Karl Marx
German Economic/Political Philosopher
1818 - 1883
Karl Marx was born on May 5, 1818 in the city of Trier, Germany. Marx was a revolutionary who advocated "merciless criticism of everything existing" and was the co-originator of the theories of "Communism."
In the autumn of 1843, Marx went to Paris in order to publish a radical journal. It was in Paris in September, 1844 where he first met life-long friend and associate Frederick Engels. Marx and Engels were both active in various revolutionary groups and together worked out the theory and tactics of "Revolutionary Proletarian Socialism" or "Communism."
Marx was banished from Paris in 1845 as a dangerous revolutionary. He went to Brussels, Belgium. In the spring of 1847 Marx, along with Engels, joined a secret society called the "Communist League." At the league's request they authored the " Communist Manifesto," which outlines the theory of the class struggle, and of the revolutionary role of the proletariat. Due to his revolutionary activities, Marx was banished from Belgium in February 1848, finally ending up in London in 1849 where he lived until his death.
Living in the nineteenth century, Marx observed the early stage of industrial capitalism in Europe. This economic system, Marx noted, transformed a small part of the population into capitalists, people who own factories and other productive enterprises. A capitalist's goal is profit, which results from selling a product for more than it costs to produce. Capitalism casts most of the population as industrial workers whom Marx termed the proletariat, people who provide labor necessary to operate factories and other productive enterprises. Workers sell their labor for the wages they need to live. According to Marx, an inevitable conflict between capitalists and workers has its roots in the productive process itself. To maximize profits, capitalists must minimize wages, one of their main expense. Workers, however, want the wages to be as high as possible. Since profits and wages come from the same pool of funds, ongoing conflict occurs. Marx argued that this conflict would end only by fundamentally changing the capitalist system. This revolutionary change, he believed, would eventually come to pass.
In 1864 the "International Working Men's Association" was founded in London. Marx was a central figure in the new organization, and author of its first statement, and a host of resolutions, declarations and manifestos. His health was undermined by his strenuous work for "International." The first volume of "Das Kapital," Marx's most important work, appeared in 1867. Ultimately ill-health prevented him from completing two other volumes.
On March 14 1883 Marx passed away peacefully in his armchair. He lies buried at Highgate Cemetery in London.