Karl Marx and His Ideas

1203 Words3 Pages

Karl Marx and His Ideas

Karl Marx was born on May 5, 1818, in the city of Trier in the

Rhineland, where he completed his early schooling. His fathers side of

the family were all rabbis. His father was a prosperous lawyer who

adopted Lutheranism for himself and his family in 1824. His mother was

from Hungary, and she never learned to read or speak German. At the

age of seventeen, he was sent to the University of Bonn to study law.

After he was in a duel, he was transferred to the University of

Berlin. Instead of applying himself to studying law, Marx began to

read the Latin, English, and Italian classics and became interested in

philosophy. At the age of nineteen, he became a member of a group who

gathered to discuss the interpretations of religious and philosophical

views. The triumph of conservatism in government and education led

Marx to hurry to complete his university work. Marx received his

doctoral degree in 1841.

Marx was convinced that an academic career was over and he turned to

journalism. In October of 1842, he became editor of a newspaper in

Cologne. In the paper, he defended the wine-growing peasants against

the wood-theft laws, and expressed his growing awareness of economic

issues. This is where he first thought of the idea of physical force

overthrowing physical force. Marx later said that this led him to move

from pure politics to socialism.

After this event, Marx married his longtime girlfriend, Jenny von

Westphalen, a member of the aristocracy, and they went to Paris for

Marx to study socialism. While in Paris, Marx met Friedrich Engels

with whom he began a lifelong friendship. In 1845 Marx left France

...

... middle of paper ...

...the population of the world considers itself to

be Marxist. However Marxism has undergone many changes since Marx

first wrote down his own ideas.

I think that Marx's life has a very ironic twist to it. Marx, who

devoted himself to help the working people in factories and other

horrible conditions, never worked in a factory a day in his life. When

he wrote the Communist Manifesto, he was barely able to live because

he had no money. It is also ironic that during all the social and

political upheavals of nineteenth-century Europe, Marx, chose to write

rather than fight. It is strange in the face that Marx's books and

articles were deemed perhaps more dangerous than bullets or guns.

Even though Marx is looked on as the father of Communism, his ideas

are very good. The fact of the matter is that they just will not work.

More about Karl Marx and His Ideas

Open Document