Running head: KARL MARX’S CONTRIBUTIONS 1

Karl Marx’s Contributions

Anthony DeLorenzi

Peninsula College
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Introduction

Karl Marx is perhaps one of the most controversial figures of the 19th century. His ideas

have touched the imaginations of billions of people, and yet he is also credited with inspiring

regimes that have been responsible for some of the worst crimes against humanity. Central to

Marx’s work and theories was an exhaustive critique of capitalism (private ownership and

control of the means of production, [McConnell et al, 2009]) and the material conditions which it

created for most people. He used his combined knowledge of economics, philosophy, and law to

formulate robust theories about capitalism, government, and society at large. Together with his

friend and colleague, Freidrich Engels, he set out to change how we understand the relationships

between different elements of society (classes). He showed the conflicting nature of the

relationship between laborers and owners. He developed theories that showed not only how

capitalism affected the two competing classes, the “proletariat” and the “bourgeoisie” (Kenton,

2018), but also how society might evolve past this antagonistic relationship. Though Marx

passed away in 1883, the “spectre” of his ideas continue to influence many societies throughout

the world. At times of economic crisis, many cite Marx’s work, primarily Das Kapital, as

providing a framework by which the crisis can be explained. While some argue that his ideas are

now defunct, a vestige of 19th century industrial capitalism which bears no resemblance to the

capitalism of today, at the core of his ideologies are fundamental truths which no one yet has

been able to entirely rebuke.

Marx’s Early Works

Historians often view Marx’s works in two stages: his more radical youth, and his

“mature” works such as Das Kapital. Early on, he mostly critiqued previously held political,

philosophical, and economic currents of thought. He amassed The Economic and Philosophical
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Manuscripts, which were a series of notes where he first conceptualized his concept of alienated

labor. The theory of alienated labor is “the intellectual construct in which Marx displays the

devastating effect of capitalist production on human beings, on their physical and mental states,

and on the social processes, of which, they are a part.” (Ollman, 2004). To Marx, the struggle

between the proletariat (the worker) for higher wages, and the bourgeoisie (the capitalist or

owner), for higher profits (Kenton, 2018), resulted in feelings of loneliness, anxiety, and despair,

especially for the proletariat. Marx attributes these feelings to several phenomena: the separation

of the laborer from the product of their labor, specialization, which reduces the laborer’s function

to that of a machine, the alienation and estrangement from other workers, and the loss of laborer

autonomy in the workplace. Within the capitalist mode of production, the laborer is stripped of

all creative control of their work. In Marx’s view, this creative control was necessary to feel

social harmony and self-worth. Marx wrote that workers were alienated from their “species-

essence”, which, he argued, was a component of the human mind that drives us to engage in a

variety of activities and cooperate with other members of society (Ollman, 2004). Marx argued

that the solution was that social classes must be abolished for this pathology to be cured. Marx’s

most influential work, The Communist Manifesto, combined analyses of class struggle,

capitalism, and the capitalist mode of production; and was a rallying call to the “workers of all

nations”. Marx wrote The Communist Manifesto with his friend and partner Freidrich Engels.

Engels was one of Marx’s ideological contemporaries, and he helped Marx at various times in

his life (particularly after he was banished from France). They held mostly similar views on

political economy. The manifesto was to be a rallying call to the workers of the world to

“forcibly overthrow all existing social conditions” and establish socialism, or the economic

political system where the means of production were socially owned and controlled (Marx,
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1848). Marx called for a “dictatorship of the proletariat”, or a government composed of the

working class. Marx believed that once the capitalist state was overthrown and socialism was

established, eventually the state itself would wither away. Marx viewed the state as a coercive

force which only existed to protect private property, and therefore disproportionately affected the

poor, so if property was owned by all, there would be no need for a government. Though Marx is

known for being a socialist and a communist, he said very little about how such a system would

be structured. He vowed that once class was abolished, humans would live together

harmoniously and that a cooperative spirit, lost to time, would reemerge. A famous saying that

Marx is known for is “from each according to his ability, to each according to his need” (Marx,

1875).

Marx’s Later Works

Marx’s later works focused specifically on political economy, and less on philosophy.

His crowning achievement of this era was the publishing of his 3-part volume: Das Kapital. Das

Kapital was the largest compilation of data and analysis of capitalism yet. The first volume was

about Marx’s concept: the labor theory of value. It stated that surplus profit could only exist if

the laborer is not paid for the full value of their labor, this is something Marx labeled as

“exploitation”. Indeed, when you consider that Webster’s Dictionary defines exploit: “to make

full use of”, it makes sense that owners and managers of capital would want to make full use of

their resources, including labor. Moreover, the capitalist had to make full use of their resources

to remain competitive in the market. Marx argued that this was unethical and showed how goods

and services only have added value based on the labor that each good or service required. If the

worker spends 8 hours making 8 anvils, for example, and each anvil is sold for $100, the

capitalist would need to take some of the revenue for themselves to turn a profit. Therefore, the
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worker is not receiving their “fair share” of the worth. He also argued that capitalism sowed the

seeds of its own destruction: as wealth was concentrated in fewer and fewer hands, economic

recession would occur leading to overproduction. He also noted issues with the concept of

perfect competition, sustained economic growth, and technology’s role in increasing

unemployment. He referred to these as capitalist crises, and he believed that they would increase

in frequency as capitalism evolved. The remaining two volumes were mostly manuscripts which

Engels published after Marx’s death. Later in Marx’s life, his health began to deteriorate, and he

could no longer write such exhaustive works. This didn’t stop him from continuing his work on a

smaller scale however, and he wrote Critique of the Goltha Program, in which Marx “addressed

the concept of the dictatorship of the proletariat, the period of transition between capitalism and

communism, the two phases of communist society, the production and distribution of social

goods, proletarian internationalism, and the party of the working class” (Marxists.org, 1999).

Marx’s final contribution, The Origin of the Family, Private Property, and the State, was written

up by Engels as Marx requested, in 1884. Marx had begun to take an interest in anthropology

and the history of the family, and he believed that human kind had reached a pinnacle of social

transformation at the time when goods and services were produced and proportioned

communally. He was inspired by “archaic” communes and compared them with the Russian

communes of the 1880s.

Marx’s Impact

Karl Marx has been an extremely influential figure, and his views, collectively dubbed

“Marxism”, have often been described as the catalyst for communist revolutions in countries

such as Russia, China, Vietnam, Cuba, and North Korea. Vladimir Ilyich Ulanov, better known

as Lenin, expanded upon Marx’s theories by elaborating on the concept of the “dictatorship of
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the proletariat”. In Lenin’s opinion, the revolution must be led by a highly knowledgeable and

class conscious “vanguard party” of Marxists (Lenin, 1901), and this idea guided the Russian

revolution of 1917. Another strain of Marxism, Maoism, developed by Chinese revolutionary

Mao Zedong, abides by the belief that it is the agricultural peasants that must lead the revolution

(Cheek, 2002). Most other successful communist revolutions have occurred in either the

Leninist or Maoist strains of thought. Unfortunately for many of these countries, the methods of

production and distribution of goods and services proved to be too difficult, and some market

systems were reintroduced. There has been much debate as to whether the highly bureaucratic

governments that have risen in the name of communism truly embodied and practiced the beliefs

of Karl Marx. The only indication we have about what exactly Marx envisioned for the future of

communism were his writings on “the Paris Commune”, or the brief 2-month period when the

citizens of Paris rose up in revolt and formed a communist council government. They were

soundly defeated by the French army, but their effort left a lasting impression on Karl Marx. He

published a pamphlet called The Civil War in France, which was a defense of the communards

as well as a reflection on some of his earlier work, particularly The Communist Manifesto. He

recognized that the working class cannot simply “take control” of the means of production and

expect a viable socialist society to materialize. Government, and society at large, had to be

completely reorganized according to socialist principles for such a transformation to occur.

Conclusion

Marx led a messy and controversial life. He was exiled from multiple countries, and he

had to settle down and complete his life’s work in England. While his ultimate vision of seeing

capitalism relegated to the “dustbin of history” has not yet come to pass, his critique of the social

economic system prompted many people to dream for something better. Laborers did not need to
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settle for working 14-hour days in terrible factories. Communists pushed for things such as the

40-hour work week, safe working conditions, the right to form unions, putting an end to child

labor, 8-hour workdays, and paid time-off. Marx inspired other economists to try to solve the

worst issues of capitalism, such as inequality and unemployment. If nothing else, he was

responsible for pushing capitalism in a more humane direction, via the many groups and social

movements that were inspired by his theories. The threat of communist revolution forced

governments to consider the needs of the working class, and a great period of reform occurred

between 1900 and 1950 in both the United States and Europe. Even to this day, we see

politicians speaking of class consciousness. Bernie Sanders is on record as the most popular

politician in America, and though he does not identify as a Marxist, he does take issue with

America’s extreme wealth inequality. Only time will tell if Marx’s main theory, that socialism

will eventually replace capitalism, will come to pass. For the time being, we should continue

asking ourselves what we can learn from Marx’s theories, and how we might improve our

understanding of society, economics, and philosophy. To dismiss Marx’s ideas would be to

ignore a rich tradition of progress and humanitarianism. We must always seek to improve our

society, and Marx’s works will continue to provide a viewpoint to that end.
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References

Cheek, T. (2002). Mao Zedong and China’s Revolutions: A Brief History with Documents. New

York, NY: Palgrave Macmillan.

Kenton, W. (2018). “Karl Marx”. Investopedia. Accessed January 18th, 2019.

www.investopedia.com/terms/k/karl-marx.asp

Lenin, V. I. (1901). “What is to be Done? Burning Questions of Our Movement”. Marxists.

Accessed January 31st, 2019.

www.marxists.org/archive/lenin/works/1901/witbd/index.htm

Marx, K. (1848). The Communist Manifesto. London: The Communist League.

Marx, K. (1875). Critique of the Goltha Program. Moscow: Progress Publishers.

Marxists.org. (1999). “Critique of the Goltha Programme”. Marxists.org. Accessed February 2nd,

2019. www.marxists.org/archive/marx/works/1875/gotha/

McConnell, C. R., Brue, S. L., & Flynn, S. M. (2009). Economics: Principles, Problems, and

Policies (18th ed.). Boston: McGraw-Hill Irwin.

Ollman, B. (2004). “Alienation: Marx’s Conception of Man in Capitalist Society. Part III, The

Theory of Alienation”. New York University. Accessed January 31st, 2019.

www.nyu.edu/projects/ollman/docs/a_ch18.php