Summary Exercise
Karl Heinrich Marx was born on the 5th of May, 1818, in the German town of Trier to a
rich Jewish family. His father was a lawyer and also owned several vineyards.
Karl got the best education money could buy. After school, he studied at Bonn Univer-
sity. He was generally a lazy student who liked to drink, to such an extent that he be-
came the co-president of the Tavern Drinking Club. The money his father sent to him
for school he wasted, with many of his nights spent at bars getting drunk and
arguing about Hegelian philosophy. This led his father to force him to transfer to the
more serious University of Berlin. Marx eventually acquired his doctoral degree at the
University of Jena.
It seems that Karl did not have a healthy relationship with his parents. In one December 1837 letter to Karl, his
father reprimanded his selfishness, writing, “You have caused your parents much vexation and little or no joy”. A
few months later, his father died at age 56. He did not attend his father’s funeral. Karl then sponged of his mother.
Even after getting married in 1843 he remained dependent on her. He rarely visited his mother, and when he did see
her, it was to ask for more money. When his mother died, Karl received $6,000 in gold and Franks as inheritance, a
substantial amount at the time. This was very hypocritical for a man who was supposedly “against” inheriting money
and who wrote that, “to create a truly just society, abolishing inheritance is necessary”.
Marx’s own family life was a disaster. Things were so bad that his wife said she, “wished she and the children were
safely in their graves”. Two of his daughters committed suicide. His other four children all died before him. How did
Karl feel about his family? We can get a picture from a letter to Engels, where he says, “Blessed is he who has no
family.” It did not seem to dawn upon Marx that he was to blame for their misery. His poor wife who suffered
through poverty, neglect, and adultery, died in 1881. Karl did not attend her funeral.
Karl believed that working was beneath him, and preferred to mainly live off donations while spending his time
writing. He took money from any source: his father, mother, aunt’s husband, political comrades, and his long
suffering friend and follower, Friedrich Engels. The only jobs Karl held were as an occasional reporter or editor of
small newspapers. These usually closed after a short time, either because of too few readers, limited financial
support, or his anti-government views. His activities as a writer and revolutionary resulted in him having to move
several times, including to Paris and Brussels. He finally ended up in London in 1849, where he died in 1883.
Marx and Engels
On 28 August 1844, Marx met the German socialist Friedrich Engels at the Café de la Régence, beginning a lifelong
friendship and collaboration. Engels played a crucial part in much of Marx’s academic work, yet he is mainly
remembered as Karl’s assistant and benefactor.
After taking part in the 1848 European revolutions, Marx and Engels fled to London. Engels’ father agreed to give
Engels a management job in a factory in Manchester, where he worked for 20 years. He sent half his earnings, as
well as what he could steal from the business to Marx in London. Thus, Engels subsidised Marx’s lifestyle, freeing him
to work on his articles, letters, brochures, and books like, “The Communist Manifesto” and “Das Capital”.
Marx treated Engels appallingly and many historians claim that it was an abusive relationship. For example, Marx
made Engels write articles for his newspaper jobs and then took the credit himself. When Marx got his maid
pregnant (some reports say he raped her), Marx got Engels to say that the child was his. This was to prevent a
scandal that could have damaged Karl’s reputation and donations.
Marx the Man
Many people found Marx unpleasant. In 1850, a spy for the Prussian police who visited Marx’s home in London,
pretending to be a German revolutionary, reported as follows, “… Marx leads the existence of a Bohemian
intellectual. Washing, grooming and changing his clothes are things he does not like to do, and he is often drunk. He
is frequently idle for days on end...There is not one clean or unbroken piece of furniture in his house. Everything is
broken, tattered and torn, with half an inch of dust over everything and the greatest disorder everywhere.”
Another report about Marx was given by Gustav Techow, who had joined the Berlin revolutionaries during the failed
insurrection of 1848: “Marx does not have, together with his outstanding intelligence, a noble heart. I am convinced
that everything good in him has been devoured by his personal ambitions… He even laughs at the fools who follow
his teachings”.
In temperament, Marx was cruel. He cheated on his wife and
he often did not pay the maid who worked for him. He treated
people with whom he disagreed in a crude and mean way,
often ridiculing them. Marx had no hesitation about being a
hypocrite. When he wanted money from someone he would
flatter them, but would later insult them behind their backs.
He even used racial slurs to insult people. For instance, in an
1862 letter to Frederick Engels, Marx described nineteenth
century German socialist and his “friend”, Ferdinand Lassalle,
as follows -> -> ->
Karl Marx is often labelled an “anti-Semite” and a "self-hating Jew". In his 1884 essay "On the Jewish Question", he
said: “What is the secular basis of Judaism? Practical need, self-interest. What is the worldly cult of the Jew?
Haggling. What is their god? Money! ... Money is the god of Israel before whom no other god may exist.”
But how did Marx view himself? For a clue we can look at his poetry:
“Worlds I would destroy forever... Then I will be able to walk triumphantly,
Like a god, through the ruins of their kingdom. Every word of mine is fire and action.
My breast is equal to that of the Creator. I shall build my throne high overhead
Cold, tremendous shall its summit be. For its marshal — blackest agony.”
Marx’s Main Idea
So, what kind of philosophy would a man who was a cruel, lazy, parasite come up with? Marxism, which can be
summarised as follows: If you have money, you stole it from the poor. You thus owe them, and they should take it
back. According to Karl Marx, the world is divided into oppressors and the oppressed, the privileged rich (bourgeoi-
sie) and the poor workers (proletariat). If you are an oppressed group, you must rise up and overthrow the rich, and
take what belongs to them (cast off your shackles and seize the means of production).
Marx believed that most of history is about class struggles. Especially capitalism leads to a struggle between workers
and employers. This conflict eventually leads to a socialist revolution. As the revolution continues to advance, Marx
predicted that socialism would ultimately transform into communism; a classless, stateless, perfect society where
the state owned everything and provided for everyone according to their value. "From each according to his ability,
to each according to his needs". Heaven on earth for lazy “intellectuals” like Karl Marx.
Marx Debunked
Societies actually consists of individuals, not groups. In a free-market economy, millions of these individuals make
choices every day to improve their situation. They identify problems/opportunities and come up with solutions
which can profit them. Like studying for a career, getting a better job, starting a business, or investing in someone
else’s business. Successful people make a plan, and work their plan. On the other hand, unsuccessful people want
the government to improve their lot.
History has shown that Marxist countries take individual choices away with
command economies. Central planners decide what will be produced, how
it will be produced, and by whom. They believe that they know better, and
you must just do what they tell you to do. This demotivates people. The few
products which exist are of poor quality, most things are scarce, housing is
dilapidated, and the environment is a disaster. That is because the system
removes people’s incentive to work, to be creative, to do their best, or take
care of their environment.
The following questions point to why communist countries are plagued by decline and failure: Why work harder than
your neighbour if all workers are rewarded the same? If everyone works for the government, why care about
productivity? Why bother improving the state-owned factory’s products, if there are no competing products? Why
would you improve your home if it belongs to the state? How can you improve the system if people who criticise the
government are designated enemies of the State and killed?
Marx’s Impact
Marxism is an attractive philosophy, it tells people to look for somebody else to blame for their problems, rather
than improve themselves. Blaming others will keep you poor and angry, making you the perfect soldier to go after
any group who seems better off than you. There are numerous “enemies of the people” they have targeted in the
past 150 years, for example: capitalists, royals, Jews, the 1%, intellectuals in Cambodia, and even white people.
Karl Marx advocated for violent revolution and the total destruc-
tion of the “privileged” class. His followers’ motto of, “Death to
the enemies of the revolution” led to some of the biggest human
rights abuses and mass murders in history. For example, in Com-
munist Russia, 61 million Russians were killed. China’s Chairman
Mao killed 77 million Chinese, and under Hitler the National
Socialist German Workers' Party caused the death of 21 million
people. Yet, despite its horrific track record, Marxists are always
willing to try again because, “The previous failures weren't real
Socialism, and this time it will be different…"
In Conclusion
Marxism is a cancer that has plagued societies across the globe in one form or another for well over a century. Sadly,
we were wrong to think that this disease had been eradicated with the fall of Communist Russia in 1991. Instead, it
continues to mutate. Today, many old Marxist ideas are re-appearing with new names like, “progressivism, social
justice, and equality". These collectivist ideas are widely promoted in academia and the media, because they sound
like the compassionate thing to do. However, we should be careful. The 20th century showed us what happens
when these totalitarian ideas are implemented. Rather than usher in the promised utopia, what occurred was
nothing short of hell on earth!
1. Write down keywords and main ideas from the passage.
2. Write a summary of the passage in your own words. (200 to 250 words)
1. Write down keywords and main ideas from the passage.
Born in Germany in 1818. Good education. Lazy. Drink. Waste money. Sponged of father and mother. Hypocriti-
cal. Family life a disaster. Few jobs. Lived of donations. Revolutionary. Writer. Died in London in 1883.
Engels played an important part in Marx’s work. Engels subsidized Marx. Marx abused Engels.
Marx unpleasant man. Intelligent. Drunk, dirty, idle, cruel, racist, anti-Semite.
Marxism – Class struggle between workers and employers. Poor should rise up and overthrow rich. Take their
property.
Societies are individuals not groups. Individuals make choices. Marxists command economy. Removes personal
incentive. Marxism attractive ideology. Marxists look for someone to blame instead of improving themselves.
Calls for violent revolution. Death to enemies of the state. Mass murders.
Marxism cancer. Marxism gaining popularity again. Sounds good, isn’t.
2. Write a summary of the passage in your own words. (200 to 250 words)
Karl Marx was born in Germany in the early 19th century to a wealthy family. He received a good education.
After school he went to university, where he wasted his parents’ money in bars. He became a revolutionary
writer. Karl did not hold down steady employment but lived off family and friends. His own family was
dysfunctional, with several issues between him, his parents, his wife and his children. Friedrich Engels was
Marx’s friend and collaborator who supported Karl in numerous ways. People who met Karl reported that while
he was very intelligent, he was not a nice person. He was often drunk, dirty, lazy, rude and racist.
Karl Marx was the father of Marxism, the belief that the world is divided into competing groups (oppressors and
oppressed), and that the underprivileged should get rid of the privileged. However, humanity is made up of
individuals, not groups. Individuals who make choices that determine their lot. Marxists want to tell people what
to do. They refuse personal responsibility and look for someone to blame for their situation. Their totalitarian
governments have caused the death of millions of people all over the world. Marxism is becoming popular again
and is promoted in universities and the media under the guise of equality. This may be a terrible idea.
