Although Marx rejected Hegel’s study of history and politics, he kept
faith with one of Hegel’s most central themes which is that in the course
of their history human beings acquire a deeper appreciation of what it
means to be free and a better understanding of why society will have to
be changed before freedom can be realized more completely. In line with
his belief that history revolves around the labour process, Marx
observed that freedom and equality under capitalism mean that bourgeois and proletarian enter into a labour contract as legal equals, but
massive social inequalities place workers at the mercy of the bourgeoisie
and reduce their freedom and equality. He took the view that proletarian
organizations were developing an understanding of how socialism could
make good the claims to freedom and equality which were already present
in capitalist societies. Marx’s passionate condemnation of capitalism has
to be seen in this light. It is a critique from inside the capitalist order
rather than a challenge from outside which appeals to some notion of a
higher morality.