Proletariat

The proletariat (/ˌproʊlɪˈtɛəriət/; from Latin proletarius 'producing offspring') is the social class of wage-earners, those members of a society whose only possession of significant economic value is their labour power (their capacity to work). A member of such a class is a proletarian or a proletaire. Marxist philosophy regards the proletariat under conditions of capitalism as an exploited class⁠—  forced to accept meager wages in return for operating the means of production, which belong to the class of business owners, the bourgeoisie.

Karl Marx (1818-1883) argued that this capitalist oppression gives the proletariat common economic and political interests that transcend national boundaries, impelling them to unite and to take over power from the capitalist class, and eventually to create a communist society free from class distinctions.