In the Communist Manifesto by Karl Marx, Marx argues all of history is a “history of class struggles” (The Communist Manifesto, 14). Marx is of the belief that in society there has always been an upper class oppressing the lower class and this issue is institutional. Whether it be slaves and slave owners or factory owners and their employees, Marx says that the bourgeois will always take advantage of their ‘underlings’ since they control all of the capital. 

Marx makes it very clear that he holds much resentment towards the bourgeoisie throughout the entirety of the Communist Manifesto. In almost every instance in history where there was an oppressed group of people, Marx points the blame towards the upper class –the bourgeoisie–. Essentially, Marx is saying that it isn’t instances of different people being bad (ie slave owners being bad, factory owners being bad, royalty being bad), but rather the concept of the upper and lower classes that causes conflict. The upper class, which is always both a minority and holds the most influence, always seems to disenfranchise the working class, and in his time period it can be seen through industrialization. Because of industrialization, the working class –also known as the proletariat–, were going from being seen as craftsmen who have a novel skill to being used as almost a drone. The proletariat had very simple and repetitive jobs as technology started to advance to the point of being able to do the work that the craftsmen used to spend a lot of time doing. Marx points out the difference between the two classes; the bourgeoisie are thriving and making more and more money whilst the proletariat are receiving worse and worse treatment for their monotonous jobs. Whilst the bourgeoisie made more off of the backs of the working class, they were reducing wages for them since they were incentivized to make as much as possible, even at the expense of others. Marx argues that this is the consequence of having a social hierarchy; the powerful abuse the weak. 

Marx believed that the material interests of the bourgeoisie were financial. The wealthy were constantly looking to expand their empire and gain more capital even if it meant driving the standard of living for the working class to the ground. Marx states that the upper class has “resolved personal worth into exchange value, and… has set up that single, unconscionable freedom—Free Trade” (The Communist Manifesto, 14). The consequences of having a powerful upper class is that the lower class are no longer seen as people, but expenses, which makes it much easier to abuse them. Marx observed these acts of self interest and claims that this is the work of capitalism and classism, which is why he believed that they are evil by nature. 

The political interests of the bourgeois were also largely abusive, too. Because of the large accumulation of wealth amongst the upper class, they started to influence the politics of their region to give them tax breaks or financial assistance, which only disenfranchised the lower class who either had to pay more or have less infrastructure because of the lower taxes. Marx states that

 “here independent urban republic (as in Italy and Germany); there taxable “third estate” of the monarchy (as in France); afterwards, in the period of manufacturing proper, serving either the semi-feudal or the absolute monarchy as a counterpoise against the nobility, and, in fact, cornerstone of the great monarchies in general, the bourgeoisie has at last, since the establishment of Modern Industry and of the world market, conquered for itself, in the modern representative State, exclusive political sway. The executive of the modern state is but a committee for managing the common affairs of the whole bourgeoisie” (The Communist Manifesto, 14). 

Essentially, Marx is saying that the modern government exists entirely just to suit the needs of the wealthy. These political interests influence the material interests because they would use their power and influence over government to lower their financial burdens (tax breaks etc). They would also have a large influence over policing and could use police/government resources to prevent strikes, protests, etc and control the proletariat. This imbalance did nothing but stir more conflict between the two classes and Marx uses this to strengthen his case for one unified class instead of having a social hierarchy. Although communism has failed over and over, I still believe that many of the critiques of capitalism and a social hierarchy that Marx stated to be true and relevant to issues today.