ELI5: Explain Like I'm 5

Influences on Karl Marx

Karl Marx was a very important thinker who lived a long time ago. When he was growing up, he noticed that some people in society had more power and money than others. This made him wonder why some people were so rich while others were so poor.

Marx studied a lot and read many books. He learned about the ideas of other famous thinkers, like philosophers, economists, and historians. These ideas influenced his own thinking and helped him develop his own ideas.

One thinker who influenced Marx was a philosopher named Hegel. Hegel believed that history was like a big story that was always moving forward. Marx thought that this was true, but he believed that the story was about class struggle. He thought that the rich and the poor were always fighting with each other, and that this was the main force driving history.

Another thinker who influenced Marx was an economist named Adam Smith. Smith believed that people should be free to buy and sell whatever they wanted without any rules or regulations. Marx disagreed with this. He thought that this would only benefit the rich and powerful, and that it would make the poor even more poor.

Finally, Marx was also influenced by the industrial revolution. This was a time when machines were invented that could make things much faster and more efficiently. This made some people very rich, but it also caused a lot of problems, like pollution and dangerous working conditions.

In summary, Karl Marx was influenced by other important thinkers, like Hegel and Adam Smith, as well as by the changes brought about by the industrial revolution. His ideas about class struggle and the need for economic and social justice continue to influence people today.