1. The whole of Germany shall be declared a united, indivisible republic.

  2. Every German who is 21 years old shall be a voter and be eligible for election, assuming he has not been sentenced for a criminal offence.

  3. Representatives of the people shall be paid so that workers may also sit in the parliament of the German people.

  4. Universal arming of the people. In future armies shall at the same time be workers’ armies so that the armed forces will not only consume, as in the past, but produce even more than it costs to maintain them.

  5. Maintenance of justice shall be free of charge.

  6. All feudal burdens, all fees, labour services, tithes etc. which have previously oppressed the peasantry shall be abolished without any compensation.

  7. All baronial and other feudal estates, all mines, pits etc. shall be converted into state property. On these estates agriculture shall be practised on a large scale and with the most modern scientific tools for the benefit of all.

  8. The mortgages on peasant farms shall be declared state property. The interest for these mortgages shall be paid by the peasants to the state.

  9. In the areas where leasing has developed the ground rent or lease payment shall be paid to the state as a tax.

  10. All private banks will be replaced by a state bank whose bonds will have the character of legal tender.

  11. All means of transport: railways, canals, steamships, roads, posts etc. shall be taken in hand by the state. They shall be converted into state property and made available free of charge to the class without financial resources.

  12. In the remuneration of all civil servants there shall be no difference except that those with a family, i.e. with greater needs, shall also receive a larger salary than the others.

  13. Complete separation of church and state. The clergy of all denominations shall only be paid by their own voluntary congregations.

  14. Limitation of inheritance.

  15. Introduction of strongly progressive taxes and abolition of taxes on consumption.

  16. Establishment of national workshops. The state shall guarantee the livelihood of all workers and provide for those unable to work.

  17. Universal free education of the people.

These are the 1848 Demands of the Communist Party in Germany, Marx and Engels.

  • sylver_dragon@lemmy.worldEnglish
    7·
    7 months ago

    Hit the comment limit, so continuing on:

    1. Complete separation of church and state. The clergy of all denominations shall only be paid by their own voluntary congregations.

    Yes, please. I’m not willing to go whole hog hunting down and persecuting priests, as has happened in some revolutions. But, religion should be something people keep to themselves.

    1. Limitation of inheritance.

    This would be a question of what limits and how they are calculated and imposed. Something like a logarithmic tax might be a good way to set this up, such that very high values become very highly taxed. But, I do feel that parents have a legitimate interest passing down their earnings to their children.

    1. Introduction of strongly progressive taxes and abolition of taxes on consumption.

    In general, this sound great. The problem is, it’s way to general of a statement to really discuss. The devil is always in the details. For example, “consumption taxes” sound bad, but does that cover luxury taxes? I’m all for a taxing yachts at obscene rates. Granted, I am also generally against “sin taxes” which are used to punish people for whatever “sin” it’s currently en vogue to hate. So, maybe yes?

    1. Establishment of national workshops. The state shall guarantee the livelihood of all workers and provide for those unable to work.

    Arbeit macht… Oh,wait that’s kinda unfair. But, this sounds a lot like State run labor camps. Ultimately, this becomes a problem with a central command economy, who gets to choose the job you do? Unless we’re talking about a magical “post singularity, AI robots do all the hard work” society, we’re going to need people to do the less desirable jobs. I personally tend towards a system of Universal Basic Income providing enough money for a person to live on, with work being something you do because you want more than the basics and/or you just have a passion. This would also mean that the les desirable jobs would come with higher wages.

    I think this point may have also been influenced by the times. With the move to industrialization, there seemed to be a need for large factories which employed hundreds of people. From that perspective, this may seem to make more sense. I just think it’s leaning a bit too hard into the central command economy and might result in a lot of Animal Farm style problems.

    1. Universal free education of the people.

    And healthcare. But this list pre-dates modern healthcare or I suspect it would have been there. History has really proven the value of universal education and not having it is now seen as a very bad idea.

    As I said above, it’s a mixed bag. I think there are some good ideas in this, but I also think it’s very much an idealized society and would face problems with corruption and issue in implementation. I think it’s telling that, when the early USSR tried to implement a government based on these ideals, things went sideways. And later the People’s Republic of China faced similar issues. At the same time, much of Western Europe has built off these ideas and created a much more equitable society and we can see the positive benefits in strong social programs.