Wars are fought over which flawed ideology works best and communism has turned out to be one of the most flawed, even if the original roots were designed to fix the flaws in the capitalist structures of 19th century Europe. Karl Marx's work developed into 1848's Communist Manifesto and later in Das Kapital in a response to conflict between the more wealthy ownership classes and the labour class that provides the man power for production. Marx viewed Capitalism as "the dictatorship of the bourgeoisie" and made many predictions on how this socioeconomic system would eventually fail due to the internal tension between these two classes. His work would later be used to overthrow nations in order to create failing economic states where the communist effort was misused to create more disproportionate social inequality than found in nearly any other form of representative government.

I'm unapologetically capitalist...for the present. Capitalism has traditionally been the most liberating socioeconomic form, vastly outperforming socialist methods for maintaining economic momentum. Without a capitalist structure, there are less opportunities and ability for generations of families to rise in economic status. That said, in the modern age, specifically the West and the US most among them, are dangerously close to slipping from capitalism into open corporatocracy - which is really what Marx was most concerned about: when the wealth becomes so top heavy that individuals and companies are able to change the rules to ensure their own short-term profitability and long-term control over certain markets. One could argue we're already there, especially given the belief individual members of Congress are now heavily influenced by corporate and 1% money fed to them through special interest groups.

There is a quote that says something like "Capitalism isn't perfect, but it's the best we have." (Who said this? I've read Churchill and a few others, but can't find historical context on the Web). This is true. And while communism has mostly failed the world over, capitalism does have some limitations. Sean McElwee lists five predictions Karl Marx made about the future and evidence these predictions are happening today. His five points are:

1. The Great Recession (Capitalism's Chaotic Nature)
2. The iPhone 5S (Imaginary Appetites)
3. The IMF (The Globalization of Capitalism)
4. Walmart (Monopoly)
5. Low Wages, Big Profits (The Reserve Army of Industrial Labor)

It's a great article and worth the few minutes it would take to read. While capitalism is a great social system for maximizing human potential, it also provides a path for common greed and an industry focused on short-term profit over long-term impact. Can we create a future where our governments can balance industry, wealth and popular support programs?

The end of last century was about democracy and free-market defeating communism. The start of this century is focused on growing wealth at the top and ecological impact of our consumerism. The real focus should be on creating a sustainable system in which every member has equal support and access to the basic needs.

What will change the nature of society to ensure a more stable system with greater equality? And what characteristics of our current system need to remain in order to assure economic growth, political freedom and self-organization? (The three points of advocacy on Wikipedia's capitalism page).