Marx's theory suggests that capitalism is a product of historical and material production that is organized around material survival. The capitalist system focuses primarily on the building of capital and profit, competition, and the function of private property. In turn, this system creates "the worker, whose sole source of livelihood is the sale of his labor power," and "the class of purchasers" or capitalist class (Marx 1978, 205). Also, by valuing capital the system augments competition among workers, forcing them to survive with minimal wages. The worker is forced to "sell [their labor] to another person in order to secure the necessary means of subsistence" and in fact survive (Marx 1978, 204).
The desire or need to obtain wages and participate in material consumption is a major function of capitalism. This human desire fuels the false consciousness the worker obtains in following the guidelines set by capitalists. False consciousness is essentially a product of capitalist economies, where capital--in this case human capital--has value, and dreams of improvement are tangible. …
