William Chang
Exam 2
Topic: 5. Who was Karl Marx? What was his economic philosophy? How and why has his economic philosophy been so widespread as well as controversial? Explain.
The nineteenth century was swarming with developed economic and social ideas. Past revolutions and current tensions in society have created these types of ideas. The nineteenth century was also a time when the Industrial Revolution came about. Because of the Industrial Revolution, the gap between classes had grown further apart. The idea of a capitalist society was a very favorable goal in the eyes of the bourgeoisie. The middle class used new methods of production within a system of free trade, which allowed them to gain money. With the rich getting richer, the other side of the business were not content. The proletarians, whom were the working class who provided labor to the middle class. The proletarians were being exploited.
Photograph of the tomb of Karl Marx at Highgate Ce...
Karl Marx birthplace in Trier, Germany - Brückens...
A portrait of Karl Marx.These clashes allowed society to grow.
Mankind was moving ahead very quickly, but at the price of the working-class. When capital grew, the working-class did not benefit. Their wages remained the same. Through these kinds of exploitations, ideas of revolution began to surface against the middle class. The vision of this revolution was that there would be a classless society. A classless society where everyone is the same and people benefit from each other. The revolution against capitalism created a socialist society. Karl Marx was a philosophical analysis that created communism and saw it as a viable goal. The Communist Manifesto, written by Karl Marx, describes the goals of the communist party for ending exploitation of the working class and creating a society in which there is quality without social classes. Marx identified the proletariat as the most oppressed class in all of human history and therefore the...