If the ordinary wage-earner worked four hours a day, there would be enough for everybody and no unemployment -- assuming a certain very moderate amount of sensible organization. This idea shocks the well-to-do, because they are convinced that the poor would not know how to use so much leisure. In America men often work long hours even when they are well off; such men, naturally, are indignant at the idea of leisure for wage-earners, except as the grim punishment of unemployment; in fact, they dislike leisure even for their sons. Bertrand Russell
About This Quote

Karl Marx was an economist, philosopher, historian, sociologist, political theorist and revolutionary socialist. His best known work is Das Kapital (Capital, 1867). He wrote The Communist Manifesto in 1848. It played a fundamental role in the development of Marxist theory of history, as well as the theory of the state, the class struggle and the dictatorship of the proletariat. He was central to Marxism's historical materialism. He focused on class struggle as an agency for evolution (and revolution), viewing social progress as driven by class contradiction and dialectical change through class struggle. Marx's ideas played a significant role in major socialist movements across the 20th century, especially Leninism and Maoism. He is sometimes described as the first "modern" economist because he incorporated a Darwinian view of history (the survival of the fittest) into his analysis of capitalism. His literary production is vast; more than 3,000 books and articles are attributed to him. He wrote numerous pamphlets and journals, along with around 150 books collected in 28 major works. Marx's views on philosophy influenced much 20th century philosophy, especially Marxism.

He rejected religion but was influenced by the ideas of Rousseau and Kant. He was an active intellectual who advocated reforms in education to advance social justice. Marx participated in workers' revolutions throughout Europe, becoming a prominent figure among the revolutionaries of mid 19th-century France along with Pierre-Joseph Proudhon , Louis-Auguste Blanqui , Karl Marx , Mikhail Bakunin , and other anti-authoritarian socialists. He advocated a new society based on common ownership of the means of production rather than private property relations based on class competition .

Marx has been described as one of the most influential figures in human history .

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