The Wealth of Societies in Which Capitalist Mode of Production Predominates

Marx is exclusively concerned with the capitalist mode of production. He's not concerned with ancient modes of production or socialist modes of production. And I think that is a very important thing to remember when we're reading through this text. Always watch out when Marx uses the word appear. Appears is not ears. Appears means there's something else going on and you better watch out and figure out what it is.