Capitalism as a construct
Before Marx analyzes capitalism, he first reminds his reader that capitalism is a belief system, not unlike a religious belief system, and one with traditional authority. It is unlikely that people who are already convinced about capitalism to change their minds unless and until Marx can remind them that their beliefs are socially constructed, without inherent defenses. Then, Marx can use argument to illustrate the weaknesses of capitalism as a social construct. In other words, he argues against automatic acceptance of capitalism as a self-explaining idea.
The bipolarity of capitalism
Capitalism is heralded by those who know how to succeed, but they often ignore the inherent risks of failure. This is usually the case because the major advocates for capitalism feel relatively comfortable with the system already. But, for those who are not already educated about how to start a business and succeed in the economy, the capitalist system is a kind of complex slavery where they work for employers and exchange their time for money. This produces a highly bipolar wealth spectrum.
Human nature as a risk
Marx says that a person can inform their opinion of capitalism by using their common sense for human nature. By using one's own experience of self as a template for judging the masses, Marx shows many valid reasons to be skeptical about capitalism. For one thing, humans have an impressive ability to ignore the common good in preference of personal gain. Marx asks why capitalism would not quickly yield monopolies and an oligarchical class (defined by land-ownership). Anyone who pays rent in a major city within a capitalist country will probably commiserate with his analysis, because land owners tend to exploit the poor.
Government and capitalism
The risks of capitalism are most obvious when Marx juxtaposes the basic tenants of capitalism to the basic tenants of a healthy government. The government is designed to prevent death and starvation among the citizens (among other things, perhaps). Therefore, it is contrary that a government would align itself with the efforts of capitalism to create wealth through competition for winners. Capitalism naturally produces economic losers and banishes them to the often inescapable lower castes. This is contrary to the efforts of government to treat citizens all equally.
The education of history
Marx is often regarded as a political philosopher, but in his own writing, the reader will sometimes get the impression that Marx regards himself as a different kind of person that he has been venerated as. In Marx's opinion, it seems obvious to him that anyone who is honestly viewing human history would naturally arrive at these conclusions through simple common sense. In a way, the reader encounters this as a kind of supreme ethos; the reader experiences his awareness of history as a kind of philosophical superpower. Whether he is right or wrong, he is certainly authoritative because of this.
