The first episode in a three-part documentary series Genius of the Modern World. This film investigates the revolutionary ideas of German Journalist, Sociologist, philosopher and economist Karl Marx (5 May 1818 – 14 March 1883) who was born to a wealthy family in Prussia. Marx became a political radical using journalism to make a crushing analysis of capitalism and it’s destructive effects toward human nature. Later in life, he wrote with the help of Frederick Engles a communist manifesto which put him and his family on a path to a tragedy which would end in poverty.
Marx wrote much of his work in Paris and Brussels but he spent most of his life in London, England. During his life he wrote about the society we live in, politics and economics, this is commonly known today as Marxism which is a conflict between the ruling class and society in general. What Marx said hundreds of years ago is still very relevant today as many relationships are simply based on Commodity Fetishism.
Bettany Hughes explores Karl Marx's’ ideas which were not widely known until after his death. Today Marxism is known as one of the most influential, and divisive, ideologies in history.
