Dialectic

Capitalism, Marx said, never went beyond those economic models where a few dominate a majority. Capitalism just replaced the dichotomies of master/slave and lord/serf with a new one. A dominating and exploiting minority was still there, but it had a new name: employers. 

A dominated and exploited majority was still there but with its new name: employees. As had happened with slavery and feudalism, capitalism’s dominant minority played and plays the dominant social role. Employers control the politicians and the direction of social development; they make all key decisions in the workplace; they run the show. The masses of people are subordinated.

Marx showed that one key foundation for capitalism’s failure to realize liberty, equality, fraternity and democracy was the internal organization of the capitalist enterprise. There, a tiny group of people at the top (major owners and top executives) make all the key decisions regarding what, how, and where to produce and what to do with the fruits of their employees’ surplus labor. The employees are systematically excluded from making those decisions, but they must live with the results of those decisions.