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| | {{Sociology}} | | {{Sociology}} |
| | [[Image:KarlMarx.jpg|right|frame|Karl Marx]] | | [[Image:KarlMarx.jpg|right|frame|Karl Marx]] |
| − | '''Karl Marx''' (May 5, 1818 – March 14, 1883) was the most influential of all [[socialist]] thinkers and the creator of a system of thought called [[Marxism]]. He helped organize the international socialist movement. His ideas motivated radical [[political]] activists who joined his call to overthrow [[capitalism]]. | + | '''Karl Marx''' (May 5, 1818 – March 14, 1883) was the most influential of all [[socialist]] thinkers and the creator of a system of thought called [[Marxism]], the forerunner of [[Communism]]. He helped organize the international socialist movement. His ideas motivated radical [[political]] activists who joined his call to overthrow [[capitalism]]. |
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| − | Marxism argued that all events in [[history]] are caused by economic forces, especially class conflict between owners and workers. Marx depicted the inevitable evolution from [[feudalism]] to [[capitalism]] (which happened, he argued, during the [[French Revolution]]), to [[socialism]], which was about to happen as soon as the workers got organized. Many intellectuals accepted Marx's "scientific" analysis and prediction. | + | Marxism argued that all events in [[history]] are caused by economic forces, especially class conflict between owners and workers. Marx depicted the inevitable evolution from [[feudalism]] to [[capitalism]] (which happened, he argued, during the [[French Revolution]]), to [[socialism]], which was about to happen as soon as the workers got organized. Many intellectuals accepted Marx's "scientific" analysis and prediction. |
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| | In recent decades there has been little interest in Marx among economists or historians, who nearly unanimously conclude his analysis was faulty, his ideology is non-functional, and his predictions were wrong,<ref>https://www.economist.com/node/1489165</ref> but there is more interest in Marx among critics of literature, especially in university English departments. | | In recent decades there has been little interest in Marx among economists or historians, who nearly unanimously conclude his analysis was faulty, his ideology is non-functional, and his predictions were wrong,<ref>https://www.economist.com/node/1489165</ref> but there is more interest in Marx among critics of literature, especially in university English departments. |
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| | ==Personal life== | | ==Personal life== |
| − | Karl Heinrich Marx was born into a happy, wealthy middle-class home in the Rhineland city of [[Trier]], in [[Germany]]. On both sides of his family, he came from a long line of [[Jewish]] rabbis; but his father Heinrich Marx (1782-1838), an intellectual and highly respected lawyer, had his family converted to Lutheranism in 1824 when young Marx was six. Intellectually and culturally, Marx was Protestant, not Jewish. Marx received a good classical education; at age 17, he spent a year in the University of Bonn's law faculty and soaked up its cultural romanticism. At age 18 he became engaged to aristocratic Jenny von Westphalen (1814-1881), daughter of Baron von Westphalen, a prominent member of Trier society, granddaughter of a famous general, and also descended from Scottish nobility. She interested Marx in romantic literature and in the socialist Saint-Simonian movement. | + | Karl Heinrich Marx was born into a happy, wealthy middle-class home in the Rhineland city of [[Trier]], in [[Germany]]. On both sides of his family, he came from a long line of [[Jewish]] rabbis; but his father Heinrich Marx (1782-1838), an intellectual and highly respected lawyer, had his family converted to Lutheranism in 1824 when young Marx was six. Intellectually and culturally, Marx was Protestant, not Jewish. Marx received a good classical education; at age 17, he spent a year in the University of Bonn's law faculty and soaked up its cultural romanticism. At age 18 he became engaged to aristocratic Jenny von Westphalen (1814-1881), daughter of Baron von Westphalen, a prominent member of Trier society, granddaughter of a famous general, and also descended from Scottish nobility. She interested Marx in romantic literature and in the socialist Saint-Simonian movement. |
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| | ===Intellectual roots=== | | ===Intellectual roots=== |
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| | * [https://www.thenewamerican.com/culture/history/item/28965-please-don-t-celebrate-karl-marx-s-200th-birthday Please Don’t Celebrate Karl Marx’s 200th Birthday], by Steve Byas of ''[[The New American]]'' | | * [https://www.thenewamerican.com/culture/history/item/28965-please-don-t-celebrate-karl-marx-s-200th-birthday Please Don’t Celebrate Karl Marx’s 200th Birthday], by Steve Byas of ''[[The New American]]'' |
| | * [https://www.lifesitenews.com/news/dont-be-fooled-karl-marx-was-a-hate-filled-totalitarian-whose-ideas-killed Don’t be fooled – Karl Marx was a hate-filled totalitarian whose ideas killed millions], by Matthew Cullinan Hoffman of ''LifeSiteNews'' | | * [https://www.lifesitenews.com/news/dont-be-fooled-karl-marx-was-a-hate-filled-totalitarian-whose-ideas-killed Don’t be fooled – Karl Marx was a hate-filled totalitarian whose ideas killed millions], by Matthew Cullinan Hoffman of ''LifeSiteNews'' |
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| | {{DEFAULTSORT:Marx, Karl}} | | {{DEFAULTSORT:Marx, Karl}} |