Karl MarxJoin now to read essay Karl MarxThis book is about a man named Karl Marx who was a philosopher, social scientist, historian, and revolutionary. Although he was largely ignored by scholars in his own lifetime, his social, economic and political ideas gained rapid acceptance in the socialist movement after his death in 1883. Until quite recently almost half the population of the world lived under regimes that claim to be Marxist. This very success, however, has meant that the original ideas of Marx have often been modified and his meanings adapted to a great variety of political circumstances. In addition, the fact that Marx delayed publication of many of his writings meant that is been only recently that scholars had the opportunity to appreciate Marxs intellectual stature.
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Many people argue that Marx was born for money. One person, who believes that there are only a certain quantity of money that can be generated by capitalism, would probably give this a try. But this does not apply to Marx. Marx’s writings were not made for the money. To make money, he used money to buy stuff, and he sold off the gold and silver that were used to buy commodities. He wrote no autobiographical poetry in 1875, or at all, including one in which he writes about a friend who stole from him. Nor could he have written a historical document for that matter. However, he did write up his own works of criticism of capitalism, and his ideas on the use of money, including a review in 1911 of Capitalism that criticized the bourgeois model of political economy. Marx’s writing about his day in his life and work in the past was very different from his critics’ critiques. Even less, they claimed, had his words been written in such a way to make them appear ungrammatical and to undermine their message.
