[.ca] Communist Manifesto A Modern Edition On The 150th ... (ISBN 1859848982)

From Amazon.com:
"A spectre is haunting Europe," Karl Marx and Frederic Engels wrote in 1848, "the spectre of Communism." This new edition of The Communist Manifesto, commemorating the 150th anniversary of its publication, includes an introduction by renowned historian Eric Hobsbawm which reminds us of the document's continued relevance. Marx and Engels's critique of capitalism and its deleterious effect on all aspects of life, from the increasing rift between the classes to the destruction of the nuclear family, has proven remarkably prescient. Their spectre, manifested in the Manifesto's vivid prose, continues to haunt the capitalist world, lingering as a ghostly apparition even after the collapse of those governments which claimed to be enacting its principles.

This Book is what Killed 90 MILLION people Worldwide:
This book started communism. Communism is responsible for 90 MILLION deaths world-wide. Now, how can this book have such a high Amazon rating? It is beyond me. Shows how stupid people can be. Communism doesn't work, and it is not a fair way of living. So, don't buy this book. And if you do, don't forget that you are being brainwashed. Remember the 90 million dead as you read this. I mean, 30-40 million in China, 30 million in Russia, and more in other countries. That's how many communism has killed. And people say Hitler was a bad man!

No ten-year-old would fall for this CR*P!:
What we call the "the political left" is nothing but a consistent drive to turn the world over to those who call themselves "intellectuals." The much-touted leftist love for the Working Class (today it's minority groups) boils down to power for the "intellectuals." The "intellectual's" ideal philosopher, Karl Marx, wanted a "dictatorship of the proletariat." And who would the "dictators of the proletariat" be? Surprise, surprise, Karl Marx's "dictatorship of the proletariat" would not have a single working man in it! Marx's ideal was for "intellectuals" to rule over the workers. Those who say they are professional intellectuals love Karl Marx for that. Marx and Engels never did a day's work in their lives. Lenin and Trotsky never did a day's work in their lives. The first time I heard the Preamble to the Soviet Constitution was when a "professor" read it in class. I laughed out loud. Nobody else saw the joke. That Preamble said that the Soviet Union would be "a nation of workers, peasants, soldiers, AND INTELLECTUALS." No ten-year-old would fall for that cr*p. Let's say that several ten-year-olds were talking about setting up a country. One of the kids says, "OK, Tommy, You'll be the soldier. You'll do the fighting and get your legs blown off. Billy, you'll be the peasant. You'll spend your whole day out in the mud and grow all our food. Johnny, you'll be the worker. You'll spend the rest of your life in a factory." Naturally, being intelligent ten-year-olds, Tom and Bill and John will ask, "So what will you be doing?" To which the guy setting things up will reply, "I'll be the intellectual. I'll sit around and tell you what to do." No reasonably intelligent ten-year-old would be taken by that line. But leftists NEVER question that line. A room full of students in class with me saw nothing funny about it. I laughed out loud. I laughed out loud because I was more than ten years old and had a mind to prove it.

stupidity or complete ignorance:
I was born and raised in Ukraine and lived in US for the last ten years. I was absolutely shocked to find many people(democrats, that is)in this country who hate their presidents(other than Al Gore and Bill Clinton, of course, who could do no wrong, never mind giving nuclear technology to North Korea), hate their military, hate their country, think terrorist attacks are this country's fault and capitalism is the root of all evil. However, everyone who advocates communism grew up in a middle class homes, never went hungry and were never threatened with death for expressing their views. Most of my russian and ukrainian friends laugh themselves silly at the democrats's views because they are so ridiculous. Why don't everyone who gives this book 5 stars move to North Korea or Cuba and decide how they like being sent to concentration camps, tortured and starved to death. I'm sure there will be no volunteers.

The flaws of communism:
Communism as it occurred was a deeply flawed system. The reality derived from ideals always are flawed. This was an interesting read once one looks at the time in which it was written. Communism was and is a political philosophy that is rapidly fading because it relies on humans being less greedy, more willing to share, and treating one another with respect all the time. However, like the great religions (Christianity, Judaism, Islam, Hinduism etc) evil individuals can corrupt it for evil ends, just as even mighty and noble capitalism can be (although it has not been yet). It was the brutality of individuals and cliques in power, not anything inherent about communism itself, that killed millions, (China, for instance these days is communist in name only and still brutal and totalitarian) just as millions have over the centuries been massacred in the name of Islam and even "noble" Christianity. Triumphs and tragedies will occur regardless of the philosophical front put on them and good can come from philosophies that have spawned evil (except Nazism and fascism, which were based on hatred to the core and have justly been scoured from the earth). All of this must force people to read with a critical but not dismissive eye and embrace our freedoms in a democratic society whole heartedly, because that will stop tyranny, whatever its form.

"the devil's manifesto" ??????:
alright, ive seen plenty of reviews here calling this manifesto evil, spawned by satan and other pretty things. But seriously.... In this text, marx is preaching an idea; one which i personally don't believe could ever work but that is beside the point. he is showing his personal ideals, just like whenever some political figure that we idolise as some kind of god writes about his ideas of a perfect world. Just like when walt freakin' disney talks about an ideolised world. Should he be censored just because someone bastardised his idea into corruption, death, and destruction (this bastardization is proof that the manifesto is inherintly flawed)? does freedom of speech no longer apply to some guy who died in the 19th century and whos ideologies differ from our own? Just because in practice it didnt work so well doesnt mean that the theory was evil. To use the disney metaphor again, it would be like blaming someone for giving someone else a poison apple based on Snow White (dwarfs aside). If youre going to call anyone evil, label the men who turned this into something which it wasnt initially. BTW - i gave it only 3 stars because of the writing style, not the political aspect