# 22 The Communist Manifesto, Karl Marx, pp. 93-104
We're obviously only going to have time to touch the surface here. What I'd like to have you do, as you consider this document, is to set up two categories in your mind. The first you might call "diagnosis" ... the critique Marx and Engels make of the world of the 19th century and the historical chain of events leading up to the period in which they lived and wrote (1848). The second you might call "prescription" ... the call to action made. It is possible to be accurate in diagnosis and wrong in prescription (I suppose it is also possible to be wrong in diagnosis and right in prescription), which why this set of categories may be useful to you. .
Karl Marx's gravesite is Highgate, a suburb north of London. Thousands of visitors pull up by the busload to see it. Contemporary Marxists generally argue that Russia betrayed the ideals of Communism from the beginning, and that a true Communist state has yet to be seen. To expore Marx through the eyes of a contemporary American communist, click on the image to the left.
We'll also take a brief look at the 20th century's other most serious to democratic ideals, Fascism, which came to power in Adolf Hitler's Germany and Benito Mussolini's Italy after World War I. Here, there was no apology for anti-democratic sentiments. Indeed, Democracy was condemned as a source of national weakness. To give you a sample of the kind of rhetoric fascism produced, I'm asking you to read two things:
The link to the Munich Speech takes you to the internet site from which I downloaded it. Be aware that anti-semetic sites such as this are easily found on the internet. Ease of access leaves plenty of opportunities for combat between the voices of reason and hate.
Adolf Hitler: Two views. On the left, an official publicity photograph showing Hitler making a speech, and on the right, the caricaturist's use of Hitler's manerisms to make a political statement. Fascism isn't dead, and the internet is full of websites lauding Hitler as a great man.
The debate goes on. Clicking on the two images above will bring you to two websites which give some indication of the temper of our times.
Read, from Ideas of Democracy,
#23, On Liberty, John Stuart Mill, pp. 104-110
#27, "Iron Curtain" Speech given at Westminster College, Fulton, Missouri, March 5, 1946, pp. 117-119
We will finish the semester on a less pessimistic note.
The voices of totalitarianism were not left unchallenged. In the 19th century, John Stuart Mill argued for the supremacy of the individual.
One of the greatest statesmen of the 20th century also happened to be one of the greatest stylists of the English language, Winston Churchill, who served as Prime Minister of England throughout the years of World War II. As you read this speech, note the number of references to documents we've studied this semester.
Three Churchill Images. Clicking on any of them will bring you to the home page of the Churchill Center, chock-a-block full of interesting information about one of the 20th centuries most important leaders.
Week of Monday-Friday, May 7 - 11
This week we're going to focus on some anti-democratic philosophies which challenged liberal democratic thought from the middle of the 19th through the 20th century. We're not talking hypocrisy here: tyranny masquerading as sham democracy. Rather, we're going to read ideas of persons who explicitly reject the democratic ideal in favor of other ideologies.
A special message to the students in the Tuesday-Friday session of Core 102
One of the problems with teaching both a Monday-Thursday and Tuesday-Friday section of the same course is keeping everyone together. Well, I wasn't able to do it this year. There is no class on Friday. This will not effect the materials you need to complete the examination satisfactorily, though it means one less time for you to discuss any problems you may be having. I will be available to talk with anyone individually on Friday, however, either in my office or in our room during the normal class time.
# 22 The Communist Manifesto, Karl Marx, pp. 93-104
