I continue to be saddened by the fact apparently no one bothers to read a basic economic text book before opining on capitalism, either for or against. Here's what capitalism is: the application of capital to increase total factor productivity.

That's it. That's all capitalism is. That's why the USSR was a capitalist system, and why today's China is likewise capitalist.

Now, the difference between the USA and the USSR is actually to do with markets. In the USSR there were no markets; the State set production targets, defined what would be produced, where it would be sold, and for how much. The result: disaster.

Markets, on the other hand, permit money to act as a signal, which is imperfect but better than top-down command-and-control systems. The problem comes when the wealthy and powerful buy politicians to pass laws that favor them inordinately. This is what the USA has always suffered from. Hence money flows to the already-rich, while everyone else is shafted. That's why even the worst European country has an infinitely better quality of life than any US State. Defending rampant corruption and economic distortion in the name of "capitalism" is as risible and as misguided as praising the slaughter of elephants in the name of protecting piano music.