Okay besties, let's talk about something that keeps popping up in redpill TikToks, TradCath YouTube essays, and basement-level Twitter threads: the idea that Karl Marx was a literal Satanist because he wrote some dark, creepy poetry in his teenage years.
So here's the tea: yes, Marx went through a full-blown edgelord phase. But no, that does not mean he was part of the Illuminati or making blood pacts with Baphomet. Let's debunk this drama and expose the grift.
The "Oulanem" Era: Marx, But Make It Goth
Back in 1837, when Karl Marx was just 19 years old, he wrote a dramatic poem/play called "Oulanem". It's serving heavy Dante x Nietzsche x My Chemical Romance energy. The main character? A dude named Oulanem (which, btw, is anagram-adjacent to "Emmanuel" backwards). He's an angsty, God-hating philosopher who basically wants to nuke the universe.
Some vibes from the play:
"I grasped you then, O world! ... And shall crush you with my will, my fury!"
Okay, Karl. Go touch grass.
It's dramatic. It's violent. It's dripping with nihilism. But it's also exactly what you'd expect from a gifted teenager reading Goethe, Hegel, and Byron with no chill.
How the Right Spins It Into "Satanic Karl Marx"
Cue the griftlords: religious fundamentalists, conspiracy-pilled culture warriors, and YouTube reactionaries.
They quote snippets from Oulanem and go:
"See?! Marx hated God! He was a Satanist! Communism is the Devil's religion!!"
