Cities 07

“The bourgeoisie, historically, has played a most revolutionary part.” - Karl Marx

It is surprising to hear Karl Marx address the bourgeoisie as an “oppressed class,” especially since Marx depicts the bourgeoisie as the oppressors of the proletariat, or working class. But I do recognize why Marx has mentioned the bourgeoisie “revolution” in The Communist Manifesto. For hundreds of years the bourgeoisie were oppressed by the ruling class of feudal times; the kings, queens and other nobility of the land. The bourgeoisie’s merchant or professional statuses were clearly not seen worthy enough to govern or own the land and they were unable to acquire a desired higher status. The bourgeoisie were the working class for the nobility and they lived in the market, producing, trading and developing goods for the extremely wealthy ruling class. Then, when the bourgeoisie saw a chance to break away from the absolute monarchies they did so and began their role as the ruling class.

I believe that Marx thought he needed to explain why the bourgeoisie had come to see themselves as a ruling class. Or maybe the bourgeoisie didn’t see themselves as the ruling class. They may have thought of themselves as business men and innovators in a newly thriving capitalistic society. After being oppressed for such a long time I feel that the bourgeoisie didn’t realize, initially, that they were actually oppressing the proletariat. In fact, I think that the bourgeoisie thought that they were bringing jobs to the poor peasants with their new advances.

One of the most interesting statements Marx writes is about how family life begins to change when the bourgeoisie become the ruling class. He writes, “The bourgeoisie has torn away from the family its sentimental veil, and has reduced the family relation to a mere money relation.” This excerpt describes how the bourgeoisie continue their historical revolutions, except this time they are not only reforming their own lives, but also the proletariats lives. It is possible that while the bourgeoisie struggled for equality and power among the nobility they were stripped away from their families. So, when the bourgeoisie became the ruling class they had forgotten about family life which may explain Marx’s account on family life. This statement also reminds me of what life appears to be like in modern society. I personally find that family life is no where near as intimate as it was twenty years ago. Has our society become the monopolistic capitalistic society Marx talks about?

I can’t say that I agree with everything that Marx says, but he seems to be describing our very own society when he was alive in 1848. Marx talks about all the “old-established national industries” being destroyed, people constantly wanting new products, and the reliance of large cities and countries on poor nations for cheep labor, and poor countries dependant upon the wealthy countries for means of income. All of these points portray the country we live in. In The Communist Manifesto, Marx states that the natural progression of a monopolistic society is to evolve into a communist society. To me, this is a little scary, but I feel that we all need to wake up and witness what our nation has become and what we can do to change it!

Posted By: Kari J.

*All quotes are taken from Karl Marx's The Communist Manifesto (1848)