In communist societies, it is impossible to get all people to conform to an ideal without using some type of force. People view freedom as the ability to do what they want with their time and control their resources. If the state forces you to work only for its benefit and the benefit of the community, individual freedom will always be limited. This problem was seen in the Soviet Union, North Korea, and China, which were repressive nations that used force to support its theories.

It is important to consider that "exit" is not always physical. It can be mental or emotional, as well. If communist theories were in motion, citizens would not have the ability to exit the system if they decided they did not like it. Physically, it is likely that they would lack the resources to move to another country. In addition, they could not simply decide that they would not participate in the system.

In communist societies, people tend to suffer in silence. They are not willing to voice their dissatisfaction because doing so has negative results. They also lack the resources to physically exit the country. The communist theory makes fundamentally impossible for people to use the exit or voice strategy.

Marx and Engels may have read Hirschman's work and decided to revise the manifesto to- at least in principle - open up both possibilities to citizens.

Conclusion

In all societies, the oppressed dream of a future world of equality and justice where their oppression no longer exists. Marx and Engels wrote the "Communist Manifesto" in an attempt to show the oppressed how they could rise above their rulers and develop a better state....

They produced valuable ideas on how groups of people behave, how capitalism operates, and how technology can have a negative effects on workers.
As shown in Putnam's work, economic conditions gradually improved for most workers in capitalist societies. This is something that Marx and Engels thought would never happen. The authors also failed to see that the working classes were more interested in improving their wages and working conditions than joining a revolution to overthrow the government. In those areas that did experience revolutions, communism was a failure. These states used violence and starvation to end private ownership of agricultural land, causing the death of millions of workers. The Communist Party became a privileged ruling class, relying on force to maintain control.

If Marx and Engels had lived to see recent history, their vision of a new just society based on economic plenty shared by all would have certainly changed. They believed that individuals would achieve true freedom in this type of society. However, their beliefs were proven wrong. For this reason, I believe that the authors would have changed their manifesto based on the works of Putnam and Hirschman.

Bibliography

Hirschman, Albert. 1970. Exit, Voice, and Loyalty: Responses to Decline in Firms, Organizations, and States. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.

Marx and Engels. (1969). Marx/Engels Selected Works, Volume One, Progress Publishers, Moscow, USSR, pp. 98-137.

Putnam, Robert D.,editor. 2002, Democracies in Flux: The Evolution of Social Capital in Contemporary Society, Oxford University Press Inc., New York, NY.