ABSTRACT
Politically, Karl Marx directs attention to the agency of historical change—the proletariat—and he argues, with facts and figures, theories and slogans, that this developing connection between human agency and implicit goal is the most important trend in capitalist society. The historical creation of the proletariat is the central thrust within the capitalist realm of necessity. The remarkable coherence of Marx’s system, the close correlation of its elements is in large measure a reflection of the consistency with which Marx holds in view the central thrust toward the development of the proletariat and its act of revolution. For Marx held that the revolution will result from the developing material forces of production as they come into conflict with the relations of production; this revolution will be realized by the struggle of the classes, a struggle caused by the objective, economic contradiction. In Marx’s view, continual change—and change into its opposite—is inherent in all reality, and so in capitalist society.
