Communism, by defintion, is a "system of political and economic organization in which property is owned by the community and all citizens share in the enjoyment of the common wealth, more or less according to their need." In the Communist Manifesto, Marx and Engels raised the notion that capitalist systems had inherent within them, the seeds of their own destruction, and that a classless society would inevitable emerge out of the ashes of capitalism. According to Marx and Engels, the emergence of communism follows a script that goes essentially like this: (1) the masses are always exploited by the minority ruling class-it is inherent in human nature; (2) people will only take so much- eventually the masses will rise up against their opressors; (3) having learned from the past, the revolutionaries create a classless society in which all individuals are equal.

Karl Marx was a social scientist and a philosopher. Although he was one of the greatest social thi

Karl Marx believed that social change is what was needed for a better society, and to get social change there must be class conflict. Marx's major concern of social change was economic change. Marx's most well known work dealt with class conflict, the opposition between the capitalists and the working class. The capitalists are also known as the bourgeoisie. They are the ones that are responsible for controlling the land, factories, etc. The working class, which is also known as the proletariat, are the workers that are being exploited by the bourgeoisie.

In London in 1864, Marx founded the International Workingmen's Association (later called the First International), an organization dedicated to improving the life of the working class. About this time, Marx also wrote his most ambitious work, Das Kapital (Capital) . He planned a four-volume work but completed only three volumes. Only the first was published during his lifetime, in 1867. Engels edited the second and third volumes after Marx died in 1883. They were published in 1885 and 1894.

Karl Heinrich Marx was born on May 5, 1818, in the town of Trier, in what is now western Germany. At that time, the region was part of Prussia. Both Marx's father, Heinrich, and his mother, Henrietta, were born into Jewish families. In fact, both of Marx's grandfathers were rabbis. However, Marx's father had converted to Lutheranism about a year before Karl's birth. The conversion probably resulted from the enforcement of anti-Jewish laws by government authorities. But it also helped Marx's father, a lawyer, advance in his career. The children in the family, including Karl, were baptized in 1824, and Marx's mother converted the next year.

Das Kapital later offered a theoretical explanation of how capitalism developed and how it would be transformed into Communism. In this work, Marx traced the origin of capitalism to the establishment of private productive property-that is, property used to produce goods and services. The owners of this property possessed and enjoyed more goods and services than they produced by their own labor. By contrast, the working class produced more goods and services than they would ever own or enjoy. In Das Kapital, Marx argued that this division of classes created a conflict that drove civilization through various stages of history.

In 1848, revolutions occurred throughout Europe. But instead of being led by workers, many of them were nationalist, middle class, or even democratic in character. Nevertheless, they provided numerous readers for the Manifesto. As a result, Marx's ideas quickly spread.

Also, in spite of the decline of Marx's influence on government, his ideas still affect notions of social conflict, historical development, and class throughout the world. In addition, much of today's criticism of capitalism and free-market theories still reflects the impact of Marx's writings.

About this time, three key events happened in Marx's life. First, he became involved in a workers' movement that favored socialism as a solution to the problems of the poor. Second, he met and became friends with the German journalist Friedrich Engels. Marx and Engels were both active in the workers' movement, and they established an intellectual partnership. Third, France became an ally of Prussia, and French authorities cracked down on immigrants who criticized the Prussian government. Because of the crackdown, Marx moved to Brussels, Belgium, in 1845. There, with Engels, he wrote his best-known w

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