Well, you certainly generated a lot of debate. I sort of hate to be a pedantic, but I think a lot of the trouble comes from a misuse of terms. Capitalism is not

Well, you certainly generated a lot of debate. I sort of hate to be a pedantic, but I think a lot of the trouble comes from a misuse of terms. Capitalism is not the same as free market, and free market is not the same as laissez faire. Capitalism means that individuals can own the capital (land, factories, money) and can get a return from that capital. We allow this because the profit motive (greed) creates a pretty good (though certainly not perfect) allocation of resources. It does, however, lend itself to rent seeking behavior, which is pretty clearly not ideal for the economy. Anyway, my point is, when talking about the short comings of capitalism, it is important not to conflate the term with free market economics. Good capitalists will actually be anti-free market as monopolies mean they can make more money (ultimate in rent-seeking). Our system is not simply capitalist nor is it simply free market. It is far more complicated than that.