|
Dromo's Den
|
|
[Up] [Dromo's Den] Karl Marx Biography MARX, Karl (1818-83). A great economist and socialist, properly to be regarded as the founder of the modern Socialistic movement. He was born of Jewish parents at Treves, Germany, May 5, 1818, and educated at the universities of Bonn and Berlin. In 1842 he joined the staff of the Rheinische Zeitung für Politik, Handel und Gewerbe, a Liberal organ, and for a short time he was editor of the paper. Shortly before the suppression of the paper, in 1843, Marx withdrew from the editorial force and removed to Paris, where he assisted in editing the Deutsch-Französische Jahrbücher, and lived in close association with the French Socialistic group, of which Proudhon was the leader. Here he became acquainted with Friedrich Engels, with whom he was associated throughout the remainder of his life. In 1845 he was expelled from Paris at the instance of the Prussian government and removed to Brussels, where he remained for three years, deeply engaged in economic study. One of the fruits of his labors here was his controversial work on Proudhon, the Misère de la philosophie, in which he criticizes his former associate unsparingly. In 1847 Marx and Engels entered into relations with a revolutionary association in England known as the Communist League, which held a Congress in 1847 and issued a program composed by Marx and Engels, known as the Communist Manifesto. This document was published in most of the languages of Europe and became practically the creed of the Socialistic revolutionaries. It advocated the following measures: (1) Abolition of property in land and the application of all rents to public purposes; (2) a progressive income tax; (3) abolition of all rights of inheritance; (4) confiscation of all property of emigrants and rebels; (5) centralization of credit in the hands of the state by means of a national bank with state capital and an exclusive monopoly; (6) nationalization of means of communication and transportation; (7) extension of productive enterprises by the state, the reclamation of waste land and general improvement of the soil; (8) compulsory labor, with establishment of industrial armies especially for agriculture; (9) combination of agriculture with manufacturing, the elimination of distinction between town and country by more even distribution of the population; (10) free education in public schools and abolition of child labor in factories. In 1848 Marx returned to Cologne and started the Neue Rheinische Zeitung, but because of his revolutionary activity he was ordered to leave Germany in May, 1849. He went to Paris, but later in the year was forced to leave that city and moved to London, which was henceforth his home. He became a newspaper correspondent, writing for the New York Tribune, Putnam's Monthly, and other papers, a number of his articles subsequently being published in pamphlet form. Among these are: "Der 18te Brumaire des Louis Bonaparte" (1852); "The Life of Palmerston" (1850); "Palmerston and Poland" (1853). In 1859 he published his Kritik der politischen Oekonomie (translated into English, 1904), which contained the essence of the principles elaborated in his subsequent work, Das Kapital. In 1864 Marx at last found the opportunity of realizing a plan he had long contemplated—that of organizing the laborers of the civilized world into a great association. On September 28 there was a great meeting in St. Martin's Hall, to which Marx outlined his scheme of an "International Workingmen's Association" (q.v.). During these years Marx was also greatly interested in the developments in Germany and assisted Liebknecht and his associates in establishing the Social Democratic Labor party in 1869. In 1867 appeared the first volume of Das Kapital (English translation, 4th edition, from the 3d German edition, London, 1891). The second volume was completed by Engels and published in 1885; the third in 1895. The style is heavy, and the analysis detailed and difficult. Marx seeks to discover the economic law that governs society. Modern social development is made possible only by capital; it has reached its highest point and must necessarily be followed by another system. Modern capitalism exploits the laborer by getting possession of the "surplus value" of his services, i.e., the amount produced by him over and above the amount of his wages, which are regulated by the "iron law" and tend therefore to a minimum. The basis of the exchange value of a commodity is the amount of labor expended on it. In the long run this means the average amount of labor expended under average conditions. Marx traces the historic development of capital and shows the tendency for the instruments of labor to concentrate in fewer and fewer hands. Thus arises the capitalistic class. Meantime develops also a class who have only their labor to sell, the proletariat. The growth of capitalism reduces the number of capitalists and increases the poverty and misery of the working classes, but also serves to bring them to self-consciousness. The proletariat will finally organize and the means of production will be seized and managed for the good of all. Marx outlined no ideal future condition. He tried to show what he believed to be the course of historical development and sought to bring about the next step, the organization of all laborers for their common good. Marx died in London, March 14, 1883. The New International Encyclopaedia, Vol. XV (New York: Dodd, Mead & Co., 1920) 164-165. |