ABSTRACT
The Critique of the Gotha Program is a polemic, turned against certain of Marx’s opponents in the German social-democratic movement. It is a vitriolic, sarcastic indictment of what Marx’ takes to be bad utopian political thinking on the part of the Eisenachers, the German followers of Ferdinand Lassalle. However, Marx does say things there about justice, equality and about a future communist society which are both hard to interpret and suggestive. Marx reminds the reader that as labor develops socially and becomes more complex and requires more co-operative labor (though the division of labor in the workplace generally becomes more acute), it becomes an ever greater source of wealth and culture in the society. However, it is also worth noting that Engels there regards, in certain circumstances, the appeal to equality as a useful agitational weapon in the class struggle.
