Owing to the extensive use of machinery and to division of labor, the work of the proletarians has lost all individual character, and, consequently, all charm for the workman. He becomes an appendage (accessory] of the machine, and it is only the most simple, most monotonous, and most easily
acquired knack (skill] that is required of him. Hence, the cost of production of a workman is restricted, almost entirely, to the means of subsistence that
he requires for his maintenance, and for the propagation (reproduction) of his race. But the price of a commodity, and also of labor, is equal to its cost
of production. In proportion, therefore, as the repulsiveness of the work increases, the wage decreases. Nay more, in proportion as the use of
machinery and division of labor increases, in the same proportion the burden of toil also increases, whether by prolongation (stretching] of the working
hours, by increase of the work exacted in a given time, or by increased speed of machinery, etc. ...
Source: Marx and Engels, The Communist Manifesto, 1848
Which action did Marx and Engels predict would change the conditions described in this passage?
1.
implementation of government reforms
2.
adoption of laissez-faire policies
3.
use of passive resistance
4.
revolts by the working class