Communist Manifesto
by Karl Marx, Friedrich Engels · first published 2013
15% recommend79% neutral6% critical
Why HN recommends it
Short, freely available pamphlet that sets out Marx's critique of capitalism and what communism originally meant, before Stalin and Mao. Suggested to read even if you disagree, to understand the arguments.
Summarised by Claude from recommending comments
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Yeah, Karl Marx. The Communist Manifesto and Capital are both good, but I personally think Marx's Inferno by William Clare Roberts is great.
on “How Robert Nozick put a purple prose bomb under analytical philosophy” ↗…here? 540 BC - 400 BC, Analects of Confucius, Confucius 380 BC, Republic, Plato 1516, Utopia, Thomas More 1602, The City of the Sun, Campanella 1726, Gulliver's Travels, Jonathan Swift 1848, The Communist Manifesto, Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels 1877, The Dream Of a Ridiculous Man, Dostoevsky 1887, Looking Backward, Edward Bellamy
on “Ask HN: Which books do you think created the best Perfect/Utopia worlds?” ↗…socialists make because I used to make them. But I also understand that their reasoning is based on absolutely flawed understandings of economics and human behavior. I would recommend anyone reads Marx's Communist Manifesto http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Communist_Manifesto as it expresses the basic ideas behind not just Communism, but socialism as a whole and to a somewhat smaller extent the more left wing parts of the Democratic…
on “The Two Flaws Of Libertarian Economics” ↗…how Marxism was the most thorough analysis of capitalism and its problems, and how it formalized the most effective ideology of the working class. I suggest, if you haven't already, that you give The Communist Manifesto a read--it can't possibly hurt you. If you have, try Engels' Principles of Communism: https://www.marxists.org/archive/marx/works/1847/11/prin-com....
on “A short critique of Stallmanism” ↗…prime example of what Marx calls “bourgeois socialism” as Communism 2.0, so you clearly don't understand Communism. Which you'd really understand better by reading a slim volume on the topic like the Communist Manifesto, and not thick volumes centered on critique of capitalism like Das Kapital, which is more about the problem (on which Communists generally agree with other crítics of capitalism) and not narrowly focussed…
…Metaphysics of Morals E. If you are into politics and/or economics (if you really try to understand these books, you may come away having no idea what your political leanings are): 1. Karl Marx - Communist Manifesto, and Das Kapital 2. Ludwig von Mises - Socialism, and Human Action 3. Hayek - Road to Serfdom Those are some of my favorites. There is a giant queue I have left to read, and I've also…
on “Ask HN: What has been your most rewarding job or project and why?” ↗I'd suggest either Adam Smith's "The Wealth of Nations" http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Wealth_of_Nations Or Karl Marx's "The Communist Manifesto". http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Communist_Manifesto Both books have ideas which helped to bootstrap economic revolutions whose effects are felt to this day. But in seriousness, I don't think there is…
on “Ask HN: Quick. . . What's the best book on entrepreneurship you've ever read?” ↗I'm just paraphrasing Lenin. Even if you are emotionally repelled by the horrors committed in the name of communism, The Communist Manifesto and State and Power are worth a read. Lenin was the best writer of the bunch, direct and explanatory. Marx is wordy and almost writes in an obfuscated fashion. The problems with democracy that were described…
…Ethics; and Politics Thomas Hobbes: Leviathan John Locke: Two Treatises of Government Rousseau: The Social Contract Montesquieu: The Spirit of the Laws De Toqueville: Democracy in America Karl Marx: The Communist Manifesto; and Das Kapital. JS Mill: On Liberty (the classic Utilitarian Enlightenment work) John Rawls: A Theory of Justice (A hugely important work on rights and principles of political decisionmaking) Robert…
on “Show HN: A political news aggregator you can comment on” ↗…Candide - Voltaire * Brave New World - Huxley * Selected Works - Goethe * 1984 & Animal Farm - Orwell Politics: * Obedience to Authority - Milgram * The Problem of Political Authority - Huemer * The Communist Manifesto - Marx * Socialism - von Mises * Just One Child - Greenhalgh * The God That Failed - Crossman * Death by Government - Rummel Thought-provoking: * Free to Learn - Gray * The Beautiful Tree - Tooley…
on “Ask HN: What did you purchase that measurably improved your quality of life?” ↗I'm not the father of communism, Marx is, and he defined it pretty clearly in the Communist manifesto, which is still well worth reading. It's his definition that is interesting for intellectual discussion.
on “Why Dumb Ideas Capture Smart and Successful People” ↗I think quite often these days "wonder what Marx would think about all this" ... not trying to be cute here, but probably worth re-reading The Communist Manifesto. We're in for an interesting ride over the next 20-30 years, it's gonna get pretty wild methinks. In my humble opinion.. times a changing. (and I'll add, we have terrible philosophers these days, if we…
on “Project GR00T by Nvidia” ↗If you haven’t already read The Communist Manifesto I highly recommend that you do, it’s super short and easy to understand. Even if you’re an anti-communist you should read it to get a better understanding of what communism is. There has been so much…
on “Engels: The Communist as Hedonist” ↗Communist Manifesto, 1848. Take some time to read it - even if you don't agree with the ideas - and indulge in that 19th century prescience.
on “To Stay Relevant in a Career, Workers Train Nonstop” ↗The Communist Manifesto is a pamphlet and it contains a lot of great quotable passages. The Little Red Book contains contains quotes and proverbs from Mao. The Quran.. you can hardly say that it is boring. Your book comparison…
on “George Orwell's review of Mein Kampf (1940)” ↗