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The Communist Manifesto (Version 2)

Read by:
Mark F. Smith
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Unabridged Audiobook

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Ratings
Book
54
Narrator
20
Release Date
January 1, 2017
Duration
1 hour 28 minutes
Summary
The Communist Manifesto was conceived as an outline of the basic beliefs of the Communist movement. The authors believed that the European Powers were universally afraid of the nascent movement, and were condemning as "communist," people or activities that did not actually conform to what the Communists believed. This Manifesto, then, became a manual for their beliefs.

In it we find Marx and Engel's rehearsal of the idea that Capital has stolen away the work of the artisan and peasant by building up factories to produce goods cheaply. The efficiency of Capital depends, then, on the wage laborers who staff the factories and how little they will accept in order to have work. This concentrates power and money in a Bourgeois class that profits from the disunity of workers (Proletarians), who only receive a subsistence wage.

If workers unite in a class struggle against the bourgeois, using riot and strikes as weapons, they will eventually overthrow the bourgeois and replace them as a ruling class. Communists further believe in and lay out a system of reforms to transform into a classless, stateless society, thus distinguishing themselves from various flavors of Socialism, which would be content to have workers remain the ruling class after the revolution.

The Manifesto caused a huge amount of discussion for its support for a forcible overthrow of the existing politics and society. (Summary by Mark F. Smith)
Reviews
Profile Avatar Jeremiah T. Dec 2024

I must be missing something here. What I understood from this book was a grown man having a Junior year essay temper tantrum. I was hoping for more as this was my first dive into the mindset of communism and it fell flat, dull, and uninspiring. As I was listening to this, the author seems to believe, childishly I would add, that mankind will rise to the occasion in the absence of capital (social or monetary) incentive.

Profile Avatar Edward B. Aug 2022

interesting

Profile Avatar Anonymous Jun 2021

A great introduction to the ideas of communism and the logical fallacies of capitalism.

Profile Avatar Anonymous Mar 2025

The writing is a bit turgid, but I’m glad from a historical perspective that I took the time to listen to this. There are some memorable quotes. Some of the arguments are interesting, but overall, I found the book boring and ultimately unconvincing.

Profile Avatar Anonymous Jun 2022

I think the narrators voice makes the book more better to listen to

Profile Avatar Wall D. Mar 2022

I love how the person that gave it a bad review, clearly didn't read it, and then wrote a grammatical error into their review.

Profile Avatar Kainster Feb 2022

The unrealistic rambling of the victim hood mentality, and continued pandering to the lowest denominator! Should be categorized along with Mien Kampf, in the trash!!

The Communist Manifesto (Version 2)

The Communist Manifesto (Version 2)

Author: Friedrich Engels
Read by: Mark F. Smith
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