The Communist Manifesto

The Communist Manifesto details the nature of the class struggles between the proletariat and the bourgeoisie, and the problems with capitalism. It is a little cited fact that Marx's political philosophy championed democracy as a catalyst for his ideas. And since the Manifesto was written at a time when the only country in continental Europe with a real democracy was France, the philosophy seemed pretty radical. What we know as Communism today was a byproduct of Stalin and Lenin's version of Marx's ideas. Among these are a progressive income tax, universal education, the abolition of child-labor, centralization of the means of transport and communication... so, basically France. Marx and Engels' work can be seen as a naive worldview that would later be corrupted by one side and demonized by another. So read the Manifesto in its original state and come to your own conclusions.