We have crony capitalism, not capitalism in the West at the time.
That said, all systems can be made to work tolerably well, if and to the extent that these systems are not run by sociopaths. The problem is that power is to sociopaths what catnip is to cats, and they will worm their way to take over any system, no matter how well designed or well intentioned.
This is why capitalism will degenerate into crony capitalism, why socialism will eventually be corrupted, etc.. This is why, after 5,000 or so years of written history to pick examples from, there are no clear and simple answers as to which systems work and which do not, simply better and worse options at that time and in that place.
There were a few hundred thousand years of prehistory where all evidence indicates we survived via primitive communism. No money, no land property or intellectual property. Yet we survived and even prospered, developing agriculture, animal domestication, metal working, tools, even specialization and primitive writing systems before we had exchange currency for daily activities like we have now. All accomplished without destroying the planet and without a profit motive! Why were these primitive peoples so innovative without the ability to patent and profit from these developments? Then we introduce money, debt, and individual land ownership, and suddenly the idea of 'nation states' comes around, and little petty tribal conflicts explode into Total Wars of hegemony, colonization, and extermination.
We have crony capitalism, not capitalism in the West at the time.
That said, all systems can be made to work tolerably well, if and to the extent that these systems are not run by sociopaths. The problem is that power is to sociopaths what catnip is to cats, and they will worm their way to take over any system, no matter how well designed or well intentioned.
This is why capitalism will degenerate into crony capitalism, why socialism will eventually be corrupted, etc.. This is why, after 5,000 or so years of written history to pick examples from, there are no clear and simple answers as to which systems work and which do not, simply better and worse options at that time and in that place.
There were a few hundred thousand years of prehistory where all evidence indicates we survived via primitive communism. No money, no land property or intellectual property. Yet we survived and even prospered, developing agriculture, animal domestication, metal working, tools, even specialization and primitive writing systems before we had exchange currency for daily activities like we have now. All accomplished without destroying the planet and without a profit motive! Why were these primitive peoples so innovative without the ability to patent and profit from these developments? Then we introduce money, debt, and individual land ownership, and suddenly the idea of 'nation states' comes around, and little petty tribal conflicts explode into Total Wars of hegemony, colonization, and extermination.