It's The Economy, Stupid, By Karl Marx

“It’s the economy, stupid”. Both capitalism and socialism stem from the fact that everything starts with the economy. On one hand there is a classless society with government regulations on business, in others words no free enterprise, and the wealth distribution in society is even. On the other hand there is class stratification which is basically divided into two social classes: the working class, and the bourgeoisie. In this system the labourers are no different than serfs in the Middle Ages, hence the term “the rich get richer and the poor get poorer”. In the first half of the nineteenth century, the pitiful conditions found in the slums, mines, and factories of the Industrial Revolution gave rise to another ideology for change known
However the rules are dictated by the people in power creating a society in which social hierarchy benefits some people while disadvantaging others. In capitalist society there is an ongoing conflict between the dominant and disadvantaged groups of people. However Karl Marx takes it another step forward and says “every form of society has been based, as we have already seen, on the antagonism of oppressing and oppressed classes” (Marx, 396). If since the dawn of western civilization, society has always had hierarchy, and nobody complained (or were successful at protesting) before why complain now? The reason being back in the Middle Ages serfs knew they could not move up the social or economic ladder, for their destiny was determined due to the feudalism system. Considering this, in the 18th and 19th century civilization, thanks to the Renaissance and Enlightenment Age progressed to the point that one thought one can achieve no matter their social or economic background, yet liberalism and the advent of Industrial Revolution was a setback. Capitalism seems different because people are in theory free to work for themselves