Entrails Konfetti
23rd November 2005, 04:00
I can't find thid article on-line, so I'm writing it directly from Mental Floss Volume4, Issue 5 Sept-October.
Karl Marx might have been darn good at loathing capitalism, but he realized early on that being a full-time philosopher wasn't a lucrtiveposition. In fact, it made being a journalist sound downright profitable. With that in mind, in 1842 Marx toop up with The Rhenish Gazette, a liberal newspaper out of Cologne Prussia. Although likely not the world's most " fair and balanced" reporter, Marx was apparently good at what he did. Later that year, following the publication of an article defending freedom of the press, Marx was appointed editor of the Gazette.
His tenure there was short-lived, however. Months later, government officials shut-down the Gazette for it's outspoken social and economic viewpoints. But forced closure would be a common occupational hazard at the publications Marx worked for. His next employer The franco-Persian Annals, met the same fate in 1844--but not before Marx could develop a historic friendship with annals contributor (and fellow socialist-philosopher) Fredrick Engles.
Marx and Engles made a good pair. As writing collaborators, Marx dealt with difficult abstract concepts, and Engels rewrote Marx's work for the masses. together they published several books encouraging the workers to rise up againt the bourgoeisie, including 1848's The Communist Manifesto. But along the way, they were faced with their fair share of legal troubles. Between 1846 and 1849, they were deported from France, Belgium, and Prussia for their radical ideology. To make matters worse, the revolutions Marx had hoped for weren't happening. By the time he moved to England in 1849, Marx was beggining to doubt whether his philosophy would work. Then the New York Tribune came calling.
Trials and Tribune
In London, Marx lived with his wife and their five children in a squalid, two-room flat. Surviving off Engels charity, he spent his days at the library studying economic and social philosophy. But his luck changed in 1851 when Charles Dana, the socialist manager of the New York Tribune, asked Marx to be the paper's foreign correspondent.
It's not terribly surprising that the Tribune would hire a Communist. Founded in 1841 by out-spoken news-man Horrace Greeey, the paper championed socialism and feminism. And for a while, the partnership worked. Marx got E1 per story, and the Tribune got news from Europe. But tensions soon arose. In his letters to Engels, Marx complained he wasn't getting paid enough. He also claimed that when he asked for a raise, the paper handed stories to other reporters. Engels reply? That the paper's socialist system " ends in the most miserable, petty bourgoeis passion for cheating." To top off the tension, the Tribune began accusing Marx of having Engels write his stories for him, and claiming that Marx was billing the paper for articles he hadn't delivered. They finally fired him 1862.
Interestingly, losing a steady income worked out well for Marx's philosophy. It renewed his hatred for capitalists and his conviction that the present system must be overturned.It also gave him more time to writer. Shorty after the Tribune let him go, Marx began what would become the most important book of the communist movement, Das Kapital. A century later, while mired in a Cold War with Communist Russia, John Kennedy mused on the story " If only Marx had remained a foreign correspondent," he said "history might have been different."
Karl Marx might have been darn good at loathing capitalism, but he realized early on that being a full-time philosopher wasn't a lucrtiveposition. In fact, it made being a journalist sound downright profitable. With that in mind, in 1842 Marx toop up with The Rhenish Gazette, a liberal newspaper out of Cologne Prussia. Although likely not the world's most " fair and balanced" reporter, Marx was apparently good at what he did. Later that year, following the publication of an article defending freedom of the press, Marx was appointed editor of the Gazette.
His tenure there was short-lived, however. Months later, government officials shut-down the Gazette for it's outspoken social and economic viewpoints. But forced closure would be a common occupational hazard at the publications Marx worked for. His next employer The franco-Persian Annals, met the same fate in 1844--but not before Marx could develop a historic friendship with annals contributor (and fellow socialist-philosopher) Fredrick Engles.
Marx and Engles made a good pair. As writing collaborators, Marx dealt with difficult abstract concepts, and Engels rewrote Marx's work for the masses. together they published several books encouraging the workers to rise up againt the bourgoeisie, including 1848's The Communist Manifesto. But along the way, they were faced with their fair share of legal troubles. Between 1846 and 1849, they were deported from France, Belgium, and Prussia for their radical ideology. To make matters worse, the revolutions Marx had hoped for weren't happening. By the time he moved to England in 1849, Marx was beggining to doubt whether his philosophy would work. Then the New York Tribune came calling.
Trials and Tribune
In London, Marx lived with his wife and their five children in a squalid, two-room flat. Surviving off Engels charity, he spent his days at the library studying economic and social philosophy. But his luck changed in 1851 when Charles Dana, the socialist manager of the New York Tribune, asked Marx to be the paper's foreign correspondent.
It's not terribly surprising that the Tribune would hire a Communist. Founded in 1841 by out-spoken news-man Horrace Greeey, the paper championed socialism and feminism. And for a while, the partnership worked. Marx got E1 per story, and the Tribune got news from Europe. But tensions soon arose. In his letters to Engels, Marx complained he wasn't getting paid enough. He also claimed that when he asked for a raise, the paper handed stories to other reporters. Engels reply? That the paper's socialist system " ends in the most miserable, petty bourgoeis passion for cheating." To top off the tension, the Tribune began accusing Marx of having Engels write his stories for him, and claiming that Marx was billing the paper for articles he hadn't delivered. They finally fired him 1862.
Interestingly, losing a steady income worked out well for Marx's philosophy. It renewed his hatred for capitalists and his conviction that the present system must be overturned.It also gave him more time to writer. Shorty after the Tribune let him go, Marx began what would become the most important book of the communist movement, Das Kapital. A century later, while mired in a Cold War with Communist Russia, John Kennedy mused on the story " If only Marx had remained a foreign correspondent," he said "history might have been different."