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Karl Marx

Categories: Education, Econ

Karl Marx: a man famous for his work in economics. His talk of workers being alienated from their work. How governments are set to protect the power of the ruling class: the bourgeoisie...from the working class: the proletariat.

You know, like communism (with a little "c," the political economic system...not the big "C," like the political party)...even though he didn’t use that word.

Marx’s ideas, originally starting with philosophy and law, got him kicked out of lots of countries. He ended up in one of the last places he could continue to write his ideas (London) for most of this life. He believed that, one day, eventually the workers of the world would realize they’re being taken for a ride, and getting paid less than they should be for no justifiable reason, and they will claim the factors of production and work "from each according to his ability, to each according to his needs." So...goods and services would be a lot more equitably divided than they are now (with capitalism), basically.

Marx’s ideas of political economics (his ideas that society develops through political economic class struggles, and the inherent contradictions in capitalism that are obvious even to many who dislike his ideas) made him famous, controversial, and more relevant than ever as the status quo get challenged.

Speaking of challenging the status quo: Marx’s beard...worth more words than Das Kapital.

Find other enlightening terms in Shmoop Finance Genius Bar(f)