Proletariat

The proletariat is a term used by communists and socialists for the working class. It describes the people in society that sell their labor/work in exchange for a wage or salary. Someone who is part of the proletariat class is called a proletarian. 

The political way of thinking of communism states that the proletariat should have a revolution and take control of the means of production away from the bourgeoisie.  

The proletariat is the laboring bulk of society that does most of the useful, necessary work, and pays most of the taxes. It is also perceived by capitalists as being necessary for those reasons: labor and taxes, plus being available to exploit to produce profits. 

 History 
The word proletariat comes from the Latin word proletarius, which means "maker of offspring". In Ancient Rome, the proletarii were the people who were so poor that the only form of property that they had were their children, who could be used as soldiers.

 Modern use 
Karl Marx used the word proletariat to describe people who did not own the means of productions (such as factories and land) and had to work for others for a wage. He thought the proletariat class will eventually overthrow the Bourgeoisie class. He was the creator of historical materialism and scientific Communism.Cf., Sidney Hook, Marx and the Marxists (Princeton: Van Nostrand 1955) at 13. In Marxist theory, the lumpenproletariat ("rag-proletariat" in German) were a class of people who were not interested in revolution.

Marx believed that the bourgeoisie exploited the proletariat.

 References 

Related pages
Bourgeoisie
Class struggle
Exploitation
Marxism
Lumpenproletariat
The Communist Manifesto

Category:Communism
Category:Social classes