Karl Marx Hijo Byeun

Who is Karl Marx?Karl Marx was born in Trier in 1818, just after Napoleonic wars.

His parents were Jewish at first, but they later changed to Christianity.

He was a philosopher, political economist, sociologist , humanist and the founder of communism

He was an educated students who studied in Germany at Bonn, Berlin and Jena.

At Bonn, he engaged with Jenny von Westphalen.

…

He became an editor in Colongne of the Rheinishe Zeitung. However Prussian closed the paper

He was expelled from Paris in 1844 with Engles, due to their radical movements.

Marx’s income was mostly from Engles who had a steady family business in Manchester.

Death of his wife and his eldest daughter made his health more worse.

He traveled all around the Europe in order to get his health cured. However he faced death in March 14, 1883

His most influential works

Communist Manifesto is his most leading and powerful political document.

Capital , Volume 1 is one of the manuscript that are Marx’s historic work.

Critique of the Gotha Programme is a significant work for Marx’s thoughts in the nature of communist society.

The Civil War in France, was published in order in defense of the Commune during Paris Commune of 1871.

A picture of Karl Marx’s family

His Philosophy

He proposed a new economic movement, Socialism.

He believed that Capitalism will call for destruction within the society.

The labor theory of valueHe believed to decrease the rates of profit but at the same time increase the wealth.

Communist ManifestoThe Communists do not form a separate party opposed to other working-class parties.

They have no interests separate and apart from those of the proletariat as a whole.

They do not set up any special principles of their own, by which to shape and mould the proletarian movement.

The Communists are distinguished from the other working-class parties by this only: 1. In the national struggles of the proletarians of the different countries, they point out and bring to the front the common interests of the entire proletariat, independently of all nationality. 2. In the various stages of development which the struggle of the working class against the bourgeoisie has to pass through, they always and everywhere represent the interests of the movement as a whole.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Communist_Manifesto

(Under proletarian and Communists)

Thoughts behind the communist Manifesto.Engles and Marx believed that the removal of classes will come through a revolution not changes in government.

This document led to ideas of communism and socialist ideology.

They thought that there will be end of the struggle between the peasant and the nobility classes. Later on, it will be the peasant that would remove all the other classes. And there will be no more class struggle, no nation-states or government.

They also thought that when proletariat gains the control, they will inevitably destroy ownership of private property.

Das Kapital

Volume one

A spider conducts operations that resemble those of a weaver, and a bee puts to shame many an architect in the construction of her cells. But what distinguishes the worst architect from the best of bees is this, that the architect raises his structure in imagination before he erects it in reality. — (Capital, Vol. I, Chap. 7, Pt. 1)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Karl_Marx

(under philosophy)

Thoughts behind Das Kapital

This was published in order to explain the class struggles that are embedded in the capitalist social relations of production.

He believed that the work is a social activity.

Also, he thought that when the means of production is under capitalism, then it will change more than relations of production.

He emphasizes the distinction between means/ forces of production.

Critique of the Gotha Programme

Labor is the source of wealth and all culture, and since useful labor is possible only in society and through society, the proceeds of labor belong undiminished with equal right to all members of society.

In present-day society, the instruments of labor are the monopoly of the capitalist class; the resulting dependence of the working class is the cause of misery and servitude in all forms.

The emancipation of labor demands the promotion of the instruments of labor to the common property of society and the co-operative regulation of the total labor, with a fair distribution of the proceeds of labor.

The emancipation of labor must be the work of the working class, relative to which all other classes are only one reactionary mass.

The working class strives for its emancipation first of all within the framework of the present-day national states, conscious that the necessary result of its efforts, which are common to the workers of all civilized countries, will be the international brotherhood of peoples.

http://www.marxists.org/archive/marx/works/1875/gotha/ch01.

htm

Thoughts behind the Critique of the Gotha

ProgramThis proposes the principle of “From each according to his ability, to each according to his needs.”

He believed that what the individual attains from the society will be exactly what he gives to the society.

(This was his last major document).

How they influenced on society

The political economist, Adam Smith and David Ricardo, were greatly influenced by Karl Marx.

Russian Revolution of 1917, which was led by Lenin who stated himself philosophical heir to Marx.

Mao Zedong, who also stated himself an heir to Karl Marx, formed Maoism.

Marxism (Communism) VS Capitalism led to Cold war.

It helped to centralize control of the government in attempting to create equality within establishing health care, education, military, and industry.

For instance in China, communism helped them govern both diverse and large populations and more balanced society pertaining to economics.

Monument in Chemnitz

Biblographyhttp://plato.stanford.edu/entries/marx/

http://atheism.about.com/od/philosophyofreligion/a/marx_3.htm

http://www.radicalacademy.com/philmarx.htm

http://www.friesian.com/marx.htm

http://www.econlib.org/library/Enc/bios/Marx.html

http://www.indepthinfo.com/communist-manifesto/analysis.shtml

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Karl-Marx-Monument_in_Chemnitz.jpg

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Capital,_Volume_I

http://ciahistoria.files.wordpress.com/2008/04/387px-communist-manifesto.png