Predatory Capitalism

Marx admits that the capitalist system triumphed in the past because it was the only system capable of meeting the needs of emerging markets. But he also says that it is a monster that eats itself. In his words, “The bourgeoisie cannot exist without constantly revolutionizing the instruments of production, and thereby the relations of production, and with them all social relations.” It does so, because in its constant drive to expand the market for its products it must expand over the whole face of the globe. “It must nestle everywhere, settle everywhere, establish connections everywhere.” This brings into situations among populations not ready for it. But it is unavoidable. The wants and desires introduced by the capitalist system require the resources of remote places. As a result the world is pulled into this system. In a nutshell, it creates a world after its own image.
Is this assessment correct? Can the capitalist system survive without swallowing up everything and remaking it along its own lines, or is peaceful coexistence with other ways and other systems impossible? For that matter, does the communist system suffer from the same problem?

Bourgeoisie and Proletarians

Marx and Engels give a fairly compelling explanation for our current system in the first part of the Communist Manifesto. He says that “the history of all hitherto existing society is the history of class struggles,” or in other words, “oppressor vs the oppressed.” At the time, Marx said that society had split into two great hostile camps: the bourgeoisie (or the owners of the means of production) and the proletariat (or the lower social class). This stands in contrast to the way we generally view things in terms of the rich, the middle class, and the poor. But it is only a difference in degree. The point is, we all view things in terms of class, at least when we talk economics. However, do we then take the next step and translate this into oppression?

Manifesto of the Communist Party

The first work we have been reading for this discussion group is Marx and Engels' Manifesto of the Communist Party. It was first published on February 21, 1848. Even to this day, it is difficult to overstate the influence this short document has had on world history and to the economic thought of the average person.
We will tackle this work according to the outline given in the text: Bourgeois and Proletarians; Proletarians and Communists (with special emphasis on the 10 Planks); Socialist and Communist Literature; and Position of the Communists in Relation to the Various Existing Opposition Parties.
I intend to open up the discussion on the Bourgeois and Proletarians starting tomorrow.