10. Critique of Capitalism’s Excesses
Marx criticized capitalism’s boom-and-bust cycles, worker exploitation, and wealth concentration without rejecting industrial progress itself. “Capital is dead labor, which, vampire-like, lives only by sucking living labor,” he wrote in Das Kapital, highlighting exploitation’s systemic nature. He admired capitalism’s productive capacity but wanted this power redirected for collective benefit. Marx recognized capitalism’s historical role in developing productive forces while criticizing its human costs and inherent contradictions.
