Firstly, it is important to understand what exactly capitalism is. “Capitalism is an economic system and ideology that is based on private ownership of the means of production and their operation of profit. It is system that sets the price of labour and goods by supply and demand”. Ultimately, the main objective of Capitalism as a system is not to make as much money as you possibly can but to gradually increase your profits in a controlled, calculated and rational way. Capitalism dates back to the sixteenth century – mainly in Europe where mercantilism, the foundation of capitalism was developed. Although capitalism remains to be the dominant ideology of the world today, throughout the centuries and to this very day it is challenged by other …show more content…
Marx, later known as the forefather of communism was an intellectual individual that wanted to abolish the abuse of inequality between social classes that capitalism had caused. Freidrich Engels, another intelligent individual which harboured similar ideas authored the famous piece of work called ‘The Communist Manifesto’ in 1848 along with Marx - which introduced revolutionary ideas in order to create a fairer, more equal system by abolishing social classes. Their intentions were to eliminate the capitalist system that benefitted upper class capitalists’ which employed and under-paid working-class people in order to maximise their profit. Unlike Max Weber, another German sociologist whose work has influenced sociological theory and research, Marx hadn’t focused on the religious aspect that caused social change in society. Despite the fact that both Weber and Marx analysed the connection between modern capitalism (of their era) and specific historical circumstances, unlike Weber, Marx did not concern himself with the historical context. Although, both theorists have pursued to understand how modern capitalism has arisen from previous forms of