In the Economic and Philosophic Manuscripts of 1844 Marx explains how, under capitalism, people rely on labor to live. In the past people could rely on Nature itself for their natural needs; in modern society, if one wants to eat, one must work: it is only through money that one may survive. Thus, man becomes a slave to his wages. It is only through his work that he can find enough money to continue to live; but he doesn't simply live, he actually only survives, as a worker. Labor is only used to create more wealth, instead of achieving the fulfillment of human nature. The Communist Manifesto was first published on February 21, and it is one of the world's most influential political tracts. Commissioned by the Communist League and written by communist theorists Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels, it laid out the League's purposes and program.