Capitalism is an economic ideology based on private ownership of the means of production. In capitalism, people make profits from the surplus value of their earnings. Core tenets of capitalism include private property, free markets, competition, wage labor, capital accumulation, and a price system based on supply and demand. Free market principles of capitalism have seen a tremendous increase in standards of living around the world during the past couple centuries, but have also allowed for some people to become extraordinarily wealthy at the expense of the working class. The resulting disparities have contributed to the rise of socialism and communism as a backlash. By the 21st century, mixed capitalist systems dominated the West, combining free markets with state intervention.
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