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Karl Marx and the Theory of Communism

Karl Marx was a German philosopher who became fascinated withrevolution and the nature of change within civilization. The purpose of

these changes would be the ultimate creation of an ideal society. Hisideas were not well received by his home country and he was forcedto leave. He settled in Belgium and France for short periods beforemoving to England.

The Communist Manifesto

Marx defined his ideas by examining human history to see if astruggle for power existed. He believed that there were two types of

people that existed historically. The haves and the have-notswould be involved with a constant struggle for resources. The haveswere called capitalists because they had all the money needed tobuild new factories, mines, railways or other means of production.The capitalists would then force the have-nots, who he called theproletariat (working class), to work for them. This situation wasunfair in the distribution of wealth within a society that would causeproblems.

Problems emerge when capitalists pay the working classes very lowwages while keeping the profits for themselves. In this manner therich would become richer and the poor would become poorer. Thissituation would lead to the working class becoming frustrated andangry, therefore rising up to seize the means of production. Thepurpose of the uprising by the workers would be to distribute thewealth in a fair manner among all members of society. This stage ofhistorical evolution would be called socialism.

A socialist state would have the workers own the means of

production and all would share the profits equally. The workers wouldbe working for themselves, not for the benefit of the capitalists. Allforms of government would slowly disappear, as the workersunderstood the benefit of working for the good of each other. Oncethis model state of affairs occurred, his ideal society that he calledcommunism would exist.

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