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Karl Marx (1818-1883) was a German economist who codified communist theory in his book "The Communist Manifesto" (1848), which he co-authored with his associate Fredriech Engels.  The book declared, "The history of all hitherto existing society is the history of class [economic] struggles."  Communism prohibits a full right of private property and in its place attempts to force people to be equal in wealth.

Karl Marx (1818-1883) was a German economist who sought to set Socialism and Communism on, what he saw as, a scientific basis.  Marx was born in Prussia, educated in Germany, and a writer in London.

Marx predicted that the proletariat (working class) would overthrow the wealthy in a capitalistic society, and then establish a new system that would be socialism in its early stage and pure communism in its later stage.  Socialism differs from communism in that socialism does not require full equality in result and does not deny all private property.  But socialism was considered by Marx to be an early stage of communism.

Marx saw socialist and communist thought (at that time there was no clear distinction in usage) as fundamentally a moral movement with no base in a practical science.  Marx’s “scientific” solution was to ground an analysis of society on his principle of dialectical materialism.  

Marx was born in Prussia, educated in Germany, and a writer in London.  His most famous work in the field of economics was "Das Kapital" ("Capital"), in which he declared economics to be the guiding force of history and that owners pay workers just enough for them to support their families.  The value of the goods produced by workers is much more than the wages paid, and this "surplus value" is literally stolen from workers by owners.  Owners took this surplus value and perpetuated this unfair system by investing it into more machines and consumption by the wealthy.  Inevitably, class struggle by the poor against the rich, and the poor would violently overthrow the rich and end capitalism.

Dialectic was a principle created by German philosopher [[Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel]] which, although ferociously complex in his works, is based on the fairly  straightforward conception of action and reaction.  A situation arises that is less than perfect (“thesis”) which provokes a reaction (“antithesis”), eventually a settlement is reached (“synthesis”) which, is still far from perfect and provokes its own antithesis.  Hegel saw the driving force of changes being the “Geist”, variously translated as “spirit” or “mind”.  Marx took the dialectic and replaced Geist with materialism, at root the metabolism of man.  To put it bluntly: you’ve got to eat!.

Marx drew heavily on the ideas of the German philosopher [[Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel]] and collaborated closely with another German philosopher, [[Friedrich Engels]].

 

"Das Kapital" ("Capital") seeks to demonstrate that the bougoisie make profits by exploitation of the proletariat.  The exploitation arises where the value of the goods produced by workers is much more than the wages paid, and this "surplus value" is literally stolen from workers by owners.  Marx sought to show that the competition amongst the bourgeoisie forced them to exploit their workers as much as possible.  If an individual bourgeois refused to continue the exploitation he would soon be forced into bankruptcy or be taken over by someone who would.  The result is a relentless increase in the misery of the proletariat who, eventually, would rebel and replace the existing capitalist system with a socialist/communist system.

Marx is considered very controversial in religious circles for his statement, "Religion ... is the opium of the people."  This was written in his 1843 work "A Contribution to the  [http://www.marxists.org/archive/marx/works/1843/critique-hpr/intro.htm Critique of Hegel's Philosophy of Right]" and expresses Marx's belief that religion offers a false palliative to assuage the suffering of the oppressed, which he felt  prevents people from seeking to cure the conditions which cause that suffering.  It is often cited as evidence of Marx's atheism and generally reflects Marx's disdain for those who have found belief in powers higher than man himself.

Marx is considered very controversial in religious circles for his statement, "Religion ... is the opium of the people."  This was written in his 1843 work "A Contribution to the  [http://www.marxists.org/archive/marx/works/1843/critique-hpr/intro.htm Critique of Hegel's Philosophy of Right]" and expresses Marx's belief that religion offers a false palliative to assuage the suffering of the oppressed, which he felt  prevents people from seeking to cure the conditions which cause that suffering.  It is often cited as evidence of Marx's atheism and generally reflects Marx's disdain for those who have found belief in powers higher than man himself.