Ep. 8 Book Club - The Communist Manifesto [VIDEO]
Added 2025-12-29 18:00:12 +0000 UTCRecorded on: December 21st, 2025
0:00 The Manifesto as a book
3:26 Is this guy upset?
6:27 Marx the person
9:23 Ahead of the game on certain points
10:40 It’s inevitable?
15:42 Cash as an incentive
19:30 Human nature
22:20 Lenin Story
24:02 China
25:58 Paris Commune
28:36 Balancing of powers
32:04 Keynes
34:53 Like Astrology
37:15 Wealth Inequality
39:05 Trust in Society
42:21 Socialist In-fighting
43:30 The 10 points
Comments
Washington is a good example of an individual who seized power during the American revolution achieved the goal that was set out and then instated open free and fair elections democractically. That is an individual with immense power and pull, chose to step down willingly and yield that power to the people. This is just given as a counter example wherein we know at least one case where an individual who had significant power and governmental control chose to step down despite having the good will to continue ruling. It's not typical but it has happened.
Chase Warwick
2026-01-02 19:29:55 +0000 UTCAlso I think it’s important to not try and box Marx into being an economist, or a social scientist, or a this or that, etc. He was first and foremost a philosopher, and his magnum opus was titled “Critique of Political Economy.” His goal wasn’t to simply do politics or economics, but to critique the entire foundations of those fields. When asked once what his ultimate aim was with his writings he said “Ruthless criticism of everything that exists.” He was a philosopher through and through, one influenced primarily by Hegel, who is probably one of the most difficult philosophers ever lol
feeneydactyl
2025-12-31 18:23:24 +0000 UTCI do think some important context here is that this is not Marx’s serious academic work, it’s a political pamphlet that was written to be spread to workers. Marx had a PHD in philosophy, studied the Greeks, was hugely influenced by Hegel, and is still maybe the most significant influence on the social sciences to this day (and one of the most on philosophy). His serious work like the German Ideology, Capital, 18th Brumaire, etc are much better at creating compelling arguments. This is a lot better at being engaging to read tbh
feeneydactyl
2025-12-31 18:19:13 +0000 UTCMarx is like the Communist version of Nick Fuentes 🔥
Allan
2025-12-31 15:28:49 +0000 UTCFor point 6 I was a little confused why it said tranport and communication. My german version of the manifesto only has the centralisation of transport in the hands of the state which in Marx's time would've been mainly the railways which is a reasonable point to make. I don't know why it say also says communication in the english version that's really confusing.
CmdKevin
2025-12-30 22:46:45 +0000 UTCIn a theoretical world where all actors are rational, the free market could and probably would be a perfect way to structure things. But sadly we do not live in a world where all actors are rational and therefore it breaks down. There is no one system that we can make with our limited minds and vast differences between us that can account for every possibility. But a changing framework that is highly adaptable and actually, truly, accessibly democratic seems like the best way to deal with these things. I cannot reasonably understand why a decentralization of power away from the representative body of the government makes sense when the power between the people is not equal or equitable. As we decentralize, those who currently hold more power typically in the form of wealth have an unfair advantage and are incentivized to rig the system to consolidate even more. The infiltration of and destruction of trust in our representative systems has been the downfall of the system at large. Repeal Citizens United please oh please Lemonade Stand please! That's just a first step. Anyways, I love ranting in your guys' comments. Doug I'm sorry I was mean to you in a couple comments on Spotify in the early days. Really appreciate what you guys are doing with this project. It feels really relevant to the times we are living in and is a good source for differing perspectives :D
Mitchell
2025-12-30 18:09:18 +0000 UTCWhile it is definitely funny to point out Marx being a crazy return to monke type (oversimplification of the return to farming you all spoke of), it does make me think of my own concerns of a capitalist system which seems to insist upon infinite growth. Pending harvesting materials from space (assuming that's eventually probable/efficient even), we do live on a finite Earth. The very fact that resources are finite is one of the root causes of geopolitical and even human disagreement and competition as a whole. Here in America, overconsumption and excessive energy/resource use are almost defining characteristics of our society. To the point that asking people to turn off the water while they brush their teeth was a large ask (not to say individuals are the only ones responsible for cutting back this waste). We are already running into climate and consumption problems at a global scale and that's with majority of the planet's population not consuming these resources to the same degree. I'd reason that you guys believe the capitalist structure we exist under, while far from perfect, is the best way to produce the best standard of living and, generally speaking, outcomes for all people, everywhere. At least that's what my goal would be since I want all humans everywhere to benefit from our advancements and prosper regardless of who we are or where we're from. I assume you guys would echo a similar sentiment but maybe I'm wrong. But this leads to the problem I see. If we are to continue down this path of infinite growth and blah blah blah, and hopefully everyone else's quality of life and standards of living and therefore their consumption and footprint increase what does that spell for the planet? Is this the path we should be going down? Is this sustainable? Is this good? The only response I can come up with to ease my mind about barreling down this path and things potentially being okay is the nebulous answer of "we'll adapt or innovate our way out of it". But how? Will we really be able to? What will be the cost? Lives? Will the profit motive really incentivize this? Is this scalable? Yes it would make sense to preserve the planet as part of the profit incentive but to what cost? Why should we care if a billion people have to die or suffer across the world? I guess my point is I think we do somehow need to change what guides our decisions as a country and as a species away from profit and money. It inherently neglects humans and their humanity. That is what I agree most with from Marx and communism at large. I am so incredibly curious to hear what you guys think and hopefully gain a new perspective on what is almost the core of my anxiety about the world. And hopefully it's not that we will just solve the problems as they come because I at least get the vibe from looking at history that adapting takes time and can be costly, and on the scales we live under now that cost would be tremendous...
Mitchell
2025-12-30 17:54:34 +0000 UTCAs a Dane I feel like communism as it is portrayed in the USA is the "maybe you should try just being rich before saying you want to be rich and famous" of political views. Like there are some things in there that are good, and some things that are bad, why not just take the good bits?
Darkhill Duck
2025-12-30 13:38:00 +0000 UTCi know that this is supposed to be a funny comment but calling america a socialist country is like calling hilter a hippy
DamnOrange
2025-12-30 13:10:12 +0000 UTCNow you guys should go to the opposite end of the spectrum and read some Hayek
Gavin Picard
2025-12-30 04:18:16 +0000 UTCI don't really have much to say on most of what you've typed, but I do find the perspective of "[Capitalism] forces each human to see each other as rivals" to be pretty fascinating. I've always viewed competition as being generally good, but that view never really reaches the people whose ability to survive rests on the success of a business who is out-competed by someone with more resources. But I think a cynic would just say that we're animalistic in nature and at the end of the day, "the stronger monkey (or monkey with better connections) gets food" is the most consistent framework we'll ever have.
ゴミの河童
2025-12-29 22:30:06 +0000 UTCthanks for the bookclub. I will try to be as percise as i can with my critic on the bookclub aswell as the book. As a communist myself on the manifesto: I personaly think that the communist manifesto is written like a pice of crap. It takes to long to establish the points needed and then grabs some over points out of thin air. i personaly blame no one who goes into the book confused and comes out even more so. I personaly can only say that it helps to get the points in the book explained and translated by someone to the age we live in. Also because the book dosent seem to tell how to get to the goalpost, i can only recommend other books on that which put it to there objektive to see it through. I find it fascinating that all of you seem to agree on the broad analyses that he makes but fail to translate it into the modern world. I think that is most likly because the worst actions taken in the modern world are hidden away in countrys on other continants instead of being pushed directly infront of our doorstep. I can only tell you why i personaly became a communist. I do not think the system we live in can be fixed in time before it destroys itself through climatechange, all out war or other devestating events. i believe this because i try to stay informed on this stuff via a wide spectrum of news and reports published by scientists in the specific field. Do to that i wont to work towards a sociaty that values each humen no matter where they are from and what upbringing they had equaly. I want to work towards a sociaty that dosent destroy itself for the gains of a few people. I do not see kapitalism as compatible with that because it forces each human to see each other as rivals. Because of that i think a new system is needed and i believe the system we need is comunism or atleast something close to it. if you or anyone else is truely interested in finding out how we get to the goal that we all seamingly walk towards in different ways. im allways open for conversations. thanks for your time and sorry for the bad grammar (im from germany).
DamnOrange
2025-12-29 21:21:11 +0000 UTCwith stimmy checks for veterans and 900 billion defence budget can we not say that America is a fairly socialist country? 900 billion subsidizes a shitload of jobs...
Steven Dessers
2025-12-29 21:17:29 +0000 UTCKarl Marx kinda sound like Elon musk. An entitled drug addict that loves asking people for money
Javier Arambula Rascon
2025-12-29 20:43:01 +0000 UTC
