Asklemmy

Surprised to see that even Marx and Engels wanted to disenfranchise the prison vote. There's a strong classist element to that.

There's definitely some issues that jump out to me on first read.

1. I'm not sure about "indivisible". An area should be able to self-govern if desired. More detail needed.
2. Awful. Removing people's voting rights in general is bad, and something as nebulous as "a criminal offence" is incredibly easy to abuse. Are people no longer citizens if they steal a loaf of bread? Also, voting age here is 16/18.
4. No. Guns are incredibly rare where I am. I'd rather not have one, and I'd prefer not to risk getting shot every time some asshole on the street gets mad.
7. Limiting land to a single use is generally not a great idea. What if for instance you have too much agricultural land and not enough housing?
10. A central state-owned bank isn't a bad idea, but abolishing all non-state banks is iffy. Should the government really have so much direct control over everyone's finances?
12. Your salary should not be based on the amount of unprotected sex you have. That's just silly. Other support should be available for those who need it.

The material conditions of Germany in 1848 are quite different now. Many of these demands have been met, or are no longer sufficient.

Ultimately, the core of Marxism is that the Proletariat must take control of the State and wield it in its own favor, and that key thread remains today.

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

Not really for a non German to say, but see no reason why not.

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.

I'd say 18, make it he or she, and remove the criminal offence part.

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

No to this - unelected representatives are accountable to nobody.

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.

Absolutely not. Arming the entire population sounds like complete insanity.

Maintenance of justice shall be free of charge.

Depends exactly what is meant by that - certainly I don't think people should have to pay for the police to uphold the law and I think there should be some form of legal support so that those who cannot afford lawyers can still have competent representation when they need it.

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

Agreed

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.

Depends on specifics, but generally, yes, I'd agree with this (although I'd also not want coal mining, etc, to be a mainstay of the economy given the environmental issues it causes)

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

Not sure about this one. I don't have a problem with people having private property, as long as there are significant balances to protect the least fortunate through tax-funded national social programmes.

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

Not sure I follow what this means. Is it saying that the state would become the landlord? Bit dubious about that, but it's hard to say.

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

No, don't agree with this. Having a range of competing banks seems better to me, as long as there is also strong and enforced regulation of their practices.

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.

Certainly in favour of national infrastructure being nationalised, and of either free or heavily subsided use for those who need it. Although that could be hard to establish in a cost effective way, so perhaps just universal subsidy instead of means-tested.

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.

Feels unlikely to work IMO - firstly because you'd not be paying more senior people more, even though they'd be taking on more work/responsibility, and partly because I don't think it's government's job to incentivise having larger families.

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

Agreed.

Limitation of inheritance.

Depends on the type of limitation - taxation, yes, absolute limits, no.

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

In general, yes, but it's a bit vague this.

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

Second part, definitely. Not sure about the guarantee of livelihood, feels like it would be bad for productivity and innovation. Again though, it's a bit vague to really say.

Universal free education of the people.

Yes. And healthcare too.

Initially I was a bit surprised that they were not proposing to seize the entire means of production, only the transport system and land held by the aristocrats.

But I dug into it a bit more - apparently there was very little industrialization in Germany at that time other than the construction of railroads and associated iron + coal mining, which is included in the nationalisation policy. So they were intent on taking over effectively all industrial activity, such as it was.

1. It depends on what is meant by a republic. There are different styles of that. I agree more with some than others. If this is a Marxist-inspired list, I doubt it's a republic that provides many choices.

2. This is good and all, but why exclude former criminals? If you did your time, that should be the whole of your punishment.

3. Why not?

4. People should arm themselves, but it should not be up to the government to arm people. The government should be indifferent.

5. In what sense?

6. If one believes in the idea that entitlements should be proportionate to obligations, a tax should be equally distributed across all individuals who wish to be more than simply vogelfrei.

7. I don't know what the first sentence there means, so I won't rule on it. As for the second one, see the sixth response.

8. Again, not sure what that means.

9. Again, not sure what that means.

10. Banks, ideally, I would imagine, should neither be strictly private or public. I have trouble fathoming the idea of something as staple as trade having the officiation process we envision. When I run thought experiments, I don't even include banks. Ever.

11. If for railways it makes sense, otherwise it doesn't.

12. I like the gist of the idea, but I wouldn't use money to solve the issue it mentions. I'd use something else.

13. Completely agree with this one.

14. Here is one I completely disagree with. If you truly, rightfully own something, its fate should not be limited by outsiders who do not truly own it, except via rightful contract with the state.

15. Why progressive taxes? I can get down with the second part though.

16. See twelve.

17. I can get down with that, but do you think we can reform the school system first?

I'm not a fan of #12, as civil servants should be paid differently depending on factors other than simply whether or not they have a family. Also not a fan of #16 since it sounds to me like forced labour for the poor, but maybe I don't understand what a "national workshop" is.

Otherwise I agree with at least the sentiment of all of these if not the way they're worded. Obviously it could use a lot of updating for the modern era, but the basic premise is mostly fine.

Im ok with #2 so long as the rights to vote are immediately and automatically reinstated when they have served their time in prison.

1. Republic? Good.
2. Voting? Good. Removing votes from the incarcerated? Bad.
3. Politicians/representatives should be paid.
4. Universal arming? Definitely needs some caveats
5. All legal proceeds should be free.
6. They had their compensation already.
7. State owning is first step to worker owning
8. so, tax? Good.
9. see above
10. Fuck banks.
11. Fuck cars; free public transport - gooood.
12. All salary should cover looking after a family, regardless of the existence of one.
13. Yep - separate the church
14. Yep. Some inheritance (like a family home) is fine, but full-on wealth is ridiculous
15. Does anyone need over like €100.000/year? No.
16. Guaranteed work? Good.
17. Free education? Goood.

I'm not terribly familiar with the current state of Germany, but these all sound pretty solid to me on first review.

Why stop half way? All you need is a benevolent dictator, shouldn't be too hard to find, right?

Some of these points are good, some are just absurd. Letting "the state" handle everything and hold all the cards, and then actually believing that it won't be coerced and corrupted or that there won't be strong disagreements about how to handle things is just delusional and wishful thinking on a grand scale imo.

I agree that most modern countries need to strenghen the public sector, but you still need checks and balances between powers, individual responsibilities and freedoms, real-world economic feedback and incentives, and so on.