Socialist thinkers have viewed capitalism as oppressive, a view developed by Marx and Engels in the Communist Manifesto, 1848. This is because they deemed capitalism to be "brutal" with the bourgeoisie (capitalists) oppressing the proletariat (workers), leading to class consciousness as a worker comes to the "sober senses of his real condition of life". This view of oppression was continued by successive fundamental socialist thinkers such as Webb, who claimed capitalism was a "corrupting force", leading to "crippling poverty and demeaning inequality"- thus oppressing workers. This view, however, is inconsistent with revisionist socialist thinkers, who deem capitalism as compatible with socialist ends if harnessed by the state.
(Paragraph 1 of a 3 paragraph 9 mark mini-essay, AQA)