Karl Marx

"The development of civilization and industry in general has always shown itself so active in the destruction of forests that everything that has been done for their conservation and production is completely insignificant in comparison." - Karl Marx

Karl Heinrich Marx was born in Trier, Germany and lived from May 5, 1818 – March 14, 1883. He was a German philosopher, political economist, political theorist, sociologist, and communist revolutionary. He lived in Germany for a while but then later lived in London for the rest of his life. Marx had a significant role in creating the modern communism and socialism because he believed that nations would be more stable and equal than capitalism. Marx believed that capitalism was just another way for the rich to become richer while the poor become poorer. With his knowledge and his political and ideological views, this became his strength which allowed him to spread the idea of communism and influence other nations. Throughout his life, he became recognized by people but there were haters as well.

            

 Karl Marx loved Hegel’s dialectical method and historical orientation, the political economy of Adam Smith and David Ricardo, and his own philosophies. He loved to influence people that capitalism is a corrupt economic system and that socialism and communism is a real movement that would bring economic change. He claimed that capitalism has a cycle, which is basically growth, collapse, and more growth. Although he was against capitalism, he did admit that capitalism was a revolutionary in its time in history.

His influences, his statues, his face on a German bill and his Marxist economic and political world view makes him an example to the world. For example, in Moscow, there is a statue of Marx and under it says, "Proletarians of all countries, unite!". Karl Marx believed in Marxism the theory in which class struggle is a central element in the analysis of social change in Western societies. He wanted to see the union of socialism in the world so that everyone can have the same economic class and not to compete with classes like capitalism.

             

Karl may not have been a product of his environment because he was an obscure figure in his own time. Critics and skeptics claimed that his theories were nonsense and would not make anything better. He was however a product of his era because his thoughts have made him write books and that many people have become Marxists. This has helped Western Europe to develop 6 major economic worldviews and see which one works the best. For example, China is a communist country.

             

Before Karl Marx became a philosopher on the economic and political views, he was studying philosophies and literature at the University of Bonn. He began to devote himself and has been working with a person named Engels and began to study the idea of materialism, capitalism, socialism, and communism. Karl Marx’s important success was writing his book, “The Communist Manifesto” which influences the idea of communism, the spread of communism and the threats of capitalism. Karl wanted a nation based on socialism or communism because he figured  that the idea of capitalism destroys the market which can later affect the whole economy throughout time. Karl Marx inspired many people including Lenin, Stalin, Trotsky, Mao, Castro, Chomsky, and others. In the end Karl Marx has become a philosophic icon due to his thoughts on the economic and social view, however society will always have different views on Marx’s ideas. As of today, there are not that many communist countries.

Marxist Economics