Karl Marx believed that under capitalism, the working class would suffer while the rich continued to get richer. He believed that this would eventually lead to a revolution, where the working class would overthrow the rich and establish a communist society.
Philosopher was also an economist who was born in Prussia in 1818. He studied law at university but soon became disillusioned with his studies and decided to devote himself to writing. He founded the Communist League in 1847, which later became known as the First International. In 1848 he helped organise revolutions across Europe but he was forced into exile when these failed.
Marx saw capitalism as an economic system based on private ownership of the means of production and characterized by antagonistic relations between workers and owners. He argued that such a system was inherently unstable and prone to periodic crises, which would then lead to a revolutionary struggle between the classes for control over society. For Marx, socialism meant an intermediate state between capitalism and communism, during which time all property would be owned in common by all members of society. However, this stage of socialism was only meant as a stepping stone toward full communism, in which private property would be abolished altogether.
Actually, Marx published several works on economics and philosophy including Das Kapital (1867) which outlined his theories on how capitalism works and what should be done about it. His ideas have influenced many political parties including Lenin’s Bolsheviks and Mao Zedong’s Chinese Communist Party.
