Core Marxist ideas

Historical materialism: All history is shaped by economic forces, specifically by the modes of production and the class relations they create.

Class struggle: "The history of all hitherto existing society is the history of class struggles." Each historical era is defined by the conflict between a ruling class that owns productive property and a subordinate class that produces wealth.

Bourgeoisie and proletariat: In the industrial age, the bourgeoisie (capitalists, who own factories and capital) exploits the proletariat (workers, who own only their labor).

Surplus value: Workers produce more value than they are paid. The difference (surplus value) is extracted by capitalists as profit. This makes exploitation the foundation of capitalism, not an accidental flaw.

Revolution: Marx predicted that capitalism's contradictions would intensify (more capital concentrated in fewer hands, more workers driven to poverty). Eventually the proletariat would rise in revolution.

Dictatorship of the proletariat: After the revolution, workers would briefly hold political power to dismantle capitalism.

Classless society: Eventually class and the state would wither away, producing a stateless, classless society where the principle would be "From each according to his ability, to each according to his needs."