When Marx wrote, history was still in the capitalist stage, but he said it could not remain there. It must (there was no alternative) move on to communism. The capitalist class had already developed its own “antithesis,” which Marx identified as the “proletariat” (the working class), which was striving to overthrow the old system. Communism, Marx proclaimed, represented the new “synthesis” of the capitalist-proletariat struggle and the apex of all history. At this point, said Marx, conflict would now cease, although, again, he does not say why. This new world would be the “perfect” and “final” society: stateless, classless, godless, where all property used in production would be held in common, and human activities would conform to the principle “from each according to his abilities, to each according to his needs.” Marx, with shrewd cunning, applied these concepts to the society of his day. He aimed this appeal to catch everyone who was greedy, ambitious, discontented, or downtrodden. Also, since the Industrial Revolution had led to some very real social abuses, the doctrines of Marx appealed to many sincere idealists and reformers who were impatient with slower and more gradual methods of improvement. The class struggle, Marx said, was now in progress between the “capitalists,” who owned the tools of production, such as factories, railroads, mines, and the “proletariat,” or people employed by the capitalists—the wage earners, the “propertyless,” the “exploited.” When Marx wrote, capitalists were the dominant class. According to his interpretation, they set economic levels, what wages could be paid, what standards of living the workers could have, what social customs would prevail. They were the greedy “exploiters,” wanting more and more profits. But, said Marx, according to his “law,” capitalists were digging their own graves. The very rise of capitalism, Marx emphasized, called into existence its conqueror, the proletariat. The higher the state of capitalism, as then rising in France and England, the greater the number of workers required to tend the mills, mines, and shops; hence, the larger the proletariat would become. Wealth would accumulate in the hands of fewer and fewer people, the masses would become increasingly poor. Thus, conflict between the two classes was inevitable. Already, Marx said, this conflict was in progress, as witnessed by European strikes, lockouts, and revolutions. The proletariat was striking against its oppressors, and the result of the struggle would be communism. The working class was destined to win. That was the “law.” This was the way Marx viewed history and how he distorted events and situations to support his thesis, which followers were later to call a “science.” This “science” has long since been disproved by man’s experience and the record of events and situations in the free world.