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benthewriter's review
4.0
It would be great if podcasters and people on social media or message boards would read this before they opined about communism or socialism and how they pertain to modern politics. It's also interesting to see where some of Engels's thinking is dated, and how intersectional feminist and anarchist thinkers have corrected many of his errors and managed to keep left-wing thought alive and relevant in the 21st century.
tizzlango's review against another edition
4.0
Eine super Einführung in die Grundlagen des Kommunismus, wie die Kommunisten dachten. Das Format in Frage/Antwort ist super und eine gute Quelle auf die man sich zurückberufen kann. Leider fehlen bei 3 Fragen die Einträge, da es sich hier nur um ein Manuskript handelt. Schon lustig wie ein unfertiges Manuskript dann doch zu einem der zentralen Texte einer Denkrichtung werden kann. Natürlich hab es dann genug andere Leute, die diese Fragen versucht haben zu beantworten.
sullapelle's review against another edition
challenging
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
fast-paced
emilyknott's review
5.0
YUPPPP so good, so much more digestible and understandable then the manifesto - clearly defines terms and outlines the goals of the proletariat! 100% recommend reading this if you're new to leftism, such a quick and easy read:D
lescassowaries's review against another edition
hopeful
informative
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
5.0
teyn's review
4.0
This was much more along the lines of what I was expecting to read in the Communist Manifesto, and told me much more about the foundations of Communist beliefs rather than simply contrasting with capitalism the way the manifesto did.
My favourite quotes were:
"The slave is sold once and for all; the proletarian must sell himself daily and hourly."
"The slave frees himself when, of all the relations of private property, he abolishes only the relation of slavery and thereby becomes a proletarian; the proletarian can free himself only by abolishing private property in general."
"...as the bourgeoisie grows in wealth, the proletariat grows in numbers."
"Ever since the beginning of this (19th) century, the condition of industry has constantly fluctuated between periods of prosperity and periods of crisis; nearly every five to seven years, a fresh crisis has intervened, always with the greatest hardship for workers, and always accompanied by general revolutionary stirrings and the direct peril to the whole existing order of things."
"...so long as big industry remains on its present footing, it can be maintained only at the cost of general chaos every seven years, each time threatening the whole of civilization and not only plunging the proletarians into misery but also ruining large sections of the bourgeoisie."
"...democratic socialists are either proletarians who are not yet sufficiently clear about the conditions of the liberation of their class, or they are representatives of the petty bourgeoisie, a class which, prior to the achievement of democracy and the socialist measures to which it gives rise, has many interests in common with the proletariat."
"...co-operation in action does not exclude the discussion of differences."
My favourite quotes were:
"The slave is sold once and for all; the proletarian must sell himself daily and hourly."
"The slave frees himself when, of all the relations of private property, he abolishes only the relation of slavery and thereby becomes a proletarian; the proletarian can free himself only by abolishing private property in general."
"...as the bourgeoisie grows in wealth, the proletariat grows in numbers."
"Ever since the beginning of this (19th) century, the condition of industry has constantly fluctuated between periods of prosperity and periods of crisis; nearly every five to seven years, a fresh crisis has intervened, always with the greatest hardship for workers, and always accompanied by general revolutionary stirrings and the direct peril to the whole existing order of things."
"...so long as big industry remains on its present footing, it can be maintained only at the cost of general chaos every seven years, each time threatening the whole of civilization and not only plunging the proletarians into misery but also ruining large sections of the bourgeoisie."
"...democratic socialists are either proletarians who are not yet sufficiently clear about the conditions of the liberation of their class, or they are representatives of the petty bourgeoisie, a class which, prior to the achievement of democracy and the socialist measures to which it gives rise, has many interests in common with the proletariat."
"...co-operation in action does not exclude the discussion of differences."
mossburger's review against another edition
informative
medium-paced
5.0
Pretty short introduction to the general concepts of Marxism