High Marx in some areas, Low Marx in others

In the first chapter of the Communist Manifesto, Marx both admits to certain benefits of capitalism as well as what he believes to be the pieces of capitalism that are disadvantages. One of the first things he says is that capitalism has not done away with class oppression; rather it has just transformed it. Marx does admit that capitalism has induced rapid development in areas such as foreign markets, the colonization of America, trade amongst colonies, navigation, and commerce. Due to this rapid development, the bourgeoisie was able to gain great political sway, and thus make changes such as tearing down the feudal ties that had bound men to their ‘natural superiors’. However, although Marx admits to the rapid development capitalism has brought about; he does discuss certain disadvantages he believes to have been caused by this development. He believes that capitalism causes people to act only in self-interest. In addition he believes capitalism is to blame for the loss of “heavenly ecstasies of religious fervor, of chivalrous enthusiasm, of philistine sentimentalism, in the icy water of egotistical calculation.” Marx asserts that capitalism has made it so that personal worth has begun to be measured in an exchange value. Likewise, Marx believes that capitalism has stripped away the sentimental values of family and translated them into money values. One aspect of capitalism Marx seems to approve of is trade. He mentions how the bourgeoisie has drawn uncivilized areas into civilization through the means of trade. In addition, the bourgeoisie has ‘rescued a considerable part of the population from the idiocy of rural life.’ A main problem with capitalism, in Marx’s eyes is the grave disservice that has been done to the proletarians, or the working class. Due to the fact that the working class depends entirely upon finding work which depends entirely upon the worth of their labor, the proletarians are exposed to every fluctuation of the market and competition. As the proletariats try to fight back, competition grows, and the resulting commercial crises make the workers’ wages even more fluctuating. In conclusion, Marx states that the bourgeoisie is unfit to be the ruling class in society because it is incompetent to ‘assure an existence to its slave [the proletariats] within his slavery, because it cannot help letting him sink into such a state, that it has to feed him, instead of being fed by him…its existence is no longer compatible with society.’