How to correctly understand the nature of capitalism

The essence of capitalism is that capitalists use capital (money) to fully control the economic, political, cultural and other fields in social life. In layman's terms, capitalist society is a society ruled by the bourgeoisie.

Capital is the value (money) that brings surplus value through the exploitation of wage workers. In capitalist society, capital has three forms of existence: first, monetary capital (money); second, production capital, including factories, machines, raw materials, etc.; third, commodity capital, which is new products containing surplus value. Although capital exists in the form of things, these things themselves are not capital. They are only converted into capital when capitalists use them to exploit wage workers to generate surplus value. The essence of capital is the exploitative relationship between capitalists and workers through the medium of things.

1. In terms of economy, capitalist society is a society in which capitalists control wage labor with capital.

In capitalist society, there are two major classes: capitalists and proletarians. Capitalists own the means of production, while proletarians own nothing except their own labor capacity. The buying and selling of labor force is the basic premise and important feature of capitalist production. Workers transfer and hand over the use value of labor force to realize and obtain the value of labor force; capitalists pay the value of labor force with money and obtain the use value of labor force. What workers sell to capitalists is labor power rather than labor. This is the essence of buying and selling labor power.

The buying and selling of labor force is carried out in the circulation field according to the principle of equal exchange. However, labor force can not only create its own value V during the labor process, but also create surplus value M.

2. In terms of politics, capitalist society is a society in which capitalists control state power by virtue of capital.

The capitalist state is a violent organ for class rule by the bourgeoisie and is the largest political entity in capitalist society. Capitalist democracy is a democracy controlled by money.

The cartoon "The Bosses of the Senate" created by the American painter Joseph Kepler (the Chinese textbook illustration is called "The U.S. Senate under the Control of Monopoly Capitalists"):

The President of the United States is The general representative of the bourgeoisie, many presidents are big capitalists themselves, including the current president Trump. Big capitalists sometimes directly decide national affairs.

J.P. Morgan, nicknamed "Pirate Morgan," has more power than the president. In 1895, the economy was in trouble and gold was flowing out. The gold reserves in the New York branch were only US$9 million, and the maximum amount of checks at that time was US$12 million. President Cleveland invited Morgan there, and Morgan said: "If anyone comes to exchange for gold today, everything will be over." He agreed to lead a syndicate to subscribe for $100 million in government bonds, paying with gold. He profited from it and annexed 10 companies in 1901 to form the largest company in the world-U.S. Steel Company. There was a joke circulating at the time: The teacher asked Johnny: "Who created the world?" Johnny replied: "God created the world in 4004 BC, and J.P. Morgan reorganized the world in 1901."

3. In terms of culture, capitalist society is a society in which capitalists control ideology with capital.

The capitalist cultural industry is not only an area where capitalists make money, but also an important force for capitalists to control ideology. Freedom of speech in capitalist society is first and foremost the freedom of capitalists.

After the media tycoon Rupert Murdoch purchased a newspaper, he went to inspect it. He grabbed the proof of the newspaper and made extensive changes. The editor boldly objected, and Murdoch said: My newspaper must reflect my will!