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Karl Marx was born in 1818 in Trier, a town in Prussia. His parents were of Jewish descent, although they were not practitioners of the religion. In fact, by 1824 his family adopted Protestantism, and Karl was baptized within the Christian faith. Later the young writer attended the Universities of Bonn and Berlin majoring in history and philosophy, and spending his other time studying law. Following his graduation from college Marx became involved with the "Left Hegelians", an activist group centered on Hegel's philosophy. In 1842 Marx began writing for an opposition paper in Cologne called the "Rheinische Zeitung", and in less than a year he was named editor-in-chief.
However by 1843 the German government caught wind of the writer's ideas and quickly had publication shut down. At this point, Karl moved to Paris to pursue political activism. Once there he met his closest friend Frederick Engels and together they formed the ideas behind Communism. Before long Marx was banished from Paris for being volatile revolutionary propagandist. As a result, he sought refuge in Brussels where he and Engels joined forces once more and at the request of the Communist League drew up the "Communist Manifesto" in 1848. In the "Communist Manifest" authored primarily by Marx with the help of Engels; Marx essentially presents the framework for his political beliefs while unleashing an assault on the capitalist system and its proponents.
The beginning dissects the political struggle between the "bourgeoisie" and "proletariat" classes of society. The authors describe in detail the reasons growing industry will lead to increased competition, owner cost cutting to raise profit, and a resulting steady decline in wages for the worker. Next, the piece offers the reasons and means for a proletariat uprising, which in the authors opinion will be won by the working class because their population is of such magnitude. The rest of the work provides the explicit format for implementing the Marxist or (Communist) paradigm, and rationalizations of why it will succeed. Marx had many motivations for revolting against the political and economic systems of his time. His father was a disciple of Enlightenment thought, so Karl was exposed early on to the ideals of such thinkers.
Furthermore, as the young man moved on to college he thoroughly investigated French Socialism and was undoubtedly influenced by it. While attending the University of Berlin Marx came under the influence of an eccentric lecturer Bruno Bauer. Bauer was an atheist and a political radical who acquainted Marx with the writings of Hegel. Subsequently, Marx uncovered the Hegelian theory of the evolving process of history.
The newly acquired knowledge may have empowered him with the intellectual ability to identify and relate patterns, problems, and specific issues of his historical past leading to the destitute state of the proletariat. On the other hand, Marx's relocation to Cologne to work for the "Rhenish Gazette" marked one of the first occasions the young revolutionary was exposed to working-class issues. During the short time Marx was employed by the paper, the staff offered him an abundance of information on the struggling working man of Germany, and their opinion that socialism was the only cure. After the Revolutions of 1848 failed, (except in France), Marx became more inspired to educate, and stir up the working class. His early ideas were now molding as he observed the longstanding social and economic injustices suffered by the worker clearly.
Monarchial rulers exploitation of the peasants and middle class led to revolutions by these groups in favor of more individual rights through representative liberal government, and free enterprise economies. Unfortunately, once the middle class took control they subjected the lower class worse economic and social conditions than they had experienced previously. Hence, it was logical the people reverted back to the Despot-like systems of the past as they had nowhere else to turn. It was here Marx and Engel's tried to offer viable solutions in their pamphlet "The Communist Manifesto." I thought Marx's call for a revolution of the proletariat was justified.
In fact, I could not fathom how any objective human being could feel otherwise after examining the flaws Marx points out in the structure of capitalist society, economic system, and obvious Bourgeoisie abuse of the lower class. Furthermore, his projections of the path the capitalist machine would take were amazingly precise. In his time Industrial monopolies were just beginning to dominate, today, as he foretold, the number of corporate owners is at an all time low and dropping rapidly every year. Hence, it is difficult to dispute this portion of Marxist argument. On the other hand, I disagreed with his solution in the form of communist government. Although if implemented exactly such a government would allow the equalization of most of its citizens, it still relies to much on centralized government enforcement of its principals.
Therefore there would always be the potential for the government to repress the populace given the towering political power they would possess. The fall of the Soviet Union, and the current situation in China, represent the reality of how Marxist ideals were and are practiced. In my humble opinion any form of strong centralized government, including are own, will ultimately be abused, and fail to serve its purpose of serving the people. Bibliography:
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