10 Planks of the Communist Manifesto

April 1, 2008 6:28 PM

How many of the 10 Planks of the Communist Manifesto have been adopted into modern society?

For example, #10 for the most part, has seemed to been enacted throughout modern society. Are there any other examples of successful (or unsuccessful) implementations of any of the other planks? (I'm not just talking about modern society, but historical and other examples also)

posted by Geppp to society & culture (9 comments total)

#5, centralization of communication and transportation seems widespread in some parts of Europe
posted by francesca too at 6:32 PM on April 1, 2008

#2, a heavy progressive or graduated tax, is more or less implemented in much of the western world, depending on how you want to define 'heavy.'
posted by Tomorrowful at 6:57 PM on April 1, 2008

#10 is "Free education for all children in public schools. Abolition of children's factory labour in its present form. Combination of education with industrial production, &c., &c.[4]"

Two out of three ain't bad.
posted by AmbroseChapel at 7:11 PM on April 1, 2008

#7(b) the bringing into cultivation of waste-lands, and the improvement of the soil generally in accordance with a common plan

The U.S. has very large agricultural subsidies to stay competitive in the international market. It's not a feudal "go there, plant this" common plan, but it's nonetheless a great deal of attention. Also, through water resource projects and other initiatives, a great deal of land has been converted into workable farmland. A cursory glance reveals Europe to have similar policies.

Also, re: #10(c) and AmbroseChapel, there are public trade schools and we also tax corporations for training. There are also industry-specific college grants, government internships, and I guess even organizations such as the Peace Corps and Americorps do this sort of hands-on training.
posted by cowbellemoo at 7:23 PM on April 1, 2008

As far as historical examples go, you need only look at the Soviet Union particularly under Lenin/Stalin or China under Mao. Their various programs did work towards these various planks to differing degrees of 'success'. It really depends what you mean by success as well, since most of the planks achieved also went hand in hand with totalitarianism. So, one could say the USSR was successful in Centralization of the means of communication and transport in the hands of the State., but then again this equates success with turning the country into a de facto prison. Oh, subjectivity, how delightful you can be.

Regarding modern society, you can find different countries that have fulfilled a number of the planks, but I don't think this holds across society as a whole. Sweden has likely achieved #2 (a heavy progressive or graduated tax), but that is balanced out by other countries that have almost no or very little personal tax like Korea. Taking this into account, #10 is the only one that has been implemented more or less across the board.

One last thing. I suspect some answers may try to point out ways in which our society seems to meet a plank's criteria (like the agricultural subsidies comment above). I think you need to be skeptical. Put on your Krazy Karl Marx Beard and ask yourself, 'Would Marx think that [stated similarity] fulfills the requirements of [stated plank]? Or would he call bullshit and start up the revolution? Remember, he wasn't a 'hey - it's close enough' kind of guy. If it isn't totally planned and mandated by a classless central state, then it doesn't count.
posted by boubelium at 8:30 PM on April 1, 2008 [1 favorite]

The USSR serves as a failed example of at least (1,4,5,6,7).

#2 seems to be pretty successful for Europe's social democracies, and it worked well for the US until Reagan stomped it.

#10 is universally successful (can't think of a counter example)

#1: Some land reform initiatives by (mostly) socialist countries have been successful, others have not, but these usually stop short of abolishing property completely.

Not sure, but you might find successes of the others in the history of (pre-Deng Xiaoping) China and Cuba. You'll definitely find failures.
posted by qxntpqbbbqxl at 8:47 PM on April 1, 2008

Granted. There is alot of weaksauce stuff you can push into the planks. Apologies if it's too weak. But, then again, ideas are migratory and you'd lose something by ignoring Marx as a motivator in initiatives like the New Deal.
posted by cowbellemoo at 9:13 PM on April 1, 2008

qxntpqbbbqxl: I wouldn't say the USSR was a failure on all of those counts.

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.

The USSR did extend an industrial scheme of production to the rural areas using machinery owned by the state. Large amounts of land was developed and the country produced some impressive yields in time. All of this was done under a focused series of plans. Soviet agriculture had severe drawbacks, but these were laregly due to the manner in which collectivization was undertaken. Despite disappointing results, this plank was carried out.

Centralization of the means of communication and transport in the hands of the State.

I don't understand how you can argue the USSR failed at this. Stalin issued internal passports making travel even within the country extremely difficult. In addition, all media was overseen by the central government. The USSR is the textbook case of centralized communication and transportation.


Centralization of credit in the hands of the State, by means of a national bank with State capital and an exclusive monopoly.

I believe the Soviet central bank, Gosbank, was for most of Soviet history the only game in town. it also oversaw government spending and issued loans to individuals. Again, this is a textbook case. It was even called the monobank.
posted by boubelium at 11:58 PM on April 1, 2008

#10 for the most part, has seemed to been enacted throughout modern society.

Are you discussing strictly the United States? #10 is violated on a mass scale by the countries that produce items like the clothes you are wearing, the shoes you are wearing, and probably the computer your are using to type this on.
posted by damn dirty ape at 7:30 AM on April 2, 2008