Final answer:
False consciousness is when individuals fail to see the ways they are oppressed by the social system.
Step-by-step explanation:
Karl Marx calls it false consciousness when individuals fail to see the ways they are oppressed by the social system in which they live. False consciousness refers to a condition where a person's beliefs or ideology are not in their own best interest but rather align with the dominant class's ideology, such as the bourgeoisie capitalists. The dominant class imposes ideas that benefit themselves, like competition over cooperation or the notion that hard work is its own reward, thus discouraging workers from questioning their position in society.