Saturday, June 14, 2008

The Manifesto's Big Ten

The ten functions government must adopt in order to achieve a 'successful' transition into communism, according to the Communist Manifesto(*1):


1. Abolition of property in land and application of all rents of land to public purposes.
2. A heavy progressive or graduated income tax.
3. Abolition of all right of inheritance.
4. Confiscation of the property of all emigrants and rebels.
5. Centralization of credit in the hands of the State, by means of a national bank with State capital and an exclusive monopoly.
6. Centralization of the means of communication and transport in the hands of the State.
7. Extension of factories and instruments of production owned by the State, the bringing into cultivation of waste lands, and the improvement of the soil generally in accordance with a common plan.
8. Equal liability of all to labor. Establishment of industrial armies, especially for agriculture.
9. Combination of agriculture with manufacturing industries; gradual abolition of the distinction between town and country, by a more equable distribution of population over the country.
10. Free education for all children in public schools. Abolition of children's factory labor in its present form. Combination of education with industrial production, etc. etc.


(*1)
pages 55-56
Karl Marx
the communist manifesto
introduction by Stefan T. Possony
gateway edition
Introduction copyright 1954 by Henry Regnery Company
...
Translated by Samuel Moore