> no capitalism has existed for a couple hundred years. evolved from mercantilism which evolved from feudalism. capitalism means more than just buying and selling goods. capitalism is the saving up of large amounts of money to be used on investments that earn money to be used on further investment. large investment sums are "capital," so this is what "capitalism" means. it is indeed only a few hundred years old, since it's only been in the modern era that people have institutionalized the concept of investing and then reinvesting profits for the sake of creating progress.
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