Who created the communist manifesto?

Karl Marx? Hmmm. Well, the bearded menace (the pet name i just made up this instant) as i refer to him did play a role in the creation of the communist manifesto. However, he was not working alone. This little talked about fact is no secret. Stefan T. Possony of Georgetown University gave a 37-page introduction to a publication of the manifesto in 1954 (*1). It is quite good. The prime-mover and driver behind the publication of the communist manifesto was not Marx, it was the Communist League, a secret society operating out of London. Marx did not wake up one day and say to himself "oh, I think I will write the communist manifesto". No. He was an employee doing his job. I think it is unfair to assume that just because Karl Marx wrote the manifesto (or at least was the primary author), that he also believed in it. Anyone who writes for any organization knows that the views expressed do not necessarily reflect those of the author.

I know people will retort: but he wrote Das Kapital, surely that is evidence that he believed in the work? I say no, he wrote Das Kapital(first volume published in 1867) after the communist manifesto (1848) . He was already well known for having written the communist manifesto. He could just as well have been doing it for the money. If you produced a best-seller, and you needed money, wouldn't you consider writing a sequel? And if he ever expressed a public view on the subject of communism, the same rule applies. He had a public image to maintain, the image of the bearded menace.


(*1)
Front Cover:"Karl Marx; the communist manifesto;With an introduction by Stefan T. Possony; gateway edition".
Copyright 1954 by Henry Regnery Company, 14 E. Jackson Blvd., Chicago, Illinois. Copyright under International Copyright Union. Manufactured in the United States of America. Library of Congress Catalog Card Number 54-8138.
1-62
Translated by Samuel Moore.