KARL MARX

(5 May 1818 – 14 March 1883)

KARL MARX
• A German Philosopher, Economist,
Social Scientist, Sociologist,
Historian, Journalist and
Revolutionary Socialist
• Known as the “ Father of
Communism”
Popular Works
MARX THEORY ON ECONOMICS

 Labor Theory Value

 Surplus Value
 Surplus Product
 Exploitation
LABOR THEORY OF VALUE

> the economic value of

a good or service is
determined by the total
amount of labor required
to produce it.
SURPLUS VALUE

> is equal to the new

value created by
workers in excess of
their own labour-cost.
SURPLUS PRODUCT

> is simply that part of what workers

produced which they had to hand
over to the chief, landowner, the lord
or the state, in the form of tax, rent
or tribute.
EXPLOITATION

> the act of using another

person as a means to one's
profit, without providing them
fair compensation
MARX THEORY ON SOCIETY

• Historical Materialism
• Alienation
• Class Consciousness
• Class Struggle
HISTORICAL MATERIALISM
>Looks for the causes of developments
and changes in human society in the
means by which humans collectively
produce the necessities of life
ALIENATION

> The workers loses the ability to determine

his/her life & destiny in the capitalist mode
of production.
CLASS CONSCIOUSNESS

> Refers to the belief that a

person holds regarding one’s
social class.
 CLASS STRUGGLE

Class Struggle Tension

between different class of
people:
• Bourgeoisie (Owner)
• Proletariat (Worker)
“MARXISM”
ACTIVITY
Activity
• Everyone needs to find a partner. Turn to the people beside
you to find a partner.
• Everyone will be given a certain number of “WIGGLES”. DO
NOT EAT THEM (YET!)!!!

Number of Wiggles Your Social Class

5-6 “Upper Class”
3-4 “Middle Class”
1-2 “Lower Class”
Activity

•With your partner , you will

play “ Rock, Paper, Scissors”
until time is called (or until
one of you run out of
Wiggles.
Activity

•Question: Do you have

more candy than you
started with? Do you have
less candy than you
started with?
CAPITALISM

• Economic system.
• Believes in individual ownership and
competition.
• Theory: When everyone is selfish and
concerned with personal profit, everyone
will benefit.
What’s good about capitalism?
• Freedom, choice.
• You can work wherever, buy whatever, and
pretty much do whatever.
• If you’re successful, you can be very successful
(Think Bill Gates)
• “Survival of the fittest”  only the strong
survive in capitalism!
Activity

• Divide up your candy amongst you and your

partner so you both have the same amount (or
as close to equal as possible).
• Play “Rock, Paper, Scissors” for 2-3 minutes or
until one person has all the candy (if that
happens).
Communism/Socialism
• Nationalizes the means of production (i.e.
corporations, banks, raw materials, etc.) =
gives control of them to the government
• BUT: NOT all are equal!
• People are paid wages based on several
factors (social need, difficulty of job, amount
of schooling required, etc.), so not everyone
will make the same wage.
Activity

• Turn your attention to ________ and______________.

• Pool all your candy (between you and your
partner) together into one pile.
Communism
• Believes in collective (group) ownership and a
planned economy (government makes
decisions).
• Theory: Everyone pools their resources and
labor to evenly distribute everything.
• Everyone gets an EQUAL amount of everything,
regardless of how hard you work or don’t work!
7 Countries that are Communist:

• China • Cuba
• Laos • North
Korea
• Vietnam • Cyprus
• Nepal
KARL MARX
One of the most influential people of his era.
He changed the way people looked at societies.
He believed that having all the money with only a few
people and the common working class person didn’t
have enough, would lead to a revolution to a classless
society.
His theories have made people follow him and to
overthrow their government for the idea of equality.
Karl Marx has changed the world with his writings,
theories, and way of thought.