English subtitles for clip: File:Ikusgela - Karl Marx.webm

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Many philosophers
have influenced our

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way of looking at
humanity and reality.

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But few have managed to
influence the direction of history

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as Karl Marx did.

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His approach is the starting point
of the main criticisms of capitalism.

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The Russian Revolution or the
communism can't be explained

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without explaining the
ideas of the German thinker.

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Karl Marx lived in
the 19th century,

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in what is called the
Century of Revolutions.

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That century experienced the
Liberal Revolutions that faced

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the feudal regimes and
the Industrial Revolution.

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Western societies of the
time changed radically.

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He was born in 1818,
in what is now Germany,

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although it wasn't
still Germany.

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As a young man he combined
law studies with philosophy in Berlin.

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In 1845 he moved to Paris,

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where he delved into
revolutionary ideas.

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There he read
utopian socialist thinkers' works,

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he wrote in a radical
leftist magazine

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and maintained a
close relationship

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with many
intellectuals of his time.

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Among all of them,

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one occupied the
preferred place in the

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life of Marx: the German
socialist Friedrich Engels.

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Together they wrote the
Communist Manifesto.

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Engels, who was from a wealthy
family, was Marx's financial support.

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Persecution for
his political work

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forced Marx to
change countries often.

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From France to
Belgium, then to Prussia,

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and finally settled in London.

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In the British capital he
published his featured work:

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Das Capital or The
Capital, in 1867.

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It was published
in three volumes.

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The first was published by
Marx himself and the other two

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by Engels, after the
death of Marx in 1883.

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Marx proposed new tools of
social and historical analysis.

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We summarize his
contribution in five ideas.

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1-Alienation.

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Alienation means that the human
being loses something of themself.

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According to Marx, in
capitalism the worker has to sell

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their labor force
instead of using it freely,

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so that a work that should
be representative of themself

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becomes a source of suffering.

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Marx calls this transformation
“alienation of labor power.”

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For Marx, the main
alienation is that of

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work and from there the
other alienations arise.

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But it's not the only one.

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He also talks about
religious alienation.

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He coined the famous phrase

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“religion is the
opium of the people”.

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Why?

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According to Marx, because it
gives the workers false comfort,

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making them think that
after their death they will

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have a reward for the
exploitation they suffered.

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This numbs their conscience.

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2-Historical materialism.

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For Marx, history is
moved by material factors.

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Human beings need food,
clothing and shelter, and to

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get them they establish productive
relationships among them.

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The basic means
necessary to produce

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these resources are
called means of production.

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The society is divided between those
who own them and those who do not.

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In the Middle Ages, between
feudal lords and their vassals.

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And in capitalism, between
capitalists and workers.

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Marx calls productive relations
infrastructure or material base

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to the elements that make up
the economic structure of society.

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The superstructure is
formed by culture, ideology and

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the legal-political institutions
that regulate society.

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According to Marx, the superstructure
will always depend on the infrastructure.

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That is, productive
relationships will condition

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the organization and
thought of society.

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3-The engine of
history: class struggle.

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Every society is divided
into antagonistic classes:

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oppressive and oppressed.

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When technological progress
increases productive forces,

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a crisis occurs in
productive relationships.

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The tension between
classes then arises,

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causing the struggle
between classes.

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According to Marx, this class
struggle is the driving force of history

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which has caused the
advancement of a form of

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production to another, first
from slavery to feudalism,

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then from feudalism
to capitalism.

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4-Bourgeoisie and proletariat.

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The classes in tension
within capitalism

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are the bourgeoisie
and the proletariat.

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The proletariat is
made up of workers.

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They have no property
and have to sell

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their labor power in
exchange for wages.

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It is an oppressed class
and alienated by capitalism.

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The bourgeoisie, on the other
hand, is made up of capitalists.

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They own the
means of production.

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The bourgeoisie buys
machines and raw materials,

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as well as the
workforce of the workers.

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In these relations of production,
the work of the workers

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becomes a commodity,
remaining dependent on the market.

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Since there are
many workers willing

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to work, capitalists can buy for

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little money for the work of
the proletarians and, therefore,

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they acquire the surplus
value they generate.

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That is, they
generate more value

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than what workers receive

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from their work, and the
capitalists get rich from it.

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5-The revolution and
communist society.

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Marx and Engels consider that
the end of capitalism is inevitable.

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According to their analysis,
the internal contradictions of

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capitalism will involve the
following sequence of events:

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The bourgeoisie will collect so
much wealth through surplus value,

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that will end up completely
impoverishing the proletariat.

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This situation will
lead working people

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to develop and organize
class consciousness.

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The workers, through the
strikes, will seek emancipation,

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they will collapse the system and
make the surplus value disappear.

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At this point the
revolution begins,

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which consists
of several phases:

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1. The dictatorship
of the proletariat:

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The workers assume
political power.

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2. Socialist era:

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The development of the means
of production will be promoted to

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increase social wealth and

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thus eliminate
class antagonisms.

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Marx defines this
phase with the idea:

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"From each
according to his ability,

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to each according
to his contribution".

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3. The Communist Era:

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It supposes the
abolition of capitalism,

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the social classes, the
exploitation or alienation,

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the private ownership of
the means of production and

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the state that governs at
the service of a minority.

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Marx defines this
phase with the idea:

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"From each according to his ability,
to each according to his needs".

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This summary is the
basis of Karl Marx's thought.

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But the impact of his
work has taken many paths.

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This has generated
hundreds of essays that have

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complemented, revised
or questioned his work.

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This is not surprising, since Marx
remains an indispensable source

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for the economic and
political analyzes of the left.

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Karl Marx is the thinker
who was born under the.

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Industrial Revolution and
predicted the Workers' Revolution.