A central tenet of Marxist theory is that the state is an instrument of class oppression that will eventually 'wither away' once class distinctions are abolished. Critics argue that historical experience, particularly in socialist states, has shown that the state apparatus has instead grown more powerful and centralized, contradicting Marx's prediction.

Karl Marx defined labour power as the capacity to work, which includes the physical and mental faculties existing in the body of a human being. He distinguished this from 'labour' itself, which is the actual exercise of that power. This distinction is vital to his theory of surplus value, as he argued that capitalists purchase the worker's labour power, not the labour itself, to generate profit.

Adam Smith, Jeremy Bentham, and John Stuart Mill are foundational figures in classical and utilitarian liberalism, generally advocating for limited state interference in the economy. Conversely, Karl Marx critiqued the capitalist mode of production and argued for the necessity of state control or collective ownership of the means of production to address class exploitation and economic inequality.

Marx's Labour Theory of Value posits that the exchange value of a commodity is determined by the amount of socially necessary labour time required for its production. He argued that while land and capital are factors of production, they do not create new value; only human labour power, when applied to raw materials, generates the surplus value that forms the basis of capitalist profit.

Karl Marx is considered the founder of Scientific Socialism. Unlike 'Utopian' socialists who relied on moral persuasion, Marx utilized historical materialism and economic analysis to argue that socialism was an inevitable outcome of class struggle within capitalist systems. His collaboration with Friedrich Engels produced foundational texts like 'The Communist Manifesto' and 'Das Kapital', which provided a systematic, analytical framework for understanding social change and the transition from capitalism to communism.

Marxists, particularly following Friedrich Engels' 'The Origin of the Family, Private Property and the State', argue that the state is not eternal or divine. Instead, it is a product of historical evolution that emerged only when society became divided into antagonistic classes, necessitating a coercive power to maintain order in the interest of the ruling class.

Marxian Socialists argue that private property, particularly in the means of production, is the primary mechanism for capitalist exploitation. It allows owners to extract surplus value from the labor of the working class. By concentrating wealth in the hands of a few, private property creates systemic inequality and forces the proletariat to sell their labor under conditions dictated by the owners.

Marxian Socialism prioritizes the achievement of economic equality as the foundation for a just society. By abolishing private ownership of the means of production and ending the exploitation of labor, Marxists aim to ensure that wealth and resources are distributed according to need, thereby eliminating the structural basis for class-based inequality and social stratification.

In Marxist theory, the proletariat refers to the social class of wage earners who do not own the means of production and must sell their labor to survive. The 'dictatorship of the proletariat' is a transitional phase in Marxist thought where the working class holds political power to dismantle the capitalist system and establish a socialist society.

Karl Marx argued that the state is not a neutral arbiter but an instrument of the ruling class. In a capitalist system, the state functions to protect the interests of the bourgeoisie, thereby perpetuating the exploitation of the proletariat. By maintaining legal and social structures that favor capital accumulation, the state reinforces existing power dynamics and class struggle.