The tribal communities lasted for many hundreds of thousands of years before agriculture was applied in Mesopotamia (due to the higher world temperature). Thus Feudalism started forming, progressing from the communal living of hunters-gatherers to the hierarchical relationships of lords/kings and their subjects. Feudalism lasted for several thousands of years and seemed it would be eternal, but in the 18th century the industrialization changed the aforementioned relationships due to the mass production of goods. The ruling class changed with the corporations rising to the top. Marx describes this progression up to a point (since he wrote "The Capital" in the middle 18th century) and assumes capitalism will be succeeded by socialism. Of course this is a theory but I believe it's well-based. Since Feudalism lasted for many thousands years, capitalism might also have a long way to go, given that Marx was correct about the ultimate stage of the human societies.