Marx, when writing the Communist Manifesto, predicted the fall of Capitalism. Unfortunately for Marx, the Capitalists more successfully predicted the fall of Communism. However, it should not be a foregone conclusion that Capitalism will not also fall.
Capitalism is an economic system dependant on exploitation. Specifically, Capitalism exploits the following three entities; the worker, the environment, and other countries and markets.
Let us first consider the worker. Historically the American worker was paid a pathetically low wage; the lowest wage that could attract workers. It was not until labor unions and labor laws were created that workers even received a sustainable wage. By the nature of Capitalist corporations, a profit is made by processing raw or simple materials to produce refined or more complicated products which are sold at a profit. This profit is not bestowed upon the worker though, it is distributed up the pyramidal corporate structure in such a way that the highest officers of which there are the fewest in number receive the greatest portion of the profit. Therefore, the workers are used, regardless of their pay rate, to generate a profit for the non-producing management. By definition, that is exploitation.
And then, as wages for domestic laborers increased, the corporations sought labor in foreign countries where workers were willing to work for lower wages. Now the American worker has been abandoned; discarded like refuse, and the workers of yet another country are exploited instead.
Now consider the environment. By the very nature of the Capitalist company, it must pursue materials at the lowest possible cost, so that it may generate the highest possible profits. For this reason American companies have historically sought the cheapest suppliers of raw materials. Environmentally devastating mining techniques such as strip mining and hydraulic mining have scarred the land in search of coal and minerals. The more efficient but environmentally unfriendly clear-cutting method of logging has forever changed the character of our forests. More environmentally-friendly techniques might have been employed, but that would have decreased profits. This, by definition, is exploitation of the environment.
When it becomes unprofitable to continue the extraction of raw materials from domestic sources, or when it becomes politically unacceptable to do so, the capitalist companies turn once again to other countries for these materials; countries that are willing or that have no choice but to decimate their rainforests, pollute their rivers, or fish their waters into extinction. Now, with the American environment laid to waste, yet another country is exploited and despoiled in search of resources.
Capitalism also depends on the existence of markets in which to sell, at a profit, the goods produced by the corporations. Initially, domestic markets may be adequate for small corporations, but as these markets become saturated, the corporations look to other nations as markets or as future markets for their goods and services. Often in those markets a greater profit can be made from the same product. Often in those markets inferior or unsafe products can be sold or "unloaded" that could not be sold in the domestic market.
Often a nation may not be "ready" to consume the products of an American corporation. By establishing factories in those countries and supplying the workers with a meager wage, along with appropriate advertising propaganda, they can become consumers of their products. That is why third world countries now eat Kraft Macaroni and Cheese instead of rice, use DDT on their crops, and feed their babies Nestle infant formula instead of nursing, and that is exploitation.
The capitalist system is a static equilibrium, like a flagpole supported by three guy wires. As soon as any one of the three supports fail, the system becomes unstable and begins to collapse.
That is why an economic
system is needed that is a dynamic equilibrium, that is not dependant
on profit and exploitation. Such a system is not compatible with the goals
of Capitalism. We should pursue a system which looks to the equitable
welfare of all workers and exploits none; a system which promotes preservation
of the Earth's beauty and resources rather than plundering them; a system
where all are one body with the same rights and responsibilities.