Born in 1848, Karl Marx is considered the "Father of Communism." A scholarly political theorist and philosopher, he lived in times of social upheaval which he came to see as a severely unbalanced system between the privileged and working classes, a struggle that had been going on since early civilization. Marx believed that capitalism merely replaced feudalism; he foresaw an inevitable rise of corporate monopolies in the system, which he believed would eventually destroy the lives of all but the privileged few. "Though his writings urged populations to unite and strive for a classless civilization, things didn't work out idyllically in the communist governments that arose; they weren't immune to megalomaniacs either, and created a few of note. Communism, along with its idealistic founders, were vilified."-- Bralds,The Way I Saw Things: The Art of Braldt Bralds. However, by the turn of the 21st Century, Marx's points were being reconsidered. In August 2005 Der Spiegel ran its cover story about this ("Ein Gespenst Kehrt Zurück; Die neue Macht der Linken"), commissioning Bralds to illustrate it. His keen portrait shows a vindicated Marx giving the "V for Victory" hand sign as his reputation receives a little cleaning.
