INTROCUTION:
No name in the history of the world occupies as immense of a place as Karl Marx. Architect of modern day politics, communism, and socialism; Marx became the single greatest influence on the world through the power of the written word. Marx didn't win any war , invent a life-saving antidote, or found a powerful economic state. Instead, Marx used his pen to change the way the world functioned.
German born philosopher and revolutionary, Marx's ideas not only influenced his time, but at least up to 200 years in the future, and the majority of his influence is still yet to be seen. A case can be made that any philosopher, like Marx, with his ideas and theories, is more important than any scientist, inventor, explorer, etc.; mainly because the latter's procedures can be reproduced and replicated. That is, if Columbus hadn't discovered America, someone else eventually would have; if Edison hadn't invented the light bulb, time would be the only barrier from preventing another inventor from recreating an identical product; had Alexander Fleming failed to discover penicillin, a number of other talented scientists could have.
Cover of the Communist Manifesto’s initial publi...
Engels in 1868
Karl Marx (1818-1883)Marx and his ideas, however, were something unique and brilliant. It perplexes the mind even to attempt to comprehend the immense, or perhaps infinite number of modern day and future developments on which Marx had a direct influence.
Born in 1818, in the small market town of Trier, Germany, Marx was the only one of six children to achieve intellectual achievement. With the exception of his father converting from Judaism to Christianity for publicity reasons, Marx did not encounter any social obstacles that may have later prejudiced his political views. The effect of this is difficult to measure. If it opened him to any different paths in life, they are not clearly...