Karl Marx

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.

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 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.

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

Marx is considered very controversial in religious circles for his statement, "Religion ... is the opium of the people." It is a very well-known quote precisely because of the controversy and because in non-religious circles is seen as quite a fitting description of what religion is. It was written in his 1843 work "A Contribution to the 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 disdain for anything intended to control people on a massive scale.