Hmmm well maybe we are talking past each other.

I see it like this, the manifesto was a call to arms for the factory workers of Europe; join our revolution and your life will improve.

And some did, and their lives did improve for a while, but most importantly the majority of workers (ie European workers who didn’t have a revolution) did not join and their conditions still improved (WHS laws, working hours, sick leave, PTO, pension, healthcare).

How does Marx explain this? This shouldn’t be possible according to Marx.

When I was saying people have built on Marx I was alluding to revisionists like Bernstein.

He points out that self interest is a motivating factor, once a worker has a certain level of condition then they are no longer willing to risk that in a revolution, capitalism has effectively satiated them. Revolution is no longer possible in this situation.

This is the western world I see today, a lot of people who aren’t willing to risk what they have to get something better.

My solution (which isn’t really mine) is to appeal to their self interest, sure it’s nice now, but it would be even better under socialism etc.