriation of labor will undoubtedly lead to fall of the bourgeoisie class and to the rise of workers. Furthermore, proletarians are inherently unhappy with their situations despite the many reforms that are enacted to improve the public’s general welfare because they will always be inferior to the upper classes. In conclusion, these examples of American literature showcase the weaknesses of Conservative Socialist ideas that Karl Marx brings attention to in his Communist Manifesto.
Works Cited
Alden, A. “The Times.” Barre Gazzette, 18 Oct. 1849, pp. 1–1. America's Historical Newspapers, infoweb.newsbank.com/iw-search/we/HistArchive/?p_product=EANX&p_theme=ahnp&p_nbid=S4ED4ESKMTUyMDAxMzA4NS4zMzE0OTg6MToxNToxNjkuMjM1LjIxMC4xMzQ&p_action=doc&d_viewref=search&s_lastnonissuequeryname=3&p_queryname=3&p_docnum=4&p_docref=v2:109E419BA9978988@EANX-10B3B0C049AED608@2393031-10B3B0C05CDA6DC8@0.
“Doing As Other People Do.” Berkshire County Whig, 14 July 1852, pp. 1–2. America's Historical Newspapers, infoweb.newsbank.com/iw-search/we/HistArchive/?p_product=EANX&p_theme=ahnp&p_nbid=S4ED4ESKMTUyMDAxMzA4NS4zMzE0OTg6MToxNToxNjkuMjM1LjIxMC4xMzQ&p_action=doc&d_viewref=search&s_lastnonissuequeryname=3&p_queryname=3&p_docnum=10&p_docref=v2:109E41C3F33FACB8@EANX-10B5EE9C2CACDBF0@2394031-10B5EE9C3A9E0310@0-10B5EE9D1CF42F88@Doing%20as%20other%20People%20Do.
Marx, Karl, and Friedrich Engels. The Communist Manifesto. First Avenue Editions, 2017.
“Message From the President of the United States.” The Farmer's Cabinet, 11 Dec. 1855, pp. 1–3. America's Historical Newspapers, webvpn.ucr.edu/+CSCO+1h756767633A2F2F766173626A726F2E61726A666F6E61782E70627A++/iw-search/we/HistArchive/?p_product=EANX&p_theme=ahnp&p_nbid=S56V54JQMTUyMDIzNzMwNy40OTAwMzk6MToxMjoxMzguMjMuMjMyLjI&action=doc&p_docref=v2:108BD1FCD7E9FA90@EANX-10902F83C0A519A0@2395277-10902F83D478B900-10902F8500A67D18.