Marxism While Utopians Socialists envisioned reform from the

Marxism While Utopians Socialists envisioned reform from the top, Marx warned that change would come from the bottom and would most likely be violent.

Marxism was created by the joint efforts of two German intellectuals, Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels Together they wrote the Communist Manifesto in 1848, in which they called for a revolution of the workers against the capitalist state and its replacement by socialism. Marxism is both a theoretical analysis of history & society and a call for political action.

Class Struggle: Economic Interpretation of History Marx argued that economic conditions determine the course of history The class that possesses economic power whether through ownership of land, merchant ships, banks, or factories controls the government and the social institutions Marx argues that there are two fundamental classes in any society opposing each other – the owners and those who work for them, the “haves” and “have-nots” In ancient Rome plebeians battled the patricians In feudal society serfs opposed lords In the industrial age it is the proletariat versus the bourgeoisie This struggle was international since workers in each nation faced the same problems and battled the same capitalists oppressors. Race, ethnicity or nationality are not nearly as important as class Marx concluded “the proletariat have nothing to lose but their

Inevitability of Socialism Capitalism would destroy itself as depressions become more and more severe In time wealth would concentrate in fewer and fewer hands, while workers’ conditions would steadily deteriorate Eventually, workers would be driven to overthrow the capitalist and establish a state based on egalitarian principles, a socialist state. Under socialism, the state would whither away and leave a “communal” society, a communist society that would apply the principal “from each according to his ability, to each according to his needs. ”