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Karl Heinrich Marx, a German philosopher, revolutionary, economist, and historian, famously known as Karl Marx. He is the writer of the two most celebrated pamphlets in the history of the socialist movement, The communist manifesto (1848) and Das Kapital. This article will discuss Karl Marx and explain Karl Marx’s Class Theory.
The early life of Karl Marx
Karl Marx was the oldest boy who survived among nine children. His father, Heinrich, was a successful lawyer who was a devotee of Kant and Voltaire. His mother, Henrietta Pressburg, was from Holland. Even though both his parents are Jewish, he was baptised in the Evangelical Church when he was six years old. Karl was not much influenced by religion in his early years. The prejudice and discrimination around the background he grew up in made him question the religion and desire for a societal change.
Karl Marx studied in a high school in Trier from 1830 to 1835. The teachers and students were suspected; as a result, his school was under the surveillance of the police department. During this time, he wrote articles that showed the spirit of Christianity and humanity. He joined the University of Bonn in 1835. He was interested in History, Roman and Greek mythology. Furthermore, he was a member of various student activities and spent a day in prison for being drunk and disordered. He was also a member of the Tavern Club and poet’s club that had a lot of political and social activists.
Inspiration of Karl Marx
Karl Marx was inspired by great political economists like Adam Smith and David Ricardo and the German idealist philosophy, English and Scottish Political Economy, and French Socialism. Marxian Economics was not a favoured branch of economics during that time among the mainstream activists. But soon, Marx’s ideologies and theories had a significant impact on the people, most notably among the communists like China, USSR, and Cuba. Karl Marx’s ideas and literary works are still influential among modern social and economic activists.
Famous works of Karl Marx
The Communist Manifesto talks about Marx and Engel’s theories and thoughts on the nature of society and politics. It had a significant impact on society, and it explains the objectives of Marxism and Socialism. It is said that, while writing The Communist Manifesto, Marx and Engels explained their thoughts on capitalism being unstable and how a capitalist society would gradually evolve to be a socialist society.
His other famous work, ‘Das Kapital’ (Capital: A Critique of Political Economy), criticised capitalism in society. It is mainly based on Marx’s philosophies on commodities, markets, labourers, capitalism etc. Even though we are not aware of the exact origin of the word capitalism, Marx and his ideologies have contributed a lot to the popularity of this word. William Thackeray first used the term in 1854 in The Newcomes, which meant the sense of concern and personal possessions or money in the context. It is still unclear whether Thackeray or Marx was aware of each other’s works.
Theory of Marxism and Karl Marx Class Theory
Karl Marx’s Theory analyses the effect of capitalism on society, people and the economy. It encourages the lower class to stand up for themselves and turn a capitalist society into a socialist society. It exposes the exploiting mentality of the capitalists and the sad reality of working-class people. Marxism defines economic relations in a society full of capitalism and evolves into a socialist society.
It discusses the exploitative relationship between the capitalists and the working-class people. He had faith in his theory and believed that his theory would create a revolution in society. Marxism can be called a political theory as well as a social theory. Karl Marx’s Theory encompasses class conflicts and economics. It was drafted in 1848 and was circulated in The Communist Manifesto. It criticises capitalism and the capitalist economy.
It is also mentioned in the Das Capital, which was published later. According to Karl Marx’s Class Theory, every society is divided into social classes. Each member of these classes has many more things in common than with other social classes.
Marx’s view of Economic and Social System
Even though his theories were criticised during their origin, his thoughts on capitalism and the economic system are still valid in this modern society. In Das Kapital, Marx says that there are two classes of society. Capitalists are the owners of businesses who manage production and own factories, machinery and other raw materials, entitled to all profits. The other class is composed of labourers who do not have any profits. They do not own any business and work day and night for daily wages. Marx, in his ideologies, argued that this state of condition is because of the unstable arrangement of social classes and the exploitative nature of capitalists.
Marx’s ideologies have many admirers in the contemporary era. Karl Marx believed in the labour theory of value to explain the market. He understood and presented this theory as an intellectual challenge in his work ‘Das Capital’.
Conclusion
Karl Marx was a great revolutionary, famous for his theories about capitalism, socialism and communism. He presented his thoughts about capitalist society in his work. The Communist Manifesto, which he has co-written with Friedrich Engels and Das Kapital. These two are considered among the greatest influential literary works ever written. His ideologies highlight the capitalist society, its influence and profits, working-class people, their sufferings, and how society should evolve from a capitalist society to a communist one. He has created a revolution with his thoughts on society and is still admired and influenced by modern society.
