Karl Marx, the Journalist, Religious Moralist, Prophet and Science Fiction Writer

Karl Marx, the Journalist, Religious Moralist, Prophet and Science Fiction Writer Biographical Believe it or Not Lex Loeb Contributor Network . Karl Marx is one of history's greats. His influence, both pro and con has lasted over 160 years now. For a long period of time over half the world's population has been communist. Socialism is even more enduring in it's overall influence. There is no doubt the man is an extraordinary figure in history. Peel away layers of myth and mythology about him and Karl becomes a more amusing character and maybe also a tragic figure. Here is a partial list of strange believe it or not facts about Karl Marx: Karl Marx worked as a journalist one of only two European correspondents for the New York Tribune. Marx had founded his own newspaper before this and it was censored for its politics. That put his paper out of business. At the time Marx wrote for the Tribune it was a conservative paper representing the interests of the industrial capitalists of America. Karl Marx was a contemporary of Abraham Lincoln, He even wrote Lincoln a letter you can read by googling it. There does not appear to be a Lincoln reply to the letter in existence but one might wonder. Karl Marx first published the Communist Manifesto in 1848 which believe it or not was also contemporary to Abraham Lincoln. The average person might think Karl Marx was more contemporary with The Russian Revolution but he died in 1883. Existing Photographs of Karl Marx are very similar to the types of Photographs found of Abraham Lincoln. Marx was born in 1818 not 1918. Karl Marx fashioned himself as "social scientist, " having been influence by Hegel and other German philosophers who themed themselves as "social scientists." It is a matter of opinion what is and is not social science. In Marx's time his concept of the dialectic nature of class struggle as some inevitable force of social science was more in line with ancient prophets and their prophecies. Karl Marx's father had been a politically motivated councilor of law, or attorney who converted from Judaism to Protestantism in order to get into positions open only to Christians in Germany. Marx family is traced to a long line of German Rabbis. Rabbis and prophets seem to have more in common than prophesy and social science. Marx being a journalist it is possible to see his social science more as a form of early science fiction. The industrial revolution was not very old when Marx was born in 1818 so his assertion that all of history tended toward class struggle with a higher outcome at each graduation point seems absurd. Serfdom still has not ended everywhere on earth to this day. Marx was a science fiction writer. Just like L. Ron Hubbard who started with science fiction writing and ended with a religion, Marx founded his notion of social progression which we now know of here in America as "progressivism" There never was any evidence that social relationships between classes ever changed much regardless of the underlying technologies fueling production or mass production. The science seems more wishful thinking than based on any data or analysis or observation. Marx as prophet is a more apt description of his longer term influence. Karl Marx was supported when he lived in London and before by Fredrick Engels who as it happens was a successful factory owner who could afford the luxury of supporting Marx and his family. Marx also came from a comfortable upper middle class childhood. Karl Marx appears to have no living heirs to his blood line in spite of having had 7 children. All six died before having children, two suicided, The seventh , the only boy happened to be illegitimate. Helen Demuth was the mother of his illegitimate son, Freddie, She just happened to be Marx's wife's house maid. On Engels death bed, he revealed that Freddie indeed was the illegitimate son of Karl. Having Illegitimate children with your wife's house keeper might be considered a form of fraternizing with the help or at least exploitation of a downtrodden worker? It might also be evidence of Marx living the lifestyle of the very first commune with the barriers of traditional marriage being removed? Thomas Jefferson fathered children with his slaves and many of us consider that a lack of hypocrisy in men considered equal. Just like Abraham Lincoln, there are no direct living heirs Marx's Bloodline. One wonders though, If Karl Marx had one Illegitimate child with one house keeper he could actually have had others.. There related Marx family relatives most now live in the USA. None are direct descendent's of Karl. In Karl Marx's writings he was for the abolition of inheritance and private property but over time he made use of several inheritances that passed to him that gave him time to spend writing his manuscripts instead of doing productive work that he mandated in the communist manifesto for all of society. The Hegel dialectic might have been his excuse because in his fictional social progression it was supposed to be the middle class members of society that were supposed to destroy the existing social order and replace it with the each according to his need paradigm. Karl Marx was an avid beer drinker. That was his most "proletariat" attribute. He also like to smoke tobacco and drink alcohol to excess. He also happened to be the world's first labor union boss with the International Working Men's Association. After becoming an enemy of the state of Prussia, Marx later was asked by Bismarck to use his writing skills in the service of his fatherland against the Napoleon III. The quirks of history later had Marxist terminology of National Socialism being part of the NAZI party which was the the "national socialist party." Marx gave birth to socialism and it eventually took on many different lives of it's own. Till his death Karl Marx did remain the ultimate authority to ask about how to interpret his works and how to go about becoming Marxists. Marx enjoyed a sort of celebrity status, which really was a relatively new phenomenon during his life time. Today there are many dimensions of Marxism as well as various sub cults of Marxism. Many Marxist ideas are incorporated in various forms of government and even in capital markets. He is equally the father of both socialism and communism. Many people with a distaste for everything Marxist are apt to be promoting various Marxist ideas unaware of the origin. Some religions have even become Marxist as a complement to Old Karl though many of the disciples are unaware that their beliefs are Marxist in origin. As Marxism eventually became a substitute religion in many countries , on and off and then on again, one sees Karl Marx as prophet, journalist and science fiction writer and that is the genius of Marxist philosophy. .