Part of the problem is that people tend to conflate Marx's approaches to history and economics with the (often conflicting) political parties and movements that

Part of the problem is that people tend to conflate Marx's approaches to history and economics with the (often conflicting) political parties and movements that claim to fulfill his predictions, referring to all of them as "Marxism". This is by no means limited to opponents of Marxism or socialism, since various groups are fond of claiming Marx's mantle for themselves.