Marx's theories about society, economics and politics—collectively known as Marxism—hold that all societies progress through the dialectic of class struggle: a conflict between an ownership class which controls production and a lower class which produces the labour for such goods. Heavily critical of the current socio-economic form of society, capitalism, he called it the "dictatorship of the bourgeoisie", believing it to be run by the wealthy classes purely for their own benefit, and predicted that, like previous socioeconomic systems, it would inevitably produce internal tensions which would lead to its self-destruction and replacement by a new system, socialism.[4] He argued that under socialism society would be governed by the working class in what he called the "dictatorship of the proletariat", the "workers state" or "workers' democracy".[5][6] He believed that socialism would, in its turn, eventually be replaced by a stateless, classless society called communism.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Karl_Marx
Sound like anybody you know?
That's not a bad summary of Marx's economic views of social evolution, but it fails to explain what he meant by a dictatorship. He believed that working people would have to take power by force because the owning class held all political power and used it to violently suppress efforts by working people to struggle for their rights. If you are objective about 19th century European history, you know that efforts by working people to speak out or organize were crushed by private goons or the state. As you also quote, he anticipated the evolution of society to a point where all would participate and benefit from the economic system.
Let me also remind you that all 18th and 19th century Socialists and Communist, including Marx, along with other then progressive groups were the strongest advocates of Democratic reforms. Most Socialists and Communists in America are and have always been struggled for the rights of working people.
Getting back to Marx, he was the greatest social scholar of the last Millennia. He systematically laid out how Capitalism works as an economic system. I highly recommend that you read
Capital.
Unfortunately, most Democrats today have neither an understanding of Marx, nor do they support his general views of Capitalism. Most, however, do recognize that the wealthy among us are using their political power to influence policies to the exclusive benefit. I applaud them for that and hope that they expand their position after November.
