Portrait of Karl Marx
Radical left · Thinker or writer · From history

Karl Marx

German philosopher and economist, 1818 to 1883

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Co-wrote The Communist Manifesto and Das Kapital, arguing that capitalism breeds class conflict and will give way to a classless society. His ideas inspired workers’ movements and ruling communist parties.

Karl Marx sits in the left-authoritarian part of the Caucus economy and liberty compass: strongly state-led and slightly authoritarian. The clearest positions are strongly state-led on economy, strongly globalist on nation and strongly secular on religion.

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Where Karl Marx sits on ten dimensions

Each scale runs from one pole to the other, and the dot shows the overall tendency of this person's record and public life. These are simplified estimates and open to debate.

💰EconomyStrongly state-led
State-ledFree market
⚖️Liberty and authoritySlightly authoritarian
LibertarianAuthoritarian
🎭CultureLeaning progressive
ProgressiveTraditional
🌍NationStrongly globalist
GlobalistNationalist
🌱EnvironmentSlightly growth-first
Growth-firstNature-first
🤖TechnologyStrongly tech-optimist
Tech-cautiousTech-optimist
🕊️War and peaceSlightly strength-first
Peace-firstStrength-first
🏛️InstitutionsStrongly anti-establishment
Anti-establishmentInstitutional
🙏ReligionStrongly secular
SecularReligious
🛡️InterventionismLeaning interventionist
Non-interventionistInterventionist

People most like Karl Marx

Antonio Gramsci Italian Marxist thinker, 1891 to 193797%Leon Trotsky Soviet revolutionary and founder of the Red Army96%Vladimir Lenin Head of the Soviet government, 1917 to 192492%Kwame Nkrumah Leader of Ghana, 1957 to 196690%Che Guevara Argentine-born Marxist revolutionary, 1928 to 196790%Jean-Paul Sartre French philosopher and writer, 1905 to 198088%Slavoj Žižek Slovenian philosopher and cultural critic86%Pablo Neruda Chilean poet and diplomat, 1904 to 197385%

People furthest from Karl Marx

Joseph de Maistre Savoyard counter-revolutionary thinker, 1753 to 18212%Russell Kirk American conservative thinker, 1918 to 19943%Mojtaba Khamenei Supreme Leader of Iran, 2026 to present5%António de Oliveira Salazar Prime Minister of Portugal, 1932 to 19685%

Political views closest to Karl Marx

TrotskyismA Marxist current that backs world revolution and workers' democracy and opposes…99%Council communismArgues that workers' councils should run society directly and rejects both vanguard…96%Marxism-LeninismAims at a classless society through revolution and a single party ruling on behalf of…92%Fully automated luxury communismImagines advanced automation making goods abundant and freeing people from wage labor.88%

Read more about Karl Marx

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Percentages show how close two profiles are across all ten dimensions. Including a person here is for study and comparison, not approval. Portrait: John Jabez Edwin Mayall, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons; see all photo credits.