The Evolution of Capitalism, The Philosophy of Misery: System of Economical Contradictions (Forgotten Books)

Capitalism is an economic system in which property is owned by either private individuals or a corporation. Private ownership is sometimes used as a synonym for individual ownership, however the term "private" may also be used to refer to collective ownership of individuals in the form of corporate ownership. Therefore, "privately owned" in the context of this definition means not owned or controlled by the state and operated for profit, and in which investments, distribution, income, production and pricing of goods and services are determined through the operation of a market economy. It is usually considered to involve the right of individuals and corporations to trade, using money, in goods, services (including finance), labor and land.

Capitalist economic practices became institutionalized in the United Kingdom between the 16th and 19th centuries, although some features of capitalist organization existed in the ancient world, and early forms of merchant capitalism flourished during the Middle Ages. Capitalism has been dominant in the Western world since the end of feudalism. From Britain it gradually spread throughout Europe, across political and cultural frontiers. In the 19th and 20th centuries, capitalism provided the main, but not exclusive, means of industrialization throughout much of the world. (Quote from wikipedia.org)

About the Author

Pierre-Joseph Proudhon (15 January 1809 - 19 January 1865) was a French mutualist political philosopher of the socialist tradition. He was the first individual to call himself an "anarchist" (after 1848, he began to refer to himself as a federalist)and is considered among the first anarchist thinkers. He was a workingman, a printer, who taught himself to read Latin so as to print books in that language well. Proudhon is most famou