2/8/23

In 1845, the Condition of the Working Class in England presented the socialist solution as the necessary outcome of the British situation -- on the grounds that a revolution was preparing which would bring the Chartists to power and thus precipitate a social transformation. In 1847 Engels still thought Britain would lead the way, with Germany far in the rear, and the backward agrarian countries waiting to be transformed by the example of the more advanced. Engels could be viewed as a distant precursor of Fabian socialism, were it not for his skepticism about the likelihood of a peaceful transition, and his dislike of the pre-1848 ‘socialists’ who (unlike the ‘communists’) urged measures falling short of the abolition of private property in the means of production. In the 1840s socialism was commonly regarded as a philanthropic middle-class movement; hence the preference shown by Marx and Engels for the term ‘communism’. [1961]

Want to read this because Jeannette Winterson recommends it in "Why Be Happy When You Could Be Normal?" According to her, it's "a frightening, upsetting account of the effects of the Industrial Revolution on ordinary people -- what happens when people 'regard each other only as useful objects.'"

This should have been my first economics book. Alas...much later in life.... ( )

Gripping descriptions of working class conditions. Strong in utilizing statistics for population and production arguments about causation of same. Wasn't expecting a name drop of Faraday, that was a surprise. Also really interesting details on technology and its repercussions. Vivid sections on how the working conditions affected mental and physical health.

Long, dreary stretches going over the differences between Chartists and Socialists and their respective aims, though this might have been important for the intended German audience. Here's where the Penguin Classics edition could have helped the reader by supplying some background.

Exhuberant, youthful writing, that occasionally could have stood being reined in. His opinions on the Irish are unenlightened and cringe worthy. ( )