Class Structure

The article describes several fundamental theories of Marxism, in particular the history of worker oppression, which, during the feudal era, initially occurred through physical means. During this time, a lord would oppress his peasants through threat of force unless the worker surrendered part of his crop in exchange for protection from invading forces. The lord gained his power through divine right, inheritance, military force, and other such factors. Marx considers capitalism to be the next evolution of feudalism, where the ruling class, now capitalists instead of lords, derives its power through ownership of the means of production, or the resources needed to make goods. Since the working class is mostly denied access to these means of production, they must sell the only thing they have left, their labor, to the capitalists. Capitalists then profit from the labor for the sole reason that they own the means of production, not through the sweat of the brow. This is similar to the lords who took ownership of the peasants' crops, not because they tended to them, but because they owned the land and possessed a title of nobility. Is this the way society should be functioning? Do owners of businesses have the right to profit from workers simply because they acquired ownership of resources, not because they produce what they sell, particularly if the owner inherited their business? Is communism a more "evolved" structure of human society, or is it simply a utopia dream that will never function correctly in the real world?