What is Capitalism?

Contrary to popular belief, Marx did not specifically think capitalism was bad. Though he did admit it to cause pain and grief and suffering, he still admired what it succeeded to accomplish after the abolition of the feudalist system (Marx, 1867). However, Marx did believe capitalism to be a steppingstone to a final system that he considered would bring about the “end of history” (the final economic reform), communism. I share much of Marx’s beliefs, however I would go further to say that capitalism is in essence based off of evil. There is no such thing as capitalist reform or change that would bring about a better world. The truth is that capitalism lives off of the poor, and without them it would not exist to begin with. On the same note, “capitalist communications” follows a similar trend. May it be developers, retailers, advertisers or simply users, social media and communications fall under the umbrella of capitalist consumption. That is to say that all external factors (retailers, developers, etc.) consider consumers as commodity through their personal and public data, to use as tools aiming to increase profit. Internal factors are a game of popularity; the popular “own” communication platforms and their influence stems from the existence of non-popular or simple users. A link can be found between this and the way capitalism works on an economic level in real life. In conclusion, capitalism and the communications scene stemming from it is wholly based off of the oppressor and the oppressed.