Who Was Karl Marx?

Who Was Karl Marx?

Let me tell you about Karl Marx, the philosopher and economist famous for his sharp critiques of capitalism, the foundation of Marxism, and his push for a society without classes. Born in 1818 and passing in 1883, Marx was a thinker, writer, social theorist, and economist whose ideas on capitalism, socialism, and communism have shaped history.

Key Publications and Collaborations

You should know that Marx teamed up with Friedrich Engels to publish 'The Communist Manifesto' in 1848. Later, he authored 'Das Kapital,' diving into the labor theory of value—the first volume came out in Berlin in 1867, with the next two released after his death in 1885 and 1894.

Early Life and Education

Marx was born on May 5, 1818, in Trier, Prussia—now Germany—to a successful Jewish lawyer who converted to Lutheranism before his birth. He studied law in Bonn and Berlin, where he encountered G.W.F. Hegel's philosophy. As a young man, he got involved with the Young Hegelians, a radical group criticizing politics and religion. He earned his doctorate from the University of Jena in 1841, but his radical views blocked a teaching career, so he turned to journalism and edited the liberal Rheinische Zeitung in Cologne.

After time in Prussia, he lived in France, meeting lifelong friend Friedrich Engels there. Expelled from France, he spent a short period in Belgium before settling in London with his wife for the rest of his life. Marx died of bronchitis and pleurisy on March 14, 1883, and is buried in London's Highgate Cemetery. His grave originally was simple, but in 1954, the Communist Party of Great Britain added a large tombstone with his bust and the inscription 'Workers of all Lands Unite,' adapted from 'The Communist Manifesto.'

Marx's Core Theories

Drawing from economists like Adam Smith and David Ricardo, Marx developed ideas that influenced communist projects in the USSR, China, and Cuba. His thoughts remain key in sociology, political economy, and some economic schools. Marx identified two main flaws in capitalism: the chaos of free market competition and the extraction of surplus labor, leading to worker exploitation. He predicted capitalism would collapse as more people joined the working class, inequality grew, and profits fell to zero, sparking a revolution where workers take over production.

Exploitation and Surplus Value

In 'Das Kapital,' Marx explains society as divided into two classes: capitalists who own production means like factories and tools, claiming all profits, and the proletariat, the laborers who own nothing and work for wages. This setup allows capitalists to exploit workers by extracting surplus value—paying less than the full value of the labor provided, which generates profits.

Labor Theory of Value

Like other classical economists, Marx supported the labor theory of value, where a good's value is based on the average labor hours needed to produce it. He challenged free-market thinkers by arguing that if goods sell at their true labor value, profits must come from underpaying or overworking laborers, exposing exploitation. Though later proven incorrect and replaced by subjective value theory, this critique shook economic thought.

Historical Materialism

Marx's historical materialism theory states that society's structure depends on its production technology. Under industrial capitalism, capitalists organize wage labor in factories. Before that, feudalism structured relations between lords and peasants around manual or animal-powered production.

Marx's Written Works

Throughout his life, Marx produced at least fifteen multi-volume books, plus pamphlets, articles, and essays, often working in the British Museum's reading rooms. 'The Communist Manifesto' outlines his and Engels's views on society and politics, predicting capitalism's replacement by socialism. 'Das Kapital' offers a detailed critique of capitalism, covering commodities, labor markets, social division of labor, and capital returns. The third volume was completed posthumously by Engels from Marx's notes. Many ideas, like monopolies, unemployment, and worker-employer struggles, remain pertinent today.

Contemporary Influence and Legacy

Marx's ideas inspired leaders like Lenin and Stalin, forming Marxism's basis for communism, viewing capitalism as self-destructive with profits stolen from workers. Pure Marxism has few followers today, especially after critiques like Eugen von Böhm-Bawerk's in 1898 exposed flaws in ignoring capital markets and subjective values. Still, Marx recognized capitalism's productivity over prior systems and predicted falling profit rates due to competition and technology. Economists like Brad DeLong note Marx's insight into how growth shifts social classes and sparks political struggles, tying into historical materialism where tech changes drive societal transformations.

Marx's main theory critiques capitalism's flaws, predicting its downfall and a classless society through worker revolution. He's best known for Marxism, communism's foundation, via 'Das Kapital' and 'The Communist Manifesto.' Marxism analyzes socioeconomic battles between classes, favoring socialism over capitalism, while communism applies this to politics and economics.

The Bottom Line

Karl Marx is controversial, but his writings endure. As a critic of capitalism, he highlighted inequalities, externalities, and class struggles in production. His predictions of capitalism's collapse and communist revolutions didn't hold, leading many to dismiss him, yet his insights continue to influence and inspire.