Final answer:
The capitalist class, or bourgeoisie, according to Karl Marx, are the owners of the means of production and exploit the working class, leading to class conflict and potentially revolution and socialism.
Step-by-step explanation:
The capitalist class, as proposed by Karl Marx, refers to the bourgeoisie, who are the owners of the means of production in a capitalist society. Marx's analysis in the Manifesto of the Communist Party and Das Kapital highlights how this class exploits the proletariat, or the working class, by paying them wages that are far less than the value of their labor. The capitalists then accumulate wealth by keeping the excess value created by workers. According to Marx, this leads to class conflict and eventual revolution, where the proletariat would overthrow the bourgeoisie, leading to the collapse of capitalism and the emergence of socialism—a system with collective ownership of production.
Marx argued that the class dichotomy is defined by the relationship of the classes to property. The proletariat class, which only owns its labor power, is alienated from the fruits of its labor as they do not own the products they produce, leading to a sense of alienation and oppression.
Ultimately, Marx believed that the inherent instability and exploitation within the capitalist system would lead to its own demise, resulting in the working class revolution that would establish a socialist state with no classes and public ownership of the means of production.