The Communists disdain to conceal their views and aims. They openly declare that their ends can be attained only by the forcible overthrow of all existing social conditions. Let the ruling classes tremble at a Communistic revolution. The proletarians have nothing to lose but their chains. They have a world to win. WORKERS OF THE WORLD, UNITE!
About this quote
- What does it mean?
- Marx declares that Communists openly aim to overthrow existing conditions by force, urging the working class to unite and seize a better world.
- In plain terms
- Communists call for a forced overthrow and workers to unite.
- What can you take from it?
- Workers should organize to challenge existing power structures.
Where it applies
Putting it to work
Questions to consider
- Can peaceful reform achieve the same goals?
- What are the risks of violent overthrow?
Another view
It assumes force is the only path to change.
More from Karl Marx
Philosophy stands in the same relation to the study of the actual world as masturbation to sexual love.
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Permalink to quote #30 Communism differs from all previous movements in that it overturns the basis of all earlier relations of production and intercourse, and for the first time con…
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