Michael Gaerthoeffner
English 1020 - 046
Wendy Sumner-Winter
January 21, 2008

Manifesto

First of all, I have to say that I am from Germany and if a person goes to High-School in Germany there is no way that one does not hear about Karl Marx, Friedrich Engels and their “Communist Manifesto.” In High-School, we talked a lot about these German Communists and their ideas in history and economic classes. When I read the term “The Communist Manifesto” on the blogspot site, the first thing I thought about was Marx and his unbelievable influential ideas and caused by the fact that Marx, Engels and myself are all from Germany I was interested in their Manifesto. But that we speak the same language is not the only thing that connects me with these important figueres of the world history. When I was 13 or 14 years old I talked the first time to my father about the ideas of Marx because I was really interested in this topic. I thougth that there must be one possiblity to avoid poverty and famines in this world, and, in my view, Marx had the right basic approach. In nowadays, we have a two class society, on the one hand the really poor people and on the other the rich. Marx idea of communism would create a classless society where nobody had to die because he had nothing to eat. Everbody has the same; I thought this is the right way one can stop poverty and famines. I can identify myself with the idea of communism but I would not describe myself as a communist because when I got older I figured out that communism would never work in this world. In a world where greed, anger, capitalism, and “survival of the fittest” rules there will never be Communism. From my point of view, the basci idea of Communism is the best politicial system which was ever invented but it is not realizable because the human race does not fit into the Communist thought; everybody has an unlimited desire of satisfying our desires – everone wants to have more and more. There were a lot of examples in history, and even today, for communist countries but Communism never worked. In Communist societies coruption, poverty and famine were and are big problems which is the opposit effect that Marx and Engels inteded.
As well as Marx and Engels, I have a goal and a prupose of what I do, which is studying here in the United States. I am studying in the United States to get a degree in international business with a GPA of at least 3.75. But I do not only want to improve my academic knowledge about business, I also want to improve in tennis. I want to become a professional tennis player after my graduation from the University of Memphis. In America, I have perfect opportunities to practice as hard and as much as I want to which would not be possible in Germany, wheather time wise nor would my parents have the money to pay for that. My plan for the future is to improve so much in tennis so I will be able to compete on the tennis tour and become a successful tennis player. I also want to get to know a lot of important people during my college career who are able to sponsore me after my graduation. If I will not improve enough to make my way on the professional tour, I still have a college degree and intend to work as a manager in a company which sells sports, especially tennis equipment. So even if I am not able to become a professional tennis player, I still have a future because I will have a degree which is the great thing about being a student-athlete in the United States. Moreover, I will meet so many people who can help me to get a good job or support me in my career and I get to know a totally different culture. The culture in America is so diverse and interesting, as well as the history, and I think this diversity and the daily life as a student-athlete will help me to form my personality and grow as a person. Finally, I make new friends in the United States not only in the entire tennis community of college tennis but also at the University of Memphis and in the city Memphis itself.