Karl Marx
Karl Marx was a 19th-century German philosopher and economist whose theories on capitalism, class struggle, and historical materialism became the foundation of Marxism and modern communism.
His major works include *The Communist Manifesto* (with Friedrich Engels) and *Das Kapital*.
Marx argued that capitalism would inevitably give way to socialism through working-class revolution.
His name appears in derivatives: Marxist theory, Marxism-Leninism, neo-Marxist critique.
Capitalist ownership class
- surplus valueProduction minus wages paid
- exploitationSelfish use of others
- commodity fetishismObjects veil production relations
- alienationState of being isolated
accumulation · wealth disparity · inequality · profit · free market · monopoly · privatization · consumerism
Laborers lacking capital ownership
- bourgeoisieCapitalist ownership class
- class struggleConflict between economic groups
- class consciousnessAwareness of economic group identity
- working classManual laborers collectively
classless society · social stratification · class warfare · lumpenproletariat · class conflict · ruling class · dictatorship of the proletariat · vanguard
Workers overthrowing the ruling class
- insurrectionViolent uprising against authority
- class struggleConflict between economic groups
- overthrowForcible removal from power
- liberationRelease from constraint
revolutionary theory · social revolution · emancipation · radical change · barricades · agitation
Prioritizing goods over spirit
- praxisCustomary action or application
- ideologyStructured belief framework
- alienationState of being isolated
- thesisAcademic argument requiring defense
antithesis · synthesis · false consciousness · epistemology · superstructure
Production minus wages paid
- means of productionTools and facilities for manufacturing
- division of laborSplitting tasks among workers
- commodityFungible traded good
- exploitationSelfish use of others
1848 anticapitalist political pamphlet
- collectivismGroup primacy doctrine
- classless societySystem without social strata
- MaoismPeasant-centered communist doctrine
- StalinismTotalitarian Communist doctrine
Bolshevism · collective ownership · means of production · redistribution · egalitarianism · socialist revolution · common ownership · world revolution
bourgeoisie
Capitalist ownership class
- surplus valueProduction minus wages paid
- exploitationSelfish use of others
- commodity fetishismObjects veil production relations
alienation · accumulation · wealth disparity · inequality · profit · free market · monopoly · privatization · consumerism · globalization
proletariat
Laborers lacking capital ownership
- bourgeoisieCapitalist ownership class
- class struggleConflict between economic groups
- class consciousnessAwareness of economic group identity
working class · classless society · social stratification · class warfare · lumpenproletariat · class conflict · ruling class · dictatorship of the proletariat · vanguard · peasantry
proletarian revolution
Workers overthrowing the ruling class
- insurrectionViolent uprising against authority
- class struggleConflict between economic groups
- overthrowForcible removal from power
liberation · revolutionary theory · social revolution · emancipation · radical change · barricades · agitation
materialism
Prioritizing goods over spirit
- praxisCustomary action or application
- ideologyStructured belief framework
- alienationState of being isolated
thesis · antithesis · synthesis · false consciousness · epistemology · superstructure
surplus value
Production minus wages paid
- means of productionTools and facilities for manufacturing
- division of laborSplitting tasks among workers
- commodityFungible traded good
Communist Manifesto
1848 anticapitalist political pamphlet
- collectivismGroup primacy doctrine
- classless societySystem without social strata
- MaoismPeasant-centered communist doctrine
Stalinism · Bolshevism · collective ownership · means of production · redistribution · egalitarianism · socialist revolution · common ownership · world revolution
- German FiguresOtto von Bismarck, Bach, Beethoven, Albert Einstein, Goethe
- Emigre IntellectualsThomas Mann, Albert Einstein, Sigmund Freud, Walter Benjamin, Bertolt Brecht
- Leftist ThinkersEngels, Lenin, Vladimir Lenin, Mao, Leon Trotsky
- Political ThinkersJohn Locke, John Stuart Mill, Thomas Hobbes, Montesquieu, Jean-Jacques Rousseau
- SocialistsFriedrich Engels, Lenin, Vladimir Lenin, Leon Trotsky, Trotsky
- Dissident WritersGeorge Orwell, Noam Chomsky, Emma Goldman, Thomas Paine, Voltaire
Karl MarxAdam Smith
Classical economics founder
Milton Friedman · Ayn Rand · John Locke · laissez-faire economics · supply-side economics
Karl MarxAyn Rand
Objectivist movement founder
Ronald Reagan · Margaret Thatcher · Barry Goldwater · John Locke · Thomas Jefferson