POL 315 MODULE 3
3.0 MAIN CONTENT
3.1 Exploitation and Oppression
Karl Marx was born in Trier, Germany to prosperous Jewish parents in
1818. Marx earned his Ph.D in Philosophy at the University of Jena. His
graduation and his radical political ideas resulted in his being forced out
of one European country after another between 1844 and 1848. Engels
became Marx's lifelong collaborator and benefactor. Marxism is the
economic and political philosophy named after Karl Marx (1818–83)
and his associate Friedrich Engels (1820-1895). The political situation
in Europe was repressive as various leftist groups demanded political
reforms of the ancient ruling monarchies. Finally, rebellions broke out
across the continent in 1848. Marx and Engels were commissioned to
write a brief essay setting forth the ideology of the impending
revolution; and this tract, hastily written in Belgium, the Communist
Manifesto became the blue print of socialism.
It was a brief sketch of Marx's ideas and includes several important
ideas that Marx adapted from the work of his friend Engels. As the
rebellions were suppressed one after the other, Marx took refuge in
England in 1849. There he settled into a scholarly life, spending most of
his time in the British Museum researching and writing. Marx brooded
over the years as the proletarian conflagration he anticipated failed to
materialise. Yet, he remained confident of the acuity of his theory, and
his intellectual prowess was so great that he dominated the socialist
movement throughout his life. It was only after his death that-major
variations of his thought attracted substantial followings among
socialists.
Socialism developed as a protest against the harsh exploitation of
workers and of other ordinary people that was common to capitalism.
The Industrial revolution, which was made possible by the use of
scientific methods, had given people a new framework for thought. It
also brought mechanised production and replaced human or animal
energy with steam. Yet, as machines and energy sources became more
sophisticated, costs of mass production exceeded the resources of the
individual. Consequently, age industries were replaced by the factory
system. Family ownership of industries was eventually displaced by
stock market investors and professional managers. Each of these
developments removed ownership from production and estranged the
owners from the workers.
This new economic system allowed people with money to buy up the
machinery and factories needed to produce goods. People who had been
self employed, or at least had worked closely with their employers,
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