Why Study The Marx Research Papers?

Why Study The Marx Research Papers?

Why Study The Marx Research Papers?

From the time of Marx's death in 1883, his research papers have been scattered across the world and have now, twenty-three years later, been published. It's not a small number of such papers; we find various articles, essays, papers, postscripts, an additional writing project and many other varieties of publications that mark a common thread with the themes of Marxism and communism.

The reception of such papers has turned out to be highly beneficial to the socialist movement as a whole. It is because it has clarified the early background of Marx and his works and how it was influenced by Karl Kautsky and Friedrich Engels. For example, The German Ideology comes in the very first volume of Marx's unpublished writings; this gives some idea about how deeply he had been affected by the philosophy of Ludwig Feuerbach and his influence on him. His work and research are clearly informed by the works of Friedrich Schiller, Karl Kraus, Joseph Dietzgen, Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche, Marx's childhood friend Johann Fichte, and Friedrich Wieser.

In The German Ideology Marx expresses what he considers to be his view on religion. He considers it the 'religious root of all thinking' and is a pernicious corruption of human nature and a form of idolatry.

In The Holy Family, Marx seeks to show that capital can be liberated by the fact that it is nothing more than property. He presents the basic contradiction that exists between working people and the capitalist and attempts to show that the latter are not really concerned with the general welfare of the working class, but only their own financial interests. This will give some idea about the challenges facing socialism.

Marx's best-known work, Capital, is probably the most important study ever made of capitalism, that has received worldwide fame. It has been translated into many languages and is read by millions of people around the world. It discusses how capitalism came into being, how it works, how exploitation takes place, how the surplus value that is created through exploitation is divided, the kind of property owned, how production and distribution of the surplus value are organized, and how it brings about different levels of exploitation.

In a short work, The German Ideology, Marx tries to explain the historical process by which capitalism came into being and why it ultimately overcame feudalism and industrial revolution. It's quite clear that in the last analysis, as with any social system, the rich get richer at the expense of the poor. Capitalist exploitation and domination are thus inseparable and cannot be separated, no matter how violent and merciless the capitalist and his henchmen might become. Marx also explains why there has been no real progress for working people despite the abolition of slavery, although the wealth and standard of living for many people have improved considerably.

What's interesting is that Marx spent most of his life in prison, so perhaps he understood better than anyone how communism could be formed in society. Today, many different socialist groups around the world have got hold of Marx's research and have used it as a theoretical basis to build up their own communities and to propagandize for their views.