Capitalism divided society into two distinct groups; the proletariat and the bourgeoisie. The bourgeoisie owned the means of production while the proletariat, also known as workers, were forced to sell their labor power to earn a wage for survival. The ownership of capital and the means of production made the progress of the working class rather difficult. The surplus value did not benefit the workers and only benefited those in power. While Marx argued that capitalism created class conflict, Durkheim believed that anomie was the reason for the class conflict he opposed