Marx did not invent the term “capitalism,” but he helped to popularize it and had a major influence on its meaning. Marx defines “capital” as “accumulated labor” (65), or any asset capable of generating wealth. This may be a factory or the piece of machinery within it, a worker, or even money itself. The “capitalist” is the owner of those assets, who according to Marx can multiply sources of revenue beyond the value of wealth they produce, such as by charging rents for the land or by receiving interest payments from investments. Marx did not use the term “capitalism” until later in his career, but the Paris Manuscripts vividly describe an economic system designed for the benefit of the ownership class at the expense of the laborers who produce wealth.

Marx received his philosophic training from followers of Hegel, who viewed history as a “dialectic,” or the meeting of opposing forces that culminates in a synthesis that brings about a higher form of reality. Marx ultimately decided that the Hegelian version was too abstract, an intellectual exercise lacking a concrete foundation. He therefore proposed a revision known as “dialectical materialism,” in which the forces colliding were economic, most notably labor and capital.