what do you think Marx mean by saying the following?

Question

"..the modern working class.. live only so long as they find work and ... find work only as their labor increases capital.."

Answer 1

He was describing the world of mid 19th century Europe. There was no government safety net, and millions in Ireland had died of starvation a few decades before as the result of the potato famine, while the powerful stood by and watched. As for the second part, it is a principle of capitalism that is still true today, that workers have jobs only if hiring them is profitable to their employers.