...declaration, in the most simplistic terms, was that all events are determined by economic forces. Marx (1818-1883) was always well-aware that it was not the working class but the middle class that drove history along its ever-progressing path. Social historians and political scientists have searched the lower depths to find class consciousness, but it was the entrepreneurial-merchant class that actually carried out the historical task of liberation, modernization, and self-actualization. They did so through the processes and implementation of industrialism in much the same way the new information revolution is separating the technological haves (both individually and collectively) from those who have-not. Most modern social theorists believe that Marxism, true Marxism, no longer exists in the world. However, far too many of Marxs theoretical maxims have proven themselves more valid than once thought . . . their validity has just been proven out in different ways than Marx himself had imagined or anticipated.
The Communist Manifesto
In the 1840s, the main focus of Marxs life was the struggle taking place within the German Socialist movement. His...