I finally finished reading Manifesto: Three Classic Essays on How to Change the World (that I bought last July) which contains works of some of the most influential minds in the world, namely Karl Marx, Friedrich Engels, Rosa Luxemburg and Che Guevara. “The Communist Manifesto” which was written by Marx and Engels is the cornerstone of Communism itself. Rosa Luxemburg’s long essay “Reform or Revolution” is basically a rebuttal to the theories of Eduard Bernstein, who went about disproving Marx’s predictions on capitalism and socialism. The third essay, “Socialism and Man in Cuba” by Che Guevara talks about revolutions and building “the new man and woman”. Despite living in different periods in history, their works reflect a common theme which is the rising up of the masses in order to change the oppressive status quo.

I am not going to further elaborate on their ideas—I don’t think that I can give their ideas justice. Instead, I’ll just share some of my realizations, and the primary of which is Communism is one of the most bastardized ideas in history. Their theories are not merely ideas; they were developed through careful analysis of political and economic events in history, and in these investigations, they sought to eliminate—not just alleviate—one of the basic, if not the most critical plight of the human being evident throughout history: dehumanization through exploitation. Honestly, after I read those essays, I was so inspired and felt like becoming a communist—in its truest sense. It’s very unfortunate that in the present, communism is seen in a bad light. Here in the Philippines, it’s even seen as something illegal. It only goes to show that there is a lack of proper education. I’m not very familiar with the Communist Party here in the country or the New People’s Army, but I think that the reason that they are thought of as “bad” is that the members of those organizations themselves lack the proper foundation with regard to communism and its ideals—and by this I am pertaining to the principles stated in The Manifesto, which defines what Communism is about. They think that the only way to go about changing the status quo is through revolution that is violent, because it is seen as the means and not the goal. But the Leftists are not the only ones “uneducated”. Even the people seated in the government themselves, I think, do not have a clue on what true communism is about. It’s ironic because they’re the ones who have control over education itself. It is true that we fear what we do not understand, and people have developed an aversion to communism.

The key is a two-fold awareness. One is a social consciousness wherein people wake up from the realities of oppression and class antagonisms. People must realize that it is possible to live in a better society. The other is a theoretical and practical understanding of the philosophy. This is where great thinkers, writers and leaders come into play. They must also have an accurate grasp of history, the current situation and foresight in order to educate and direct the masses to their goal—a revolution through reform.

Kung hindi alam, magtanong. Ngunit kung walang kasunod na pagkilos, ang kaalaman ay wala ring patutunguhan.