At one point in The Communist Manifesto Frederick Engels and Karl Marx declare that “what the bourgeoisie, therefore, produces, above all, are its own grave-diggers. Its fall and the victory of the proletariat are equally inevitable”. To what extent are y PDF

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At one point in The Communist Manifesto Frederick Engels and Karl Marx declare that “what the bourgeoisie, therefore, produces, above all, are its own grave-diggers. Its fall and the victory of the proletariat are equally inevitable”. To what extent are you inclined to agree with them?...

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At one point in The Communist Manifesto Frederick Engels and Karl Marx declare that “what the bourgeoisie, therefore, produces, above all, are its own grave-diggers. Its fall and the victory of the proletariat are equally inevitable”. To what extent are you inclined to agree with them? In the Communist Manifesto, Karl Marx and Engels declared that “what the bourgeoisie, therefore, produces, above all, are its own gravediggers, its fall and the victory of the proletariat are equally inevitable”[ CITATION Mar92 \l 2057 ]. This statement is widely agreed to propose that capitalism would inevitably create the conditions necessary for its own destruction. There has been some debate to be had, over the accuracy of this statement. It is also the case we might question the extent to which it is possible to see in effect Marx’s predictions relating to the crisis of capitalism play into contemporary society. However, one must understand the shortcomings of Marx and Engels declaration. Marx and Engels write at a time fuelled by revolutions in, for example, Germany, Austria and France. It is understandable that he would believe that one of these would amount to something. However, there has been no successful proletariat revolution neither has there been a crisis that has led to the fall of capitalism. I will structure the argument in this essay by discussing why Marx and Engels prediction on the destruction of capitalism may be correct. However, the idea that this will lead to “the rise… of the proletariat”[ CITATION Mar92 \l 2057 ] is false. I will do this by first looking into how Marx understands the crisis that befalls capitalism and extent to which these occur in contemporary and overinvestment, using the financial banking crisis of 2008 as an example for this argument. Secondly, I will suggest that the reasons behind the downfall of the second part of Marx and Engels declaration derives, from circumstances that Marx and Engels could not have accounted for. In this I will pay particular focus to the rise and success of transnational companies, arguing that these companies have the ability to overcome the crisis of capitalism, while also having the means to control resistance from workers and the state. Thirdly, I will also argue that Marx failed to account for capitalist states willingness to protect capitalism, through the imposing of capitalist ideologies to other nation states. Lastly, I will focus on the historical evidence available that can be used to question whether the fall of capitalism will lead to a “Victory of the proletariat”[ CITATION Mar92 \l 2057 ]. The statement declared by Marx and Engels can only be realised if two criteria’s are met: firstly, the existing capitalist system must fall into crisis and secondly there must be an organised revolution organised in order to take power and reorganise society. In the case of a crisis in capitalism, Marx observed that capitalism was prone to crisis when the limits of its growth had been reached. Elster expands this by arguing that capitalisms limit of its growth is reached when "expansion of capitalist sectors comes up against the limited supply of labour, decreasing demand of products or both[ CITATION Els86 \l 2057 ]. Although however, Marx observed that capitalism would be able to overcome these crises through innovation as capitalists find new ways to make a profit.[ CITATION Els86 \l 2057 ]

However, although Marx understood that capitalism had the capacity to overcome a crisis, he still believed it would lead to its own destruction. One of the key points concerning capitalism leading to its own destruction is falling profit and overproduction. For Marx Bourgeoise, the fierce pursuit of profit leads to a tendency to produce without regard for the availability of demand. As Marx argues “since the aim of capital is not to minister to certain wants, but to produce profit…a rift must continually ensue between the limited dimensions of consumption under capitalism and production which forever tends to exceed this immanent barrier." [ CITATION Geo17 \l 2057 ] Bourgeoisie may be just fine if they were on their own however, the bourgeoisie is constantly in competition with each other. Capitalists, therefore, are forced to improve technology and raise levels of productivity to gain an advantage over competitors and produce more cheaply. This continuous process leads to an increase in material wealth in society also decreasing the value of this material wealth, thereby leading to a lowering of the rate of profit.[ CITATION Stu03 \l 2057 ] More recently, Ford, Nissan and Toyota ran into financial trouble as sales begun to decline amid slowing decline for cars[ CITATION Tyl14 \l 2057 ]. Since overproduction peaked in 2009, thousands of cars have been left in lots to waste away, a decade later not much has changed. Although however, the car industry can’t simply stop making cars, that would mean mass unemployment as factories are closed. This example perfectly illustrates the relevance of Marx’s ideas exposing the irrationality of capitalism as resources are wasted. The overproduction of goods often forces businesses to reduce productivity in order to clear stocks. However, this leads to wage reduction and a reduction in employment, in turn, reducing consumption and therefore demand goods as the mass of workers are paid too little to buy back what they produce[ CITATION Ste06 \l 2057 ]. This argument is supported by Richard Wolff who observed in the 1970s that the growth of wages failed to keep up with the rising productivity[ CITATION Ste10 \l 2057 ]. The crisis of overproduction consequently threatens the legitimacy of the capitalist system, Patinak called this the realization crisis[ CITATION Pat84 \l 2057 ]. Another key point concerning capitalism leading to its own destruction is the crisis of Capital investment. Capital investment is rising higher than the source of profit as capitalists are always making business decisions due to expectations of the market leading to dead capital. This, in turn, Leads to constant downward pressure on the ratio of profit to investment. Although this may be offset in various ways the end result will be stagnation[ CITATION Jam12 \l 2057 ] The crisis of capital investment was one of the main factors that led to the global financial crisis in 2008. Excessive risk-taking by banks such as Lehman Brothers helped to magnify the financial impact globally. Low interests’ rates encouraged mortgage lending as banks bundled mortgages together into mortgage-backed securities. However, the banks had overestimated the demand for housing and subsequently, the bursting of the housing bubble led to the devaluing of these mortgage-backed securities damaging financial institutions globally.[ CITATION Fos09 \l 2057 ]

Marx is unlikely to have known the extent to which transnational companies have taken over production and how many technological advancements have given transnational companies the ability to mobilize around the world. One of the most important traits of transnational corporations is their ability to move production to the cheapest countries such as Indonesia and Malaysia. This gives Bourgeoisie the ability to adapt to the crisis in capitalism by closing shop and leaving with ease. While workers may be able to organise against bad work conditions, brutal working hours and minimum wages, the business can simply move to manufacture to a different country and with many

countries having minimum regulations on work environments and desperation for employment opportunities businesses will have no trouble finding a cheaper producer which they can further exploit. Marx argued that capitalism would reach a state of disrepair that the government would be forced to step in and nationalise capitalist industries. However, the state also has less control over transnational companies meaning certain industries can’t be nationalised and regulated by the state. This is because for example if a country imposed what the business considered undue restrictions on its actions it would simply close shop and leave, causing more damage to the country’s economy. The transnational car company Nissan has recently planned to move their car manufacturing plant from Sunderland to Japan where production would be much cheap. The UK government offered Nissan over 80 million in aid if the company the company continued production in Sunderland. This was done in an attempt to save thousands of jobs that would be lost in the UK, however, this deal was rejected. This example shows the power in which transnational corporations have over nation states.[ CITATION The19 \l 2057 ] Marx also doesn’t account for the willingness of nation states to bail out capitalism while also imposing capitalist ideologies across the world. The Global financial crisis in 2008 has been touted as exposing the failure of capitalism and its inherent instability. However, eight years later the system still stands. The UK government employed Fiscal policies based on the theories of John Maynard Keynes which stated that the government could influence macroeconomic productivity levels by increasing or decreasing tax levels and public spending. This played an important role in managing the UK economy during the Global financial crisis[ CITATION Mal12 \l 2057 ]. UK government also planned to restore market confidence and help stabilise the British banking system through a bank rescue package of £500 billion[ CITATION The17 \l 2057 ]. All strategies by the UK government contributed to the survival of the UK capitalist system. Marx could also not have predicted the willingness of capitalist states to impose the capitalist ideology other nation states. For example, the United States is mainly responsible for the transition China made, from being a Communist state to being one of the largest capitalist nations in the world. United States government attempted to disrupt and weaken China’s communist government maintaining military forces along China’s eastern and southern borders. In the end, China signed a treaty with America implementing capitalist methods to boost the economy[ CITATION Fra15 \l 2057 ]. John Bellamy argued that capitalist nation such as the US, no longer attempt to hide their imperialistic nature anymore, as they suggest that non-capitalist nations must fall in line with capitalist ideological ideas or face destruction.[ CITATION Joh05 \l 2057 ] Marx proclaimed that capitalism contained two classes of people, bourgeoisie and proletariat. Today, however, there is a wider variety and scope in different classes in the social hierarchy. It is not that there is no proletariat/working class in the world, but it has become increasingly more difficult to define who and who does not belong to it. Postmodernists such as Giddens would argue that we have entered a new post-industrial world which has done away with the importance of class as a source of social identity[ CITATION Zan99 \l 2057 ]. If this is the case, it is not clear which class will revolt, for part of the proletariat’s revolutionary essence was that it constituted the majority. Certainly, however, Marx was right to proclaim that capitalism would create its own “Gravediggers”. Whatever the condition of capitalism today there is certainly proof from the 20 th century that the proletariat could deal a large amount of damage capitalist society. This is shown through the Soviet Russian revolution and political revolutions of Venezuela and Cuba which effectively led to the fall of

the “fall of the bourgeoisie and victory of the proletariat” [ CITATION Mar92 \l 2057 ]If the victory of the proletariat is not inevitable it is at the very least not impossible. Although the catastrophic events that led to the fall of these systems and the brutal regimes of Soviet Russia and Maoist China have served as a warning against the prescription that Marx provided against the capitalist system. Therefore, it is unlikely that communism will replace capitalism (Woods, 2011). To conclude, in this I have set out to understand why Karl Marx and Fedrick Engels in the Communist Manifesto, declared that capitalism was set on a course of self-destruction and to what extent this prediction is likely to happen. Firstly, this essay has looked at Marx’s theory on the crisis’s that befall capitalism. More specifically, I looked at the issue of overproduction and how it leads to the lowering rate of profit and the realisation crisis as workers become aware of the irrationality of the capitalist system. Furthermore, in this essay, I also suggested that capitalist states such as the US and the UK frequently imposing capitalist ideologies upon other nation states such as China, Cuba and Venezuela. Moreover, in this essay, I furthered my point by taking a postmodernist perspective to argue that in today's new post-industrial world, the class is no longer a source of social identity. This makes it harder for individuals to be identified as the proletariat. Although I had concluded that Marx was right to proclaim that capitalism was set on a course of self-destruction. I went one step further and argued that although there is proof a revolution by the proletariat is possible, it is unlikely due to the past regimes of Soviet Russia and Moist China. Looking at the arguments provided, I believe this essay has provided an effective argument to the declaration made by Marx and Engels. They predicted that capitalism was prone to the crisis which capitalism overcomes. I believe this to be true. However, Karl Marx and Engels also argue that capitalism would essentially create the conditions necessary for its own destruction and be replaced by a communist system which would mean the “victory of the proletariat”[ CITATION Mar92 \l 2057 ] I believe this is wrong. The theories of Karl Marx and Engels critique of capitalism has gained popularity, especially in the younger generation who suffer a harsher version of capitalism than their parents did. I believe Marx was fundamentally wrong about how capitalism would develop. Capitalism changes and evolves. The Capitalism that Marx thought would collapse under its own contradictions is not the capitalism present in contemporary society. Capitalism has faced a great degree of crisis and each time has evolved to deal with them. Although however, I cannot ignore the impact of the most recent crisis which was the financial banking crisis. This crisis was said to have exposed the instability of the system, but it was also argued the redistribution that occurred after this crisis further advantaged the bourgeoisie. This inequality and what say call rigging on the system may, in fact, lead to the fall of capitalism. This, however, raises the question of what system will replace capitalism in the unlikely event that it fails Wolfgang Streek suggested that “we learn to think about capitalism coming to an end without assuming the responsibility for answering the question of what comes next”.[ CITATION Wol14 \l 2057 ]

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