workingclasshistory: On this day, 5 May 1818, Karl Marx was born in Trier, Germany. Living until the
workingclasshistory: On this day, 5 May 1818, Karl Marx was born in Trier, Germany. Living until the age of 64, Marx was a journalist, revolutionary socialist, philosopher and economist, and one of the most influential figures in world history. Like all of us, he had his flaws, but he dedicated his life to the the cause of the working class, and inspired hundreds of millions with his works, including Capital. Over a century later, Capital remains the most incisive critique of the capitalist system. While his ideas have been used by some to justify politicians and parties acting on behalf of the working class, Marx was clear that ultimately “The emancipation of the working class must be the work of the working class itself.” Though his wife was from a wealthy background, Marx and his family often lived in abject poverty, and four of their children died in infancy. His children who survived to adulthood all became socialist activists in their own right, including his eldest daughter Jenny who also died before him. Despite his often difficult circumstances and the tragedy in his personal life, Marx was also well up for a laugh. For example his friend and biographer Wilhelm Liebknecht recounted an evening pub crawl in west London where, forced into a tactical retreat after drunkenly slagging off a bunch of English people, Marx and his friends began smashing street lamps by throwing stones at them, until being spotted by a policeman, whereupon they had to flee down back streets and alleyways. In the Communist Manifesto he co-wrote with Friedrich Engels, Marx noted that “The history of all hitherto existing society is the history of class struggles.” This is something we hope to illustrate at Working Class History. You can get a modern edition of the manifesto with an introduction by Eric Hobsbawm, as well as other related works, here: https://shop.workingclasshistory.com/collections/books/karl-marx https://www.facebook.com/workingclasshistory/photos/a.1819457841572691/1980089092176231/?type=3 -- source link