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Marxism

5.) Discuss the main tenets of Marxism. In what ways was this ideology an extension of the thought of the Enlightenment? In what ways did it deviate from those ideals?

Socialism granted a powerful language for the working-class to express their interests. Many workers, who were enfranchised in the latter portion of the century joined political parties espousing this doctrine. Socialism existed before Karl Marx presented himself to the scene. In fact, Marx drew from the theories of the foremost prophets of socialism: Henri de Saint-Simon and Charles Fourier in France, and Robert Owen in Great Britain. However, he gave these theories his own style, and in the end his form became the dominant idea of socialism. Karl Marx, the son of a lawyer, grew up in an industrializing area that was particularly open to political ideas and agitation. The Rhineland, in western Germany, had been influenced by ideas of the French Revolution and was primed for political radicalism. Marx, as a young man, studied philosophy at the University of Berlin and joined a group known as the “Young Hegelians,” self-declared disciples of idealist G.W.F. Hegel. Marx showed an early interest in political liberty and socialism.

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Marx accepted industrialism and perceived it as part of the path that history was destined to choose, unlike some of the utopians who deplored it. In the nineteenth century, when science was regarded with respected glorification, declaring ideas scientific was solid way to gain popularity and a following. Because these two classes had differing relationships to the means of production, they had antagonistic interests and were destined to engage in class struggle, according to Marx. Resulting from increasing savage competition, more businesses would fail, which would consequently lead to more cases of unemployment. Capitalists were one class, because they owned the means of production. ” The proletariat would gain power and temporarily practice the “dictatorship of the proletariat” to solidify its rule. In studying economics and history, Marx became convinced that the coming of socialism was not only desirable, but more importantly it was inevitable. ” Marx’s pen birthed numerous political and polemical works, but most went unpublished during his lifetime. However, it laid out Marx’s basic principles, urging the proletariat to rise, proclaiming, “You have nothing left to lose but your chains. This pamphlet was an appeal to the working classes of the world, written specifically for the Communist League, a group of Germans living in exile. ” He posited a world of change but stated that it was embedded in material conditions, not in a clash of ideas. Frustrations and anger would develop; workers would then overthrow the system that had been abusive for such a long period: “The knell of private property has sounded. The expropriators will be expropriated. The history of class war would end and the ideal society would prevail with proletariat coming to power.
Approximate Word count = 967
Approximate Pages = 4 (250 words per page double spaced)

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